innovator

You are correct. According to Alldata,

"Begining January 24, 2001, all Porsche vehicles are now factory filled with 0w/40 Mobile 1 engine oil.

Engine oils in the viscosity 0w/40, 5w/40 and 5w/50 must correspond to the ACEA A3 specifications"

Emmissions are a big reason for the changes though. That, and fuel economy.




I didn't mean to insinuate that you could use any TD oil. Only Rotella T and Delvac were mentioned In this thread though. There are others, but those two are the big players

Quadcammer

yea yea, race car my ***. Its a luxury GT car for christs sake.

and if it sounds like this:



I would try anything to get it to sound better.

My aircooled turbo doesn't sound anywhere near as loud, and its already pretty loud.

unacceptable.

LVDell

I have a slight rattle but nothing like your video. That's insane!

Dock

That sounds very much like what my LWFW sounds like (in neutral/clutch released) when the car is fully warmed up.

TheBucketOfTruth

Just because the GT3 handles better doesn't make the Turbo a luxury GT in my mind. A Mercedes SL is a luxury GT. I still see the Turbo as very much a sports car.

As for your noise, I can see why you're annoyed. What have you tried to quiet it down?

innovator

It is unacceptable. That is how mine sounded too. As I said earlier, the Rotella has reduced it , but it's still there. There are many other engines with similar output that do not sound that way. Porsche must feel that it is not a catastrophic noise, so there is no concrete fix developed. Rest assured though, if there is I will find if, or figure out what needs to be done to correct it. Even with the Rotella which absolutely helped, I still am not satisfied. Others have rebuilt their engines just to get rid of that noise with success, but in a few thousand miles it returns.

Kevinmacd

I wonder if it has anything to do with the coefficent of the block expansion? In the morning or when cold mine does not have the IMS rattle, only after it warms up!

Quadcammer

well, this is not my car. I have a 993TT, but i wanted to get an idea of the noise, and thats the video I found.

a 996TT to me is too soft and comfortable to be a "race car for the street". heated seats, navigation, bunch of electronic nannies, etc.

fwiw, i also consider my 993TT to be a GT car.

The Mercedes SL is a luxury car, nothing more. It has no sporting intentions if you ask me.

"02996ttx50

that sound is akin to fingernails down a chalkboard.

haulinkraut

While any 911 turbo is not a cup car, it is not a true GT car. It is a sports car that was designed to cater to the GT car needs. By some of the more snobby interpretations every commercially produced sports car is a GT car. Every Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette, Porsche and Masarati. If you ask anyone other than the sports car purists out there what a porsche 911 is, they will say a sports car. That means everything from the carrera to the GT3 RS. Let's not be silly and call a steak a hamburger because it isn't a filet mignon.

As for the typical rattle, it bother's me but it has yet to lead to a catastrophic failure in any of these engines. To be clear, the car in the video above is not the typical 996TT noise. That is a real issue. Anytime you hear a rattle it is a metal part hitting another metal part. This in itself is not good. But it happens in all engines. Some may not be heard, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. If you are running a broken down oil you may be lowering your oil pressure to vital areas. The lower the pressure the lower the pressure the less cam chain tension you will have. This will be noisy. Also this will mean the film of oil that is supposed to be between all metal parts will be thinner and shear easier. This equates to metal hitting metal.

Anytime the noise is louder than usual you be doing oil samples and shortening your oil change intervals. If you are changing your oil every 5000 miles you are probably running on broken down oil. I change it every 3000 miles and I sometimes consider changing earlier. I have stopped using mobil 1 in the past on my audi due to a noisy valve train and the change was an improvement. I went back to Mobil 1 when I got my 911 and now that I have tried Rotella T6 5w40 I am of the thought that mobil 1 is not able to run the same 3000 mile interval as rotella. This is based on the fact that the mobile 1 of the same weight and viscosity would get back to the same noise level of old oil at 1000 miles after change and the the Rotella has so far been to 1500 miles with the same noise as it was when freshly changed. The only real way to guage this is with an oil analysis. But noise levels are a direct effect of the oils shear capacity amogst other things. And all of these things are effected by age and the effects of there breakdown.

innovator

haulinkraut, I have recently listened to several 996 turbos that sound just like that video clip, and the owners says they always have sounded like that .. I really don't think it's a problem other than the fact it certainly sounds like one...

Mobil 1 is nothing special. Porsche made a deal with Mobil 1 , as did many other companies, so it's factory fill. The name is very recognizable, similar to Band-aids and Jello. It makes people feel good.. It is NOT the best oil though, and there is plenty to back that up.

I put about 100 miles on the car since the taboo Rotella oil change, and it is actually quieter now than it was when I first changed it.

I personally never use Mobil 1 in my customers cars unless they demand it.. When the B5 Audi S4 came out, they were running as OE fill 0w40 Mobil 1. I can't tell you how many turbos we swapped out soon after the warranty expired. Not as many as the dealers did though! The valve trains always ticked and lifters bled down, as did the timing chain tensioners if the car sat overnight. We starting using 5W40 synthetic from Amsoil, Total, and Castrol, and even chipped, the turbos did not fail again. Additionally the engine was just plain quieter and smoother with much less timing chain rattle at startup.. M1 0w-40 is like water when it's hot.. Will it save you .0005 MPG? yea.. Will the oil flow with superiority when you start the car up on the North Pole in January? Yes it will. But I don't need that extreme low temp protection. I rather err to the hotter side of the protection spectrum which is far more practical in most real life situations with a high HP high RPM engine such as ours. Even in the seemingly rare event that someone gets 300,000 miles on the original engine with M1 0w-40, I would say that's the exception and not the rule, and I don't like how the engine sounds with it.

I believe that at least in part, it is the Rotellas interaction with the chain tensioners that are improving the rattle. A more stable viscosity (not a thicker one because it's still 5w-40) will keep the chain more taught at lower oil pressures, thus, reducing the chain and gear lash which is causing the noise. Also, keep in mind that the engines state of tune can greatly effect the rattle. If the engine isn't idling as smoothly as another , it will definitely rattle more. Many things can effect that, including the gas you use. I think that is a big factor as to why some 996 turbos rattle more than others.

Look, I have nothing to gain here.. I'm not selling anything. But using 0w-40 and listening to the engine clatter is just not something I am willing to do, knowing, that there is a way to reduce it without reinventing the wheel. Plus, I firmly believe that there is no downside to using Rotella T6. None...it's all good, and I have experience to back it up, based on many other engines I've used it on including my own. With my 996 turbo, the benefits are even more noticeable, in an audible sense at the very least..

SSST

Let's face it. That rattle is normal for this car. I don't like to hear it get too loud, but it is part of the "Charm" and the oil can make a difference in the noise. Yet this is one of the most reliable and durable super cars on the road.

All I know is that when I mash the go pedal, I really like what happens next. When I accelerate through a sweeper or goose the pedal in a tight turn, the handling is sublime.

Quitchyer bitchin' and drive the damn car.

innovator

Can't argue with your post...

doubleurx

That's also with the camera shoved right under the sound source. That is pretty pronounced though.

I still listen to my mechanic. You stop the clattering with one hand, only to extend the clattering to the next part in line. I'll stick with the tried and true 0/40. When someone comes to the boards with a car that has 200,000 miles run on the TD blends, I'll consider a change.

Like Blckhead stated - mash the pedal and the sound magically goes away.

Dock

Heated seats and NAV were options, so they don't represent "soft" or "GT" in terms of what Porsche's target for the base car was. I personally think the addition of the options you mentioned (along with other options) does make the Turbo more "GT'ish" though.

I consider the base Turbo to be more GT'ish/softer than it needed to be. IMO Porsche definitely moved the car away from the harder edged Turbos of the past; the ride is too soft, the shifter too soft/ropey, and the exhaust sound too muted.