Bill Lucas

I recently had the the oil and filter changed in my new (to me) 1989 944S2. It's been about 500 miles since the oil change and I've noticed some lifter noise at startup. It goes away once the engine warms up.

Can the oil simply be too heavy at startup causing the noise? I understand that the topic may have been covered before and there seems to be no concensus on a recommended oil weight. I'm thinking of switching to 10W40 at my next change to see if the problem is cured.

Any thoughts?

Take it easy on me. I'm a new owner and with the help of a trusted friend who is extremely good with cars we're whipping this thing into really nice shape. I'm learning fast but there is oh, so much to learn.

Regards.

potent951turbo

I run 20w50 in my 951 as do a lot of other rennlisters. Not sure for an S2 though.

Jakerx

stick with 15w50. that's the good stuff. but 20w50 isn't bad. no worries. Where do you live? That may play a factor in picking 15 over 20.

95Juan

i used to run mobil 1 15-50. hard to find sometimes, but it was ok. then whenever i'd push the car just a little bit (ok, i'd push it hard), i'd burn a whole lot.

i switched to Castrol GTX 20-50, and i burn next to nothing. i get a little bit of lifter tick at startup, but i'm sure that's normal for almost every 944/951 that's left overnight.



does anyone know if GTX is synth or dino? i dont know.....

i wanna try full synth again, but i havent tried a synthetic 20-50,, so i dont know if the burning was due to the synthetic element or the weight.

well, that and i probably have some bad seals somewhere........

MyBlackCar

I use Valvoline synthetic 20w50 for my 89 n/a. No problems whatsoever. In fact, it kind of purrs.

Racer46

GTX is dino oil. Syntec is Castrol's synthetic oil.

SD Porsche Fan

Castrol 20-50 here as well. I don't burn a drop and my crank seal leak seems to have gotten better.

Bill Lucas

I live in Northern Virginia. Not really all that cold here in the winter but it can get very hot and humid in the summer. The bottom of my car is bone dry (except a drop here and there from that pesky power steering reservior).

Thanks for the replies. It would appear that a bit of lifter noise at startup is to be expected. One less problem to worry about for me. I'll be tackling the replacement of a throw out bearing and a guide valve for the bearing soon. Perhaps I should just do the clutch while I'm elbow deep in there?

SD Porsche Fan

There is a great article on clutch replacement done on an '89 NA in the June issue of Excellence. I don't know if the S2 would be much different but it's a good read.

95Juan

i thought syntec was half and half.


hmm......anyone have any info on quaker state? i like the clear bottles......and i'd like to go back to synth....

alordofchaos

Are you using a filter with a good drain valve?

The filters are set up so that the oil will drain out unless the filter has a drain valve, so you'd get noise at startup if you are using a filter without one or if your drain valve has gone bad.

btw, welcome!

Bill Lucas

SD,

Funny that you say that. That issue is currently in the backseat and I'll be reading it at my son's basketball practice this evening. I also ordered some back issues that seem to cover areas I'll be delving into. I'm really having a blast working on and driving this car.

seattle951

My 924S runs terrible on Mobil 1 15W-50. I tried it once and immediately moved to Mobil 1 0W-40. On the heavier oil the car had lots of lifter noise on start-up and the oil warning light would be on for 30 seconds after startup. Oil pressure would go to 5 and never drop even at idle. The car also felt sluggish. With 0W-40 the car purrs like kitten.

You might also want to check this month's Porsche Panorama magazine. They discuss oil and recommend that all Porsches made after 1973 should run 0w-40 synthetic. The primary driver for this was the amount of time it takes the oil to circulate when cold at startup. They claim that the heavier oils can take up to 45 seconds to circulate causing excessive wear. With the 0w they claim the time drops to seconds.

Bill Lucas

alord,

Thanks for the kind welcome even if you are a Michiganer (I'm an Ohio State grad).

I'm using a Mahle filter purchased from 944online.com.

The DareDevil

Amsoil 15w-40 in my car. It loves it.