I bought a 2002 Boxster (non S) 986 recently.

Questions:

1. What grade of Mobil 1 engine oil should I use? How many quarts?

2. For a minor tune-up, what should be done? Spark plugs? Air filters?


Thanks

 

Should be a good car. My 2002 2.7l 5-speed Boxster has covered over 315K miles. Still runs great.

Porsche approved oil list includes at least one 0w-40 oil (Mobil 1 the factory fill stuff), a number of 5w-40 oils and at least one 5w-50 oil. (Not a typo for 15w-50!).

In LA as long as you avoid driving in areas where the temperature can drop to -25C you can run a 5w40 even a 5w-50 oil. Up here in the bay area well, just east of the bay area, I run 5w-50 oil year 'round. Doesn't get very cold here but gets plenty hot, up in the triple digits.

Might mention both my Boxster and my 996 Turbo covered a lot of miles, even in triple digit temperatures, with 0w-40 oil in their engines with no issues.

Regardless, pick an approved oil. I really don't recall how much oil the engine takes. The owners manual I think has this -- ignore what the owner manual has to "say" regarding what oil to use that info is not correct.

The Bentley Porsche Boxster service manual says the amount of oil needed with no filter change is 8.5l (9 quarts) or with a filter change 8.75l (9.25 quarts).

Be aware the above numbers assume a proper drain procedure is followed. The car should be level, the engine up to temperature, and the oil allowed to drain for 20 minutes.

(When I first got my Boxster I just backed the car up on Rhino Ramps to change the oil. I did a "test" in which I jacked up the front of the car to bring it level with the rear of the car and there was no increase in oil flow out the drain. The slight out of level condition from the car being on the ramps didn't appear to affect the oil drain.)

Use a new filter element, a new o-ring on the filter housing, and a new drain plug sealing ring. This ring should not be reused.

Be sure to properly torque everything down. I don't recall the numbers but the Bentely manual I mentioned has them. They should also be listed in the owners manual.

The 2002 Boxster has an oil dipstick. After a while I just drained the oil as above then added the correct amount of oil. I did prefill the oil filter housing with its new element installed with fresh oil then poured the rest into the engine through the oil filler tube.

Afterwards after running the engine some and driving the car down off the ramps and cleaning up putting things away I'd check the oil level using the in dash digital oil level system. The level wants to agree with the amount of oil you put into the engine.

Oh, before starting the engine after the oil change I'd count the number of empty oil bottles twice before starting the engine to be sure I had added the right amount of oil.

With my usage 5K mile between oil/filter services is about right.

Be aware there are other important services besides oil/filter services. That 2 year brake and if equipped with a manual transmission clutch fluid flush/bleed is important. Engine air filter needs to be changed. When you remove the old filter vacuum out the air box to get any stuff that falls off the top of the filter into the box. I smear a bit of veggie oil on the foam seal of the filter to help it slide into place and seal properly.

Change the cabin air filter once in a while. If this is left in service too long the filter develops an off odor.

Keep the body water drains and the radiator ducts free of trash build up.

I have the transmission/diff fluid changed on schedule (90K miles I think) or sometimes at lower miles. I have this done at the dealer. Labor is just 0.3 hour and there's the cost of the fluid and that's it. Tranny/diff fluid is nasty stuff and I can't stand the smell of it.

I don't recall the change interval on spark plugs but I'd guess 60K miles.

Anyhow, like I said above my 2002 Boxster has been a great car. Still enjoy driving it even after all the miles.

 

Hi Macster,

Thanks a lot for sharing with me your wonderful advice and experience! I really appreciate!

 

About 14 years ago, when I changed the oil in my '97, in a distracted moment, I started the engine before I filled it with new oil! Probably ran for 5 - 10 seconds empty before I realized and shut it down. Once I filled it, I restarted it, and she hummed along - never had a problem.

 

You (and the engine) were fortunate.

But your good fortune was not all due to luck.

The engine does have to tolerate a bit of lack of oil flow even with the engine full of oil upon a cold start.

When I start my 996 Turbo I can and sometimes do watch the oil pressure gage.

The gage needle barely rises as the starter cranks the engine and when the engine starts and the RPMs zoom up to over 1K the oil pressure gage needle lags the tach gage needle.

While my 2002 Boxster doesn't have an oil pressure gage I'm sure the behavior is the same.

But even with all the cold starts the Boxster and Turbo engines have had they both seem no worse for the wear. Residual oil is sufficient to ensure adequate lubrication for a few moments.

Still I would advise anyone out there to not repeat what you did. And to avoid this is why I always count the empty oil bottles twice before I start the engine after an oil change. Count the empties and run through a mental checklist to make sure I've installed the filter and tightened the housing and installed the drain plug (or in the case of the Turbo drain plugs) and torqued the plugs down.

 

Good suggestion - believe me, it never happened again!

Back when I was in engineering school, we used to have a fund raising fair where we would drain the oil out of an old beater and take bets to see how long it would run before seizing. It never did - we had to remove the coolant to get it to grenade!