Evan

Hi all,

Boxster newbie here….sorry for the long newbie post.

I am picking up our ’00 S tonight and had a few questions I couldn’t find searching. Mileage is 20,500 and one owner. PPI checked out fine and the only issue was that the owner had the mentality of changing the oil based on mileage rather than once a year, regardless. Had two oil changes all at the stealer with Mobil 1. Last oil change was over 2 years ago. So, first off I am dumping the oil and filter.

Regarding the oil change, I see the drain plug in the oil cooler mentioned, but no mention about draining the oil out of the cooler. Is this necessary? Wouldn’t you want to drain the cooler at each oil change? Is there any reason I shouldn’t? If I do drain it, do I need a new plug, spring, washers or any new pcs or just use the old one? If I do need new parts (for oil cooler drain plug), does anyone know the part # needed? How much oil is needed for the entire fill if the cooler is drained?

I always changed my 993 with the car cold, but read the Boxster's oil is changed while the oil is at operating temperature. How hot do you get the car before the change and still not having the oil to hot to work with?

And lastly, what oil/water temperature (on the dash gauge) do I need to be at before I can get on the car?

Thanks for all your help !!!!!

type987s

Welcome and beautiful car BTW. The color combo is really nice. I’ve never heard of having to drain the oil cooler during a Boxster oil change but I’m no expert. As far as temperature goes I heard a good rule of thumb. However long it takes for the water to reach operating temperature double that time before getting on it because oil takes longer to warm up 

deliriousga

You don't have to, but personally I do. To me it just makes sense to get all of the old oil out before putting in new oil. I have done two changes and no new parts for the oil cooler.

For oil temp, drive out until the temp guage reaches the 190 degree range, then drive home and change the oil. That doubles the water temp time like Steve said. Same thing for getting on it. Even though it is not as important as in the past since we have oil squirters, it's a good rule of thumb to follow.

Evan

Thanks Steve & John !!!

When I asked the the Stealer Service tech, he says "You can't drain the cooler. It's up at the top and can't reach the plug"....... Nice ! As usual my dealer vs independant theory holds.

Turboflyer

If you could report on the amount of oil that actually remains in the cooler that would be great. Due to all of the passages and so on one will never get all the oil out, but if the cooler was easily accesible it would be worth it. I dont intent to do the whole top thing for a cup of oil. I change every 7500 anyway. I consider So CA commuter miles sever operation.

deliriousga

It's somewhere between a quart and 1/2 quart. It took me nearly 10 quarts to fill it after draining everything. Here's a pic of where the oil cooler drain plug is.

Evan

Turboflyer, will do.

I got that tip from John's site. John, thanks for the site and info.

Turboflyer

Is there a PN for the crush washer or O-ring. Did anyone ever find out how much it actually holds static, or does it possibly drain out when not under pressure thus negating a need to drain under normal circumstances.

Evan

Turboflyer, I am going to to the change this weekend, so I don't know yet, but should after the weekend. As long as I can get the drain plug out.....

Evan

Well, got it all done.

Plugs, Oil & Filter, Air filter and fuel Filter. All pretty straight forward.

Did drain the oil cooler and got like a teaspoon out of it. So not sure if I should have gotten the 1-1.5 qts out. I did have the car warm and drained the pan for about 20 minutes first.

Only mistake was I went against my 100's of oil changes putting the filter on by hand and hand tight. I listened to the DIY and the filter stamp itself and started to torque it to 25nm. I got to about 20nm, when I thought, man this is tight. I stopped and now the filter housing is way tight and the 9024 wrench just skips across the housing and DOES NOT loosen it at all.

Last and only time I will ever touch a torque wrench for an oil filter. Should have listened to my gut.

Turboflyer

Thanks for the info. Guess I will skip the oil cooler drain. Sometimes the drain is there for a flush or repair thing. Not worth the trouble. The oil must drain out when not under pressure. Good info though. I think I would loosen the filter housing to preclude it maybe cracking at some point. Possible might want to check the calibration on that torque wrench.

Evan

Good point. It is brand new and I do suppose it could be user error..

Boxsterund914

I'm curious as to what brand of torque wrench? I have heard some really bad stuff about Craftsman torque wrenches lately.

Todd Holyoak

The bolt in the image above is not the oil cooler drain. It is the oil pressure relief valve. When you pull that plug, you will find above it is a spring and a piston. Removing the spring and piston will drain the oil out of the oil pump housing. Personally I don't know why you would want to mess with this as now your oil pump will have no prime and most likely do more damage when you restart after the oil change than the minimal amount of oil you remove by draining the pump.

Todd

Tool Pants

You can see a picture of the oil pressure relief valve in this link.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8166

Never heard of it being removed for an oil change.