rockitman

Well I did my first change...She took about 9.75 quarts and that put the electronic oil gauge reading at 1 bar below full after giving the car a good drive...I think that is the appropriate level to allow for additional oil expansion under hard driving conditions and the eventual increase in level due to fuel and water accumulation in the oil. One bar = .25 qts.

I examined the filter and found three metal filings less than a 1/2 centimeter in length and 1 tiny spec of metal in the crank case drain plug. I assume this is normal for the first change after breakin.

One noticeable difference was the oil pressure readings. With the new oil, they were more responsive...when dropping to idle, the pressure dropped down immediately which was not the case with the oil prior to the change that was in the car since it's build date of July '03. This tells me that the slightly higher pressure at idle and slower guage response was due to the fact that the old oil was of higher viscosity due to it's age and service life. It does tell me that mileage on the oil should not be the sole indicator for changing it...rather the age is also important. I intend to change the oil every 6 month's irrespective of mileage ( unless it exceeds 3000 before then) to better maintain a true 0w viscosity at start up...hence reducing engine wear. FYI

NJ-GT

I changed mine at 1502 miles.

Same analysis. Oil age, metal pieces during break in and to extend engine life.

The old oil had a smell of gasoline more than oil.

I change the oil after every 2 DE events regardless of mileage or age, every 6 months regardless of mileage or every 4000 miles (which is unlikely to happen on this car).

macfly

I changed all the fluids at 1,200 miles, and again at 4,200.

I plan on doing a full fluid flush and change at about every 3K now, which equates to about 4-6 DE events and the travel to and from them, as my car is almost exclusively a tracker these days.

Do you guys think that is good, or would you change it more often given the enthusiastic use the car gets?

rockitman

If it was me and I was tracking my car like you do and driving it as hard, I would change it every 2 to 3 DE's like NJ-GT does, particularly if you plan on keeping the car for a long time...It all comes down to how much you like to pamper your motor...

Bill - Chicago

Not sure how true this is, but a local race shop said mobil 1 starts breaking down after about 10 track hours. They said they got this information from a mobil 1 engineer. I change the oil after every 2 - 3 track weekends.

mooty

every 4 track days = 500-600 track miles.

Mongo

Would those shavings in oil still indicate the engine is breaking in on these cars??? Or would that be somethng way more serious? I'd be scared sh*tless to see that in my oil especially that size.

What type of weight does the factory also reccommend for the GT3? Any different than other P-cars?

Andy

Steve in FL

rockitman: Since the oil measurement for the GT3 is done at operating temperature I don't think you'd need to allow any room for additional expansion. If you get so much accumulation of fuel and water in the oil that it raises it over full you've got other (probably) bigger problems.

FixedWing

I wouldn't expect to find any metal in my oil. Not even the first change. Remember, these engines are run in on the stand and the oil is changed before they are put in the car. Any clue what kind of metal it was? I'd want to be taking oil analysis samples right from the beginning.

Stephen

Viken

I don't think the engines are run long enough to get rid of all metal shavings. At any rate, don't lose sleep over this stuff. Even if it stays in your sump, nothing will happen to your engines.

macfly

Not sure how true this is, but a local race shop said mobil 1 starts breaking down after about 10 track hours. They said they got this information from a mobil 1 engineer. I change the oil after every 2 - 3 track weekends.
What oil do they use for 24 races? I don't remember seing anyone change oil at Le MAns, and I was in the pits for pretty much the whole race 3 years ago.

Mongo

what about using higher viscousityt oils MacFly? Will that improve durability? is it reccommended for these engines?

Andy

FixedWing

Someone did a test of Mobil One where they took samples every 1000 miles and tested it. They could the oil lasted until 18,000 miles. Here are the details:

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

I would think track hours would be better than normal use. The oil isn't going to go over the maximum temperature. The higher RPM shouldn't have a negative effect in such a short period. If anything, this sort of running should be good for an oil as it will boil off the impurties. I have noticed that the volume will increase a bit though and I've assumed this is probably foaming of the oil (which should be temporary).

On the other hand, normal running in traffic where the temperatures never get high enough to boil off the impurities should be much worse for it. Stop and go driving is the sort of condition that calls for more frequent oil changes.

I think the one exception might be where the plugs are going bad and the high RPM is producing misses and then you might get more fuel in the oil at the track. But this is speculation.

Stephen

gtdrei

Anyone know what the 24hr Le Mans cars use ?

Robin

ringmeister

They use the same Mobil 1 that you and I buy at the local Pep Boys.
I've done numerous 24hr. endurance races and found that after the race the oil is practically as fresh as when it went in.

Most people change their oil far too frequently which is really a waste of resources. For the average performance driver that does an occasional driver ed event, 5000 miles on Mobil 1, Redline or Amsoil is fine. If you're worried, you can always change the filter every 2500. For a car that is a dedicated track/race car and never sees the street then every 4 to 6 track days should work fine.

FWIW, Most wear happens at startup when the engine is cold and before oil pressure builds up.