Bryan Welch

On my '91 944 S2 with 136,000 miles on it, the former owner tells me he used nothing but 10W-30 Mobil 1 since he got it in 1996. The engine has been taken care of well so far and has no blow-by or oil consumption problems. It's located in Iowa, so in general summer temperatures range from 70 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and winters range from -10 to 40.

In my older Honda, the manual said to use 10W-30 in winters, but mechanics told me to use 5W-30 because it's better and just wasn't available when the car was manufactured.

So, what's best for the 944 S2? I've heard I should stay with Mobil 1, but should I stay with one weight (10W-30?) all year, or shift to 5W-30 in winter for better cold lubrication and either 10W-30 or 10W-40 for summers when it's hot?

Thanks,

Bryan

Tom

I live in Fort Dodge. In my 84, I used 20w50 in the summer and 10w40 in the winter. I got an 87 944S which was used to Mobil 1 so I am using 15w50 for the summer and putting in mobil 0 10w30 for the winter (but it just sits in the garage from November to March). If I were driving in the winter I'd stick to Mobil 1 in the same weights. The real problem we have in the winter is condensation from the humidity if the car isn't driven.

See you at Marshalltown at the go-cart track next Saturday??

Tom Rusk

Bryan Welch

Thanks, Tom. I can't make the Marshaltown meet, but hopefully will be attending some of the future ones. This weekend I'm installing new rear shocks and inspecting the valve tensioner.

Ahmet

If the car is stored in a heated garage, and not used for short trips, than you can use 15-40, or even 20-50 whenever you want. I'd PROBABLY use 10-40 in the winter, and 20-50 in the summer. Mobil is OK oil, Valvoline (non-synthetic) 15-40 is also great oil, and so is Lubro moly, and Lubrication engineers, but the last two are a bit pricey.
Ahmet

SGOGT4

can someone let me know how much oil my 86 944 n/a holds. I don't have the manual and the shop is closed over the weekend...

newoldguy

My vote is to change according to the temperature outside. In the summer use the thicker and in winter use the thinner. As long as you're changing anyway, and I think you should, you may as well adjust accordingly.
Curtis '87 944

Adrian

I run 5W 30 all year round in my 944. I live in Switzerland and the winters do tend to get a little chilly and the summers canbe quite hot, like this one.
I currently use Castrol GTX Fully Synthetic in the 944 only because everyone ran out of Mobil One 5W 30 Fully Syntetic, which is used in my 911C4,
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4
944

jep32

If your putting only 1,800 miles per year on....what can you use year round (mid-atlantic climate) 89 A2 with 47K original miles.

ernie9468

There you go friend.

odurandina

the above graphic for conventional multi-grade oils is extremely optimistic. and has been debunked over and over by Amsoil Corporation and the automakers in their labs the lower temperature ranges need to be adjusted up significantly. and to ad insult to injury our engines pulverize non-synthetics in short order, actually burning off their thin variant molecules first, and cause them to leave sludge behind at change time.

our automaker's manuals from the 1980s were almost universally written for the average person on the go, making their 3 month pilgrimage either the dealer or Jiffy Lube, and assuming the cheapest, profit generating non-synthetics would be going into our cars.

modern oils are night and day vs/ the old conventional oils....

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/ - required reading for everyone on the forum.

synthetic oils have improved drastically in the past 25 years. the grades i'm mentioning here have a very workable range of zddp additives (consult mobil 1 website). they are not multi-grade oils as conventional lubricants indeed must be in order to make usable oils w/ these numbers. synthetics are a whole different universe of engine protection compared to the old-tech oils that are minimum-protection, short-life-span, oils that were being offered at Jiffy Lube back in the day.

you all have your favorite synthetics, and for good reason, as they are basically entry-level racing oils... but my engine has 150 k miles, it's not an effin' Ferrari, so i'm happy with my boring ol' Mobil 1. why? i've seen each of the following grades (except for the racing oil) in their bargain, 5 quart bottles at the Vero Beach Walmart superstore for $24.65... that's pretty damn good, so i'll be talking Mobil 1 here. i'm not gonna get into Mobil 1's cost cutting moves since the early days.... not worth losing any sleep over....


0w-50 = the most exotic, expensive, superlative, versitle oil you can run from Mobil Corporation. costs about 17 dollars/quart and you can run it year round, no matter what the weather. you can race it, and you can run it up to 20,000 miles with ease (requires filter changes). in fact, it's some of the only stuff that Mobil actually calls RACING oil and recommends it for formula 1, american la manns series, nextel cup... their Racing 0w-20s, 0w-30s, on up are the new norm for all new Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Aston Martins, etc.


0w-40 = this stuff is very good. about the equivalent of conventional 15w50 oil, but actually much better because;

1. it offers greater protection at engine temp, and

2. will flow at startup down to 20 below zero (that's the only significance of the "0w" number. and also why multi-grade conventionals are multi grade oils. i run it 6 months out of the year and have personally run it on a couple of top speed runs in the Dakotas areas @ 120 mph ++ for hundreds of miles... Mobil recommends this exact grade for our cars (again, it's now 20~25 years since our cars were manufactured) there's been a lot of improvements to oils...got over 30 k miles of winter haulin' running this stuff. with zero issues.

5w-50 = if i had to run 1 grade of oil for all conditions, all year, and i didn't want to shell out the cash for their exotic, 0w50 Racing Oil. this is the stuff i would be running, and it will do you all, extremely well. offers more lubrication under peak stress conditions and is a great winter oil for those of you living in the southern states. great fall oil for guys living in the temperate climates, as it offers maximum flow at startup on those 30~55 degree mornings.

these oils are good for up to 10,000 miles with one filter change halfway through.

15w50/20w50; these oils are the bread and butter summer oils that offer the maximum protection short of their 0w racing formulas; and is good for up to 12~15,000 miles w/ proper filter changes.

i run 0w40 in the winter and 15w50 in the summer. my car burns about 1/4 of a quart about every 6000 miles, only a bit more than when i got it.


consult Bobistheoilguy.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/



heres what the first number on your motor oil is for... it is important to remember that the 5w30 synthetic is actually thicker at full engine operating temperature.

odurandina

just how far can synthetic oils go ??





Mobil 1 = 12~15 k miles easily.

Amsoil = 20~25 k miles easily.

TexasRider

To both Bryan and jep.

I am the odd man out here. I am using the Mobil 1 5W-40. It is a year round oil.

333pg333

Yeah, lets believe a bit of advertising from the company that reduced the levels of ZDDP so much without actually telling anyone. No wonder there were many cases of premature engine wear that no-one could figure out why? Now they released some 'special' oils with extra ZDDP...or similar to some other oils out there that have never reduced the ZDDP package. Hmmm...????

odurandina

i made a boo-boo. i said synthethics, but i meant to say non-synthetics, of course.

sorry. here's how it should read'

the above graphic for conventional multi-grade oils is extremely optimistic. and has been debunked over and over by Amsoil Corporation and the automakers in their labs the lower temperature ranges need to be adjusted up significantly. and to ad insult to injury our engines pulverize non-synthetics in short order, actually burning off their thin variant molecules first, and cause them to leave sludge behind at change time.

our automaker's manuals from the 1980s were almost universally written for the average person on the go, making their 3 month pilgrimage either the dealer or Jiffy Lube, and assuming the cheapest, profit generating non-synthetics would be going into our cars.

doabarrelroll

Couldn't resist....