87turbo

Hi all,

I bought my 87 turbo three years ago. At first oil change I switched to Mobil 1 15-50W. A few leaks appreared, or I may have just noticed them. All the hype about synthetics causing leaks may have made me more aware of potential leaks. Anyway, this summer my mechanic pulled the engine to replace clutch and noticed several small leaks that were easily repaired. He said that the leaks were not caused by or worsened by the synthetic. Now, the engine does not leak.

I don't drive the car after November (to much salt in Ohio). I was also told to change the oil just before storage rather in the spring after taking out of storage. Makes sense, why should we store the car with dirty oil. Also, I change the oil at least once per year or every 3,000 miles and after each DE.

I use 15-50 because, the car is only driven in the warmer months and I do a DE or two each year. I considered 20-50, but it is hard to find in my area.

Dave

sand_man

I'm in the midst (actually the beginning tear down stages) of a full rebuild, and I plan to use "dino" oil when this **** is finally back together. Plain old 20W-50 for me. I plan to change it too often to warrant the expense of synthetic.

srf506

I think that the shear properties of synthetic have improved recently, and the temp range advantage combined with the better additive packages I think negate a lot of the early problems with synthetics people encountered. I'd recommend it in any engine, but especially a turbo.

HkPlinker

I did it. I changed to Mobil 15w50. I'll let you know how it goes (or stays in the tank).three hours and still a dry floor.

mark

PorschePhD

It doesn't happen overnight or even in 100 miles.

DonE

OMG - the oil discussion...
I am breaking my 930 motor in with dino oil, but will change to synthetic at about 5,000 miles. I have two reasons based on my own experience with the 930 - it can handle heat and shear much better than dino and the brand I use seems to cling better to metal. When I tore down my 3.2 and 3.3 motors (each sat for about a month prior), each had an impressive amount of oil still clinging to each part - cams or turbo bearings for example.

Secondary advantage is synthetic's natural ability to clean.

On the other hand, I know professional teams that race with dino oil and put a whole lot more stress on the engine that I do. They have no problems. However I also know some endurance teams that run synthetic exclusively.

Probably the best advice has already been posted here - if you use dino, change it often and don't worry about it.

NiATE

Another 2¢ for the pot: Engines that run rich, such as turbocharged air-cooled ones, should have their oil changed more frequently than other cars. Running rich creates a much more hostile combustion byproduct (ultimately forcing Porsche to move to water-cooling). Being turbocharged forces more of the exhaust past the rings into the oil. Synthetics are supposed to be better at dealing with this but they should still be changed fairly frequently.

Peter Carroll/Toronto

The two biggest problems are 1) it leaking and smoking all over the place 2) the cost. My Turbo holds 19L of oil.

I've gone back and forth a couple of times. Each time I end up going back to regular oil and changing it frequently. I currently use Valvoline 20W50 mineral oil. If I can't find Valvoline, I try to use another Pennsylvania based oil.

Since you're changing it frequently anyway, do you want blue smoke, a puddle in your driveway, and frequent $300 oil change bills? Or would you prefer a clean driveway, no smoke, and $39 oil change bills?

srf506

I agree the key to any lube is frequent changing and a clean filter. When I first went to Alex Job he swore by Castrol in our 911 motors. Then we got the first mid-engined 911 from fabcar. Fantastic handling but making the engine live for an endurance race until we figured out the cooling was impossible. At the 24 Hours of Daytona we finished, but the car was featured on TV for the last couple of hours because it literally looked like we were spraying for mosquitos. I'm suprised IMSA let us finish. We finally were able to convince Alex to try Mobil 1 (along with some persuassion from Porsche) because we heard it was better at high temp(Remember the commercials with the two frying pans?). Although we still had some issues, we weren't DNFing anymore and by the end of the season we won at Watkins Glen. That's when I became a true believer in synthetics.

sand_man

Can't everything just be BLACK and WHITE!!! HAHAHA! Just kidding. I'm sure that synthetics are superior in most every way, and I'm sure the black and white evidence will support this. I'm still planning to run with the stuff Mother Nature provides! I plan to change often. I drive the car hard (as Porsche intended), but never abuse it.

DonE

AJR was the endurance team I was talking about based on discussions with one of their engine bulders.

If you change to synthetic and your car starts to smoke and leak, you have other problems and you need to look at why this is happening, don't just blame the oil. And most of us don't carry 19L in our systems, so the cost of a syntheic change (if we do it ourselves) is a lot more reasonable.

The point is, both work well, so do what you feel comfortable with.

srf506

Was this at Road Atlanta? I worked with Alex from 1992 - 1996. We were still an independent running tube-frame 911s. Left when they moved from Casselberry FL to Tavares. Was just too far to drive w/o relocating. Since my real job is with Lockheed Martin in Orlando I wasn't going to do that. Lots of good work and times back then. Still fun to say hi to Alex and Holly whenever I see them.