987.2 Oil Advice
Discussion
Appreciate oil is important on the M96 lump with plenty of recommendation for Millers Nanodrive instead of the Mobil1.
Do these recommendations run through to the 2.9 engine also?
Service interval states 2 years/20k mile service intervals, happy to take advice on whether annual oil changes would benefit.
Thanks all.
Do these recommendations run through to the 2.9 engine also?
Service interval states 2 years/20k mile service intervals, happy to take advice on whether annual oil changes would benefit.
Thanks all.
Is that Millers Nanodrive oil the racing oil? If so racing oils generally aren't real good for the street as they may not have the additives that help keep the engine clean, keep sludge from forming.
Another concern is I think the oil is ester based. While ester based oil is a good oil the problem is ester makes the seals swell a bit. (Ester is added to non-ester based oils, PAO oils for example, to help the seals, to counter the less than seal friendly characteristic PAO oils have.)
My info is once you go ester you can't (or shouldn't) go back. Remove the ester oil and replace with a non-ester based oil and the seals will rebound and shrink and the seals can leak.
My advice is to use a Porsche approved oil. Mobil 1 0w-40 is approved and suitable for a wide variety of climates. Remember if you live/drive where it gets cold, -25C or colder, Porsche calls for 0w-40 oil only to be used. If you do not want to use Mobil 1 0w-40 and cold temps are not an issue where you are there are a number of other oils approved. Look for "A40" on the label which is the Porsche code for the oil being approved for use in modern Porsche sports car.
Oil change intervals are tricky. The problem is while 20K miles might be ok for a person who drives a lot on the highway for someone who engages in a mix of highway and city driving it might not be ok.
Shortly after I bought my 2002 Boxster I had an oil analysis done. The car had 4K miles on it and most of these miles were at speeds above 25mph and 30mph. Once or twice a week I'd drive nearly 150 miles to see my parents and all but a few miles of this 150 miles was on the freeway and at freeway speeds. (70mph+.)
My work commute was 10 miles on county roads with a speed limit of mostly 45mph.
Anyhow, at 4K miles the oil had around 7% water in it. This was because the engine takes a long time to get up to temperature and up to temperature means different things depending upon say ambient temperature. I was living the (USA) mid-west and I bought the car in January with inches of snow on the ground. Prompted by the high level of water contamination in the oil I started monitoring coolant temperature in real time using an OBD2 data logger. I found even on the highway at speed the coolant didn't get very hot, maybe 180F to 185F. This explained why even with lots of highway driving the oil had a lot of water build up. The oil wasn't getting hot enough to boil the water out of the oil.
This analysis changed my mind regarding the then factory guideline of 15K mile oil changes and 30K mile filter changes. I opted to replace both every 5K miles.
Now at the time I was doing my own oil changes and I'd change the oil before a long road trip. I'd head out and after a week or so I'd be back home after covering over 4K miles, almost all at highway speeds. As soon as the car hit the 5K mile marker I'd change the oil. Even after 5K miles the oil would sometimes look remarkably fresh. The oil would still have some amber color to it and I could see through the oil stream as the oil drained from the sump. In this case I suspect had my usage consisted of just highway miles the oil might have been good for 10K miles maybe even 15K miles. (Maybe.)
But oil is cheaper than a new engine so I stuck with my 5K mile oil/filter service schedule. Oh, I was using Mobil 1 0w-40 oil too.
Not only did my usage have me driving in pretty cold temps at home or on the road trips but my summer road trips would have me driving the car in blazing heat. Remember that 180F to 185F coolant temperatue I mentioned earlier? Well sometimes I'd check the coolant temperature in hotter ambient temperature and in one particularly noteworthy case when driving in the desert southwest in 116F temperature, the coolant temperature reached 226F and stayed at 226F even while I was driving the car at 75mph down the freeway.
Up to you but my 5K mile oil/filter services have kept my Boxster and my 2003 996 Turbo engines fresh and healthy and oil sippers not gulpers. The Turbo engine has over 152K miles on it. The Boxster engine has over 307K miles on it.
Another concern is I think the oil is ester based. While ester based oil is a good oil the problem is ester makes the seals swell a bit. (Ester is added to non-ester based oils, PAO oils for example, to help the seals, to counter the less than seal friendly characteristic PAO oils have.)
My info is once you go ester you can't (or shouldn't) go back. Remove the ester oil and replace with a non-ester based oil and the seals will rebound and shrink and the seals can leak.
My advice is to use a Porsche approved oil. Mobil 1 0w-40 is approved and suitable for a wide variety of climates. Remember if you live/drive where it gets cold, -25C or colder, Porsche calls for 0w-40 oil only to be used. If you do not want to use Mobil 1 0w-40 and cold temps are not an issue where you are there are a number of other oils approved. Look for "A40" on the label which is the Porsche code for the oil being approved for use in modern Porsche sports car.
Oil change intervals are tricky. The problem is while 20K miles might be ok for a person who drives a lot on the highway for someone who engages in a mix of highway and city driving it might not be ok.
Shortly after I bought my 2002 Boxster I had an oil analysis done. The car had 4K miles on it and most of these miles were at speeds above 25mph and 30mph. Once or twice a week I'd drive nearly 150 miles to see my parents and all but a few miles of this 150 miles was on the freeway and at freeway speeds. (70mph+.)
My work commute was 10 miles on county roads with a speed limit of mostly 45mph.
Anyhow, at 4K miles the oil had around 7% water in it. This was because the engine takes a long time to get up to temperature and up to temperature means different things depending upon say ambient temperature. I was living the (USA) mid-west and I bought the car in January with inches of snow on the ground. Prompted by the high level of water contamination in the oil I started monitoring coolant temperature in real time using an OBD2 data logger. I found even on the highway at speed the coolant didn't get very hot, maybe 180F to 185F. This explained why even with lots of highway driving the oil had a lot of water build up. The oil wasn't getting hot enough to boil the water out of the oil.
This analysis changed my mind regarding the then factory guideline of 15K mile oil changes and 30K mile filter changes. I opted to replace both every 5K miles.
Now at the time I was doing my own oil changes and I'd change the oil before a long road trip. I'd head out and after a week or so I'd be back home after covering over 4K miles, almost all at highway speeds. As soon as the car hit the 5K mile marker I'd change the oil. Even after 5K miles the oil would sometimes look remarkably fresh. The oil would still have some amber color to it and I could see through the oil stream as the oil drained from the sump. In this case I suspect had my usage consisted of just highway miles the oil might have been good for 10K miles maybe even 15K miles. (Maybe.)
But oil is cheaper than a new engine so I stuck with my 5K mile oil/filter service schedule. Oh, I was using Mobil 1 0w-40 oil too.
Not only did my usage have me driving in pretty cold temps at home or on the road trips but my summer road trips would have me driving the car in blazing heat. Remember that 180F to 185F coolant temperatue I mentioned earlier? Well sometimes I'd check the coolant temperature in hotter ambient temperature and in one particularly noteworthy case when driving in the desert southwest in 116F temperature, the coolant temperature reached 226F and stayed at 226F even while I was driving the car at 75mph down the freeway.
Up to you but my 5K mile oil/filter services have kept my Boxster and my 2003 996 Turbo engines fresh and healthy and oil sippers not gulpers. The Turbo engine has over 152K miles on it. The Boxster engine has over 307K miles on it.
Might be worth a read-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
One things for sure, Hartech know these engines better than probably anyone and they require the use of the Millers Nanodrive for the warranty period.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
One things for sure, Hartech know these engines better than probably anyone and they require the use of the Millers Nanodrive for the warranty period.
As I use my PCR pretty much at weekends only for 50-60 mile runs across country, and then only when weather conditions dictate nice, dry roads, I shall be changing the oil in mine as the spring kicks in and the car starts to get use. This should prep it after the winter lay-up where it will get the very occasional use, but mostly just started and warmed through every 2 to 3 weeks. I shall also stick to Porsche bi-annual schedules in between too so as to maintain the history etc.
Which is the best oil...that's like asking if a 986 is better than a 987, 981 or 718, or heaven forbid a manual gearbox is better than PDK, you'll get a different recommendation every time, oil is no different it's purely down to what you think is best for your car, some will advise yearly changes nothing wrong with that but some will stick to the 2 yearly oil change as instructed by Porsche.
When my car had its last major service I asked for an oil sample to send away to a company called the Oil Lab which analysed it and provided a report showing the state of the used oil ( Mobil One ) mine passed the tests with flying colours and they even provide a figure to show the remaining " goodness" left in the oil which it had plenty. If I had changed mine yearly I'd have simply been pouring money away for no real gain, but if the oil had shown complete breakdown I'd switch to yearly changes.
Lads I would highly recommend having your engine oil checked it not only shows how your oil is performing but how your engine is performing too as the results show a metal content figure too.
As for a recommended oil I'd say Mobil One as it seems to be working perfectly well in my Cayman.
When my car had its last major service I asked for an oil sample to send away to a company called the Oil Lab which analysed it and provided a report showing the state of the used oil ( Mobil One ) mine passed the tests with flying colours and they even provide a figure to show the remaining " goodness" left in the oil which it had plenty. If I had changed mine yearly I'd have simply been pouring money away for no real gain, but if the oil had shown complete breakdown I'd switch to yearly changes.
Lads I would highly recommend having your engine oil checked it not only shows how your oil is performing but how your engine is performing too as the results show a metal content figure too.
As for a recommended oil I'd say Mobil One as it seems to be working perfectly well in my Cayman.
So I have a 987.2, use it almost everyday and 3 of those days is a 120 miles round trip, on a motorway, cruising at around 80 (ish). This might be a stupid question, but are we saying as I use my car often and at high speed, albeit fairly unstressful speeds, I should change my oil less?
In reality I think I will just change yearly as it only cost £170 odd at a local Indy.
Thoughts would be much appreciated.
In reality I think I will just change yearly as it only cost £170 odd at a local Indy.
Thoughts would be much appreciated.
K0409964 said:
So I have a 987.2, use it almost everyday and 3 of those days is a 120 miles round trip, on a motorway, cruising at around 80 (ish). This might be a stupid question, but are we saying as I use my car often and at high speed, albeit fairly unstressful speeds, I should change my oil less?
In reality I think I will just change yearly as it only cost £170 odd at a local Indy.
Thoughts would be much appreciated.
I would still get it done yearly personally.In reality I think I will just change yearly as it only cost £170 odd at a local Indy.
Thoughts would be much appreciated.
Unless you are literally doing minimal miles per year (which you're not it seems).
I had the oil in mine changed in between services, purely because I wanted to know the oil in there was good! I won't be doing it again this year in between services because I'm only managing to do 1500ish miles in mine per year
I'd go for a 2-year service interval. Especially if you use an oil additive such as the nano-based Everglide, you can rest assured that your engine is protected. I've started using this product and it made my car run smoother and incredibly quieter. The moly-graphene formula is indeed effective. Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel so it is very efficient in reducing friction. I do think that if you use oil additives, you may even extend your oil drain intervals. It would be fine if you go for annual, but 2 years is still safe.
The oil's the life blood of any engine. It costs me £100 on the Porsche to change it and the filter every 5k miles. The Evo and the van take less oil, so maybe £60-£70 every 5k. Dunno why you wouldn't just do it for that price, and eliminate the possibility of it causing a problem. It's hardly a big expense in the scheme of ownership. 20k between oil changes is ridiculous.
I just bought a Boxster 987.1 3.2S and noticed all services but the last one had been done by OPC and the last one by an independant. Oil needs topping up slightly and checked with him that they had put in Mobil1 but they had put in Petronas Syntium 3000 AV 5W-40 which when looking is also listed for my car. He said not to mix Mobil 1 with the Petronas but glad I checked. Its due its next service soon so will probably revert back to Mobil 1 - anyone any views on the Petronas?
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