JohnCK2014

Like many issues, oil changes have been talked to death on here. From my research a couple of things seem unresolved.

1. The general consensus seems to be Mobile 1 is not what it used to be and is no longer the best synthetic oil, Porsche factory claims to the contrary. If not Mobile 1, then what? More importantly, if something else why that oil versus another? What makes one synthetic oil better than another? Are there ingredients or certain levels of some ingredients that I should look for?

2. I would like to change my own oil just because I like doing things like that. A friend recently made an interesting point I hadn't considered. How do you show "complete maintenance records" for any future resale if you do the work yourself? I can say I changed the oil using this or that synthetic oil every 3,000 miles and after every track day but that is not the same as having the receipt from a dealership or independent tech showing that it happened. Is this a potential issue? Can I mitigate it by keeping the oil receipts or maybe going to a tech to have it done every other oil change so that I at least can show it was done every 6,000 miles? If it is an issue, it seems like you could lose more money in resale than you save in doing it yourself. Thoughts?

3. The consensus seems to be change the oil after every track day. Does that mean before and after? Can you use oil that has a thousand or so miles on it at a track day or should you put new oil in before you go and then new oil in immediately after the track day?

4. Lastly, if you are changing oil frequently, say after every track day and also after every 3,000 miles, should you also change the filter each time you change the oil? For example, I am coming up on 3,000 mils and plan to change the oil and filter in the next week or so. I also plan to go to the track the end of June when the oil will probably only have 1500 or so miles on it. Should I change out the filter with the oil associated with that track day or can I just change out the oil and let the filter go until I hit 3,000 miles?

There are a lot of threads on oil change frequency. I am just going to play it safe and do it every 3,000 miles. The engine is worth not taking any risk of going longer, if there is one. So, I would like to avoid the frequency debate since that dead horse has been beaten.

I am also curious about why one oil is better than another. I know everyone has their personal preference. I am not curious about preference. I am curious about what chemically makes one oil better than another and what I should look for when choosing an oil rather than just following someone's advice based on their word.

Thoughts?

Sneaky Pete

The Indy GP was a lot of fun on Saturday with the 500 coming up in 2 weeks. I didn't wear enough sunscreen though. My bad........

Spokayman

Well, you're right that this subject has been talked to death in dozens of threads here.
If you do enough searching, you can find some fairly deep analysis of why one oil is better than another, and many opinions based on anecdotal evidence or personal experience.
Porsche uses and continues to list Mobil 1 as an acceptable oil. I do believe that there are better oils on the market than M1.
But, if you are changing every 3K miles, I don't believe there will be a significant difference between M1 and most others in actual engine protection.
Many people will disagree with what I just wrote, and that is fine.
If it makes you feel better, search the threads and pick up a few recommendations for different (better) oil and choose one. Motul, Joe Gibbs, Total, etc. etc. Most of these better oils will, at least theoretically, provide better protection, and there is no harm in that.
Changing the filter on the 996 is so easy, I would not forego that step at each oil change. It is also the opportunity to look for metallic debris.
Regarding maintenance records, I believe receipts for oil, filters, washers, etc., along with some sort of organized log (I use a simple Excel spreadsheet) is a valid proof of maintenance performed. In this day of easy digital photo storage, there would be no problem saving a quick shot of the pulled apart oil filter at each change if you really want to document the process.

porsche951

I still use Mobil 1 0w40 which is available at Wal Mart for $25 a 5qt. jug. The "boutique" oils Joe Gibbs and Motul? are about twice as much money. If I was changing my oil once a year which would be about 8k miles I might opt for the pricier brands but currently I'm changing between 3-4k miles and examining my filter 2-3 times a year. It's not that it needs an oil change at 3-4k as much as it is I want to examine the filter more regularly than once a year. I've considered changing over to the "boutique" oils then possibly changing out filters only a few times a year. That way I'd likely only have to top off the quart I lose removing the filter each time. Once I do a replacement IMSB I may slack off a bit but for now I'm super **** about it.

JohnCK2014

I have a brand new IMSB, so perhaps I should be less cautious. I am going to keep looking. I would love to read a chemical breakdown of why some oils are better than others. It wouldn't surprise me at all if all of the boutique oils are really charging for name not results. It wouldn't be the first time something was marketed based on false assurances.

porsche951

I think if I had a new IMSB I might switch to a boutique oil and change it yearly.

Seeeu911

A hard core daily driver is what I have. I religiously change filter and Mobil 1 0w/40 at each 5k which has been 3x in the last 6 months

Seeeu911

This link was posted earlier this year by Philooo and is great reading http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...duct_Guide.pdf

Search for Phosphorous and Mobil1

targa996

Lots of discussions on this on Bob's the oil guy site as well. M1 is still recommended by Porsche and it is cheap at Walmart. I do 1 yr/~5K oil changes and my UOA looks good every time - but I do not track the car regularly or live in an extreme climate. The "better" oils are typically pure group 4 base - and may have slightly different additive packages (optimized for wear versus long drain intervals for example) - so if you are tracking - you might want to take a different strategy - but M1 should be fine for most users if you change yearly and less than 10K ... (IMHO of course).

Most Castrol and M1 consumer oils use mix of (or only) group III oil base - which still performs well versus regular oils - but clearly optimized for cost/margin. These links contain more info on additive packages and what they can optimize for.

http://www.pceo.com/chart.html
http://gf-6.com/why_are_new_tests

rwiii

What does tracking the car have to do with changing the oil? It's not like it breaks down, gets impurities in it or moisture.

JohnCK2014

Good question. I have read in multiple places that you should change your oil after every track day. I have never been able to figure out why people think that. I don't know that they are wrong. I just never seen anyone explain why they think that.

pontifex4

Higher heat exposure and increased fuel/oil mix even in healthy engines, according to what I've heard. Oil with fuel in it doesn't lubricate as well. After every track day is a little excessive in my opinion, unless you're running a turbo car that's washing down the cylinder walls with fuel. If you are, you should likely fix that.

Macster

At one time the general consensus was the world was flat.

Mobil 1 0w-40 is the factory fill. I can't imagine Porsche in the extremely competitive world of automobiles (there is also the regulatory side to consider) would handicap its vehicles from new with a subpar oil.

Porsche goes to the trouble to create a list of approved oils. Mobil 1 0w-40 is just one of a number (>6?) of Mobil oils on this list and there are a number of other oils from a number of other manufacturers. This implies these oils are similar enough the engine would not suffer any no matter which one was chosen.

I note that Porsche runs a number of test mules thousands of miles in all kinds of conditions. This is done with Mobil 1 oil (since that is the factory fill). If Porsche detected any shortcomings I'm sure it would change its recommendation.

But if you feel Moibil 1 0w-40 is not up to it then you are free to pick any other oil from on the approved list, or if you think you are better at oil picking then pick any oil not on the list. 'course, then you can use any reason you want to select this not on the list oil. One reason is as good as any other in this case.

For a paper trail of my own servicing I kept all receipts for filters, O-rings, drain plug washers, oil, etc. I bought. When I changed the oil I'd write the date/mileage on the top of the filter box and tear the lid off and put it with the other paper work. But after 100K miles or so I stopped doing this. I mean I keep all the receipts, but I no longer bother writing the date/mileage on the filter top and saving this. After a while it is not what servicing the car had from new that matters as much as what it has had more recently and what the condition of the car is in.

I do not advise changing the oil after every track day. I recommend anyone showing up at the track do with the fresh oil. This is along the same vein as recommending the person show with good tires, properly inflated, with brakes in good condition and with enough pad/rotor material to take the track abuse without compromising braking. I mean at the track you have plenty of things to think about why add to them the background nagging doubt about the oil or the condition of tires, or the brakes? If you're going to show up with those on your mind you might as well bring your taxes to work on between track sessions. Peace of mind on the track is important.

About changing the oil after a track day: There is real possibility the oil's life in some fashion has been shortened some from even this one track day.

There various (estimated?) ratios of track miles to street miles. What this means is that if you are used to say driving 5K miles between oil/filter changes and one time you do a track day -- with fresh oil -- that the next oil change if you want everything to be the same is probably due in fewer miles than 5K miles.

How much fewer miles? Well, that's your call. I might to be very conservative cut that 5K miles in half.

Another thought is why not just change the oil? I mean tracking a car requires extra servicing and maintenance, if one wants to try to keep the wear and tear on the car to a minimum, so an oil/filter change after a track day is not the end of the world. This allows you peace of mind while driving the car on the street which counts for something.

Anyhow, the risk of showing up with oil that has say 1K miles of street driving on it is everyone's vehicle usage is different. For instance if you drove 1K miles on fresh oil in one day to get to the track that's one thing. If you drive 2 miles per trip twice a day every day for 250 days and even if the track is next door that is another thing entirely.

The concern is the oil has some contamination, has become diluted by unburned fuel and water. Sure, on the track these will boil away. But until they do the oil can have its abilty to protect the engine under severe/harsh usage compromised. Why risk it?

In some cases, for some cars, the Porsche guideline calls for the filter to be changed *every other* oil change. I never followed this guideline when I changed my own oil -- and it was a guideline for my car -- and I directed the service department to not follow it either but instead change the filter along with the oil.

Frankly, 3K mile oil/filter changes is a bit overkill unless you are racking up a lot of short trips over say a year's time. Then this means the oil is likely heavily contaminated and should be changed to remove the contaminated/acidic oil and replace it with fresh.

I have found that 5K miles is a bit of an overkill. For instance I have changed the oil and filter then taken the car on a 4K+ mile week long road trip. Then back at home driven another 1K miles mostly highway miles and then changed the oil at 5K miles. And a few times I've come back with the mileage 5K higher in just one week's driving. The oil comes out still a bit translucent with still some color of oil to it. Doesn't matter though to me. I can't bother trying to keep track of my usage and thus trying to stretch the oil life out.

My preference is to sacrifice some oil before its time, but not too long before its time (hence I follow a 5K mile change schedule and not a 2.5K mile change schedule), in order to avoid sacrificing an engine for the sake of saving a few quarts of oil.

AA717driver

As for records, I write the oil used, mileage and date on the receipt for the oil filter. If the prospective buyer doesn't accept that, screw 'em. It's a used Porsche. We work on our own cars. You want a full dealer history, buy a Ferrari 308... Or, a Mercedes C300.

TC

P.S.--I used Lubro Moly on my first change but since I'm doing 5k intervals, I may go with M1 next time. I did M1 on my 328 last week.

RDCR

Call me psycho but I swear my motor sounds quieter and runs smoother after a track session.

I decided I would change it every 3K miles or after 3 track sessions, whichever comes first but that is based on nothing really other then reading all the oil threads.