kromdom

REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE, annual oil changes for me for all vehicles (hardly exceed 5,000 miles/year with any one of them)).

Byprodriver

Good point! yes the 3.6 is a known cylinder scuffer so extended oil change intervals are false economy! To the OP halve your next oil change interval & have the oil anaylized at the same lab then choose which method you prefer.

KrazyK

Quit wasting money on oil analysis, instead use the money to buy more oil. Every 3000 miles or 3 to 4 months. Cheap peace of mind. The oil in all my vehicles always looks new when I check it.

Ubermensch

What if the fresh oil from frequent changes caused more engine wear? Would you go for longer intervals then? See http://papers.sae.org/2003-01-3119/

D6lc

If seem that oils have come a long way in the past 20yrs, yet attitudes to oil changes havent

silotwo

I believe that, in part, the interval debate for our cars is influenced by the IMSB issue and published recommendations. Such as, change the oil at 5,000 mile intervals, run the engine at higher RPM's to promote splash lubrication of the bearing and keep the IMS running concentric. These recommendations have been published on the LNE website, excellence magazine, panamera magazine, and I'm confident published elsewhere as well.

I had the IMSB replaced on the C2 but will still change oil around the 5k mark, but it sure is nice to stop thinking I have to drive her harder than necessary to prevent a problem.

As to oil analysis, makes sense to me and I have them done at each oil change. Again, the IMSB was the promoter for me, consider Jake's "Guardian" as an example. Yet I also like knowing that I have no fuel or moisture present as well.

For the OP - my first oil analysis on my C4S also showed high aluminum and Blackstone commented that as a low mileage engine I might expect the aluminum count to drop as mileage increased. Next change, 5300 miles later, and indeed my aluminum count was closer to the universal average.

KrazyK

The way I see it, the more often I change the oil, the more time I spend under the car checking for problems, finding oil contaminates, leaks, etc. before disaster strikes. I bought my 996 to work on it not drive it into the ground or into an early grave.

Neb

Quite a debate going on about intervals. I will try changing it at a lower mileage next year and send another sample to the lab to see. Unfortunatley we get to pay much more for Mobil 1 up north, so each oil change becomes quite expensive, $250-300 depends on where you go. So the oil analysis for $25 is good value to see the condition of the oil before a change.

Imo000

I change the oil in my TDI every 35 000km interval and the internals are spotless. This is over twice the factory recomendation. Changing the only like a maniac, doesn't guarantee anything. I never changed the oil before the recomended interval and never had any oil related issues with any of my cars. Something worth thinking about.

Ubermensch

To the OP, I took a look at my old reports at roughly the same mileage on my engine. On that particular interval I had ~9000 miles. My Al level was only 1/5 of yours and my iron level was a little less than half of yours.

Neb

Thanks, so looks like there might be some abnormal findings. Will do another one next season to see what we find.

KrazyK

Why dont you look inside the engine to see what is really going on?

Neb

Any low cost way of doing it?

KrazyK

Other than the usual oil filter inspection and pan removal, you can easily scope the bores if you want.

Gonzo911

Love me a good oil thread. Been awhile!