Phi1720

Long story short, I had to go to a dealer because it was such short notice. So I popped in for a quick oil change. No problems, quick & easy. But when I talked to the resident "Porsche Guy", he told me that the 944 is designed so that you only have to change the oil every 15000 miles!?! Plus on non-synthetic? I don't buy it and still change every 3k no questions. I'm just wondering if they are out of their *$&%ing minds. I feel at that point you might as well be begging for detonation. Why not go completely nuts and change your oil when you change your belts? Sorry but I am dumbfounded that advice like this would come from a certified dealer.

Side note: I've been using a non synthetic Castrol 20-50. Anyone have any recomendations for a better performing oil on these car?

_______________
-Scott
85.5 944
96 Mazda Miata

jgporsche

in the factory manual, it says it can go like 7500 miles w/out an oil change, IIRC. but i thought that was WITH synthetic oil. I wouldn't do it though.

Yabo

Err... the Boxster or new 911 is made that way i think its 15 or 20k mile oil changes... but I am pretty sure the 944 had no such benefit!

dmjames

I'm pretty sure that my manual lists a 15k oil change, and that's on an '83 model... I don't have the manual here to back it up, though.

eohrnberger

Yea, I remember reading something like that in my owners manual that came with the car.

I've completely ignored this, and have been doing a full Mobil-1 synthetic oil and oil filter change at the end of every season just before storage for the winter.

cobalt

I will have to check but I am pretty sure it is an oil filter change at 15k and oil change every 7500. There is also a disclaimer stating that turbo charged cars and depending on driving habits may require more frequent changes. It also states mileage or once a year.

I know my Cayenne turbo oil change frequency is 10k and the Cayenne S is 22k miles or once a year. I still change it more often myself. Although it is a major PITA to do it yourself and the dealership gets $385 for one oil and filter change.

Campeck

what climate do you live in? IF its a hundred deg. everyday then you can stick with that oil. but if your climates alittle colder you can go thinner. 10w-40 , 10w-30 ect.
you might even free up 1-2 hp. lol

eohrnberger

$385 for an oil/filter change? <Cough, Cough> Ouch!

cobalt

I couldn't agree more. But you have to remove about 30 pounds of plastic shrouds before you can even begin and it is a royal pain so it is either suffer or bite the bullet and pay the price.

Phi1720

Thanks for the advice. My local guy only charges $66 for oil and filter so I may still stick with more frequent changes just because of the car's age and high miles.

______________
-Scott
85.5 944
96 Mazda Miata

eohrnberger

I suppose that you could take the shrouds off once, store them, and have an easier time of it for the next and following oil/filter changes.

cobalt

Porsche requires that the shrouds stay on. Something about dirt in the system. It is a very expensive SUV so I figured it is not worth messing with the warrantee.

I save my money by doing the changes on the other cars.

Tom R.

One of the few cool things on my GM cars is the oil life monitor. Sure you can go 7500 miles in the 944 as long as it is on the highway with the cruise on, with no major temperature changes, with no dust.

the manuals say something about "severe" driving conditions. which i believe is something silly like starting the car more than once a day.

The GM system takes all the info from the fuel injector computer and rpms and measures how much is left. the gto has a bunch of neato settings on the computer, but none to tell you the remaining life which sucks. with onstar, i got an email last week telling me the oil life hit 20% on my dads rendezvous so i told him to get ready. pretty cool.

Geo

IMHO the 3k miles oil change is a marketing ploy by oil companies to sell more oil. I put nearly 200k miles on my SE-R with 7500 mile oil changes per the manual. I'm sure the engine can go much much longer, but it's been off the road for a number of years now. I don't believe the idea that most driving is severe duty either. Severe duty is taxi type duty or severe heat or cold or severe dust (that sort of thing).

My Bimmer has a monitor for oil changes and with my driving (pretty typical I think) I go around 15k miles.

I have no problem following the manual and doing what the engineers who designed the car call for. Of course modified engines change everything and would never follow the change cycle in the manual with an engine more than lightly modified.

kary4th

My 1978 928 manual says to change the oil every 12,000 miles, if I recall correctly (it may be 15k). It also wants synthetic oil.