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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 11:23 AM
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Default Early engine oil replacement

Just picked up a 992 S cabriolet. In the US, it comes with the first year’s maintenance included, which is basically an oil change at 10k miles. Several here have recommended early oil change, at 1k or 2k miles, as part of the break in period. I was advised that the engine comes with “special” oil that is designed specifically for new engines. It’s meant to last until the first oil change, and changing the oil early might increase (not decrease) chances of premature wear. The fact that Porsche included year 1 maintenance seems to support the theory that they don’t want you to change the oil early. Thoughts?
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 11:33 AM
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Who told you this?

Your car has regular Mobil 0W40 in it.

The soonest the dealership will give you your free oil change is at about 10 months.

Yes, I would recommend changing your oil at about the 1000 mile mark.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 11:38 AM
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Dealership :-)

Originally Posted by LexVan
Who told you this?

Your car has regular Mobil 0W40 in it.

The soonest the dealership will give you your free oil change is at about 10 months.

Yes, I would recommend changing your oil at about the 1000 mile mark.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 11:43 AM
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Pay for the early one. Get the free one next year.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 12:58 PM
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Do what the owner's manual says. What does it matter anyway. Unless you are going to put 100,000 miles on the car, I doubt the oil change dates will make much of a difference.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 01:28 PM
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All car engines are tested without an early oil change unless one is called out in the service requirements. What is special about the initial oil is actually the assembly lubes that are used on the bearings etc to protect them during initial motoring of the engine. If you change the oil at 500 miles it won’t hurt anything. If you run it to 10K at US road speeds the oil will still be within spec at a year.

I would change the oil at 1-2K if I was running the car hard on the autobahn or a track. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter. These answers come from my history designing and testing production engines.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Michigan 992
All car engines are tested without an early oil change unless one is called out in the service requirements. What is special about the initial oil is actually the assembly lubes that are used on the bearings etc to protect them during initial motoring of the engine. If you change the oil at 500 miles it won’t hurt anything. If you run it to 10K at US road speeds the oil will still be within spec at a year.

I would change the oil at 1-2K if I was running the car hard on the autobahn or a track. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter. These answers come from my history designing and testing production engines.
Agree with the above. Early oil changes are a thing of the past. It mattered when engine component tolerances were not as good as they are today and consequently had more wear and more fine metal particles in the oil. I hammered my first Porsche (981) and didn't even follow the break-in procedure. After my 10k mile oil change, I dissected the oil filter and found zero evidence of any metal particles. It's at 49k miles now and zero issues.

Early oil changes are relevant if you are tracking your car or for your own peace of mind (and that wont make a technical difference to the engine, only an emotional one).

Porsche is extremely conservative in their preventive maintenance schedules. You have nothing to worry about changing your oil at the recommended interval.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 02:05 PM
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Thanks! I think my question is more, “Would it hurt anything to change the oil early?”

Originally Posted by subshooter
Agree with the above. Early oil changes are a thing of the past. It mattered when engine component tolerances were not as good as they are today and consequently had more wear and more fine metal particles in the oil. I hammered my first Porsche (981) and didn't even follow the break-in procedure. After my 10k mile oil change, I dissected the oil filter and found zero evidence of any metal particles. It's at 49k miles now and zero issues.

Early oil changes are relevant if you are tracking your car or for your own peace of mind (and that wont make a technical difference to the engine, only an emotional one).

Porsche is extremely conservative in their preventive maintenance schedules. You have nothing to worry about changing your oil at the recommended interval.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 02:09 PM
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I've studied 1,000s of UOAs. You can clearly see the results (benefits) of an early oil change.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Michigan 992
All car engines are tested without an early oil change unless one is called out in the service requirements. What is special about the initial oil is actually the assembly lubes that are used on the bearings etc to protect them during initial motoring of the engine. If you change the oil at 500 miles it won’t hurt anything. If you run it to 10K at US road speeds the oil will still be within spec at a year.

I would change the oil at 1-2K if I was running the car hard on the autobahn or a track. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter. These answers come from my history designing and testing production engines.
The assembly lubricants are used to protect friction surfaces until the initial oil pressure comes up, preventing dry contact wear after a newly built (or rebuilt) engine is first started. It’s gone once the oil pressure comes up.

As for first oil change, some manufacturers use a special oil during the break in period and warn against changing it out before the recommended mileage. In that case, changing out early is detrimental as opposed to beneficial. If the manufacturer is mute on the point, it can’t hurt anything (other than your wallet) to change the oil early.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by jesper2
Thanks! I think my question is more, “Would it hurt anything to change the oil early?”
Mostly only your wallet. I think anytime you do maintenance, the probability of screwing something is greater than zero. Small but still a chance to strip a thread or something else. Your engine will last 300k miles if you follow the maintenance manual as written. Changing the oil early will not change that outcome.

Originally Posted by LexVan
I've studied 1,000s of UOAs. You can clearly see the results (benefits) of an early oil change.
If I am reading what you are throwing down correctly, you are saying that you have observed higher metal content in early oil samples. (normal and expected).....but also a tiny fraction of what used to be in engine oil samples early in life. You are drawing a conclusion from that data that changing the oil early will materially impact a result (i.e. the benefit) of improved future engine reliability. It doesn't. I don't see a correlation or data that would support that conclusion. Porsche has done far far more than a 1000 UOAs on the engines that they have designed. They (some of the best automotive engineers in the world) know what they are doing. The 10k mile oil change is very conservative too. It could be 20k miles. The oil filter is also there for a reason. It removes the more harmful sized particles.

There is no measurable benefit to changing the oil early on a modern Porsche engine.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 02:38 PM
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I am not an expert in this area by any means. I brought up the following story once before in a separate thread and was scorned and basically told I was a big fat dummy, which may very well be true. So, fair warning, the following is second hand info told by a dummy:

I told my Porsche service manager about a ridiculous expensive warranty issue I had with the Ferrari FF I was trading in. The front wheel drive transmission needed to be replaced for $35k, then replaced again. Made me so happy I spend the big bucks on Ferrari power train coverage. Anyway, he decided to tell me about an even more expensive warranty claim he tried to make on a 911(not sure what model). He explained that a customer who did two or three oil changes during the breaking in period later had compression issues that he said related to piston rings improperly seating. By his story, the engine was removed and sent to Germany for tear down. The conclusion was that oil changes early and often were the culprit. I want to reiterate that I am a dummy. It was pointed out to me by someone on this forum that my service manager is also a big dummy. I will probably be following the instructions that Porsche gives regarding car care. But if you choose to do the same as me you too might just be a big dummy. I hope this has helped.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 03:18 PM
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I will be changing mine at 2K just for peace of mind... then factory interval thereafter
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 03:45 PM
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Can it me assumed that, if this were the case with Porsche, it would be mentioned in the owner’s manual? That’s more or less exactly what the dealer said; however, dealers don’t know everything either.

Originally Posted by kayjh
As for first oil change, some manufacturers use a special oil during the break in period and warn against changing it out before the recommended mileage. In that case, changing out early is detrimental as opposed to beneficial. If the manufacturer is mute on the point, it can’t hurt anything (other than your wallet) to change the oil early.
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Old Oct 5, 2019 | 03:57 PM
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Originally Posted by jesper2
Can it me assumed that, if this were the case with Porsche, it would be mentioned in the owner’s manual? That’s more or less exactly what the dealer said; however, dealers don’t know everything either.
Porsche does NOT use any break in oils. Your car is filled with Mobil 0W40. Mobil does not even manufacture any break in oils. I was just with the Mobil Team for Porsche in early August.
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