Slow Guy

The single biggest problem with those "shops" is over tightening the oil drain plug. Stripped drain plug (or worse, stripped sump pan) is a PITA to deal with and not worth trusting those guys on a $60k+ vehicle.

I agree, it should be (and is really) a simple job but they can really foul it up.

Second issue (for me at least) is they're in such a hurry to do the job in "15 min. or less" they don't let all the old oil drain out before they close it up and start installing the new oil.

Just my .02.

Mike in CA

Don't the suction devices utilize the dipstick tube? Not sure about the diesel but the gas Cayenne models don't have one. Given that, it's unlikely the quick change place will let the oil drain long enough, not to mention the fact that the undertray will have to be removed to get to the drain plug. And what about the specific filter insert and sealing gaskets required by the Cayenne filter? You'll probably have to bring those yourself too. On the V8, the hydraulic lines for PDCC have to be moved out of the way to get to the filter if your car has that option.

The point is, how many of the "high school dropouts" are going to be familiar with oil changes or anything else in a Cayenne, gas or diesel, and do you really want them to practice on yours? I don't. Just sayin'.....

If you want to talk economics, real savings, and being sure the job is done right, consider doing your own oil changes (see the link below).

https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...-pictures.html

grohgreg

Are you assuming? or has this happened to you recently. Cuz around here, they don't touch the drain plug. They don't even have to get under the car, as the filter is on top of the engine. And the engine oil is hot and thin when you arrive, so they just suck it out from the top with a vacuum tube. As long as you don't give them too much oil, it's a no-brainer.

Yes, the CD has an easily accessible dipstick tube (capped) in the right front corner of the engine. And if you review my suggestion, I clearly mentioned supplying your own C30 oil and Porsche approved filter. For me it's a 200 mile round trip to have my Porsche dealer change the oil for $300. But Grease Monkey is a 50 mile round trip and $35 (plus oil and filter). Like I said, a no-brainer.

//greg//

grohgreg

Your choice. But for the record, only the V8s have a 10k interval. The six cylinders - all of them - tell you via the MFD when to change the oil. This is documented in the Maintenance manual pg9; the multi-purpose display prompts for the oil change service

//greg//

997CS4

One of the beauties of diesel engines are the low maintance costs. The Dutch Porsche website says oil change every 30.000 km (18.750 miles) or every two years! Same for oil filter.

Mike in CA

Interesting about the capped dipstick tube, even though there is no dipstick. On the V8, the undertray must be removed to get to the filter. Is that not the case on the CD? Also, the filter housing cap is plastic, identical to that on the Carrera, and can be easily overtightened by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Does the diesel use a different set up?

Irrespective of the differences between the CD and V8, having someone work on my car who probably rarely sees a Porsche much less works on one, and more importantly, whose primary goal is to complete the job as quickly as humanly possible, causes me concern. Your comfort level with this is clearly different than mine.

That said, on principle, I wouldn't pay $300 and travel 100 miles (round trip to my dealer) for an oil change either, which is why I do my own (it's a 100' round trip ). No right or wrong here, just different strokes.....

laurenkendall

Personally I would rather drive an hour to my dealership and have the service done by trained mechanics than teach a jiffy lube employee about the ins and outs of a BRAND NEW 2013 Diesel Porsche. I did not buy a new Porsche to take it to a quick change shop - don't get me wrong - when I had my Honda jiffy lube was by best friend. However, this car is different - and new to me. I am not happy at all with the over fill light on...still. Eventhough the mechanics at Porsche are trained on the new diesel it still seems to remain a mystery. Frustrated.

gnat

I stand corrected. I just checked it again and you are correct (will have to point that out to my dealer too).

I'll still change it more frequently though as I just don't trust these long intervals MFGs are pushing. Maybe I'm gun shy from seeing a few engines fail due to bad oil change practices in the pre-synth days, but even dealer prices every 3-5k is cheap insurance against a burned out engine in my book. Our 996 has a 15k interval if I remember correctly, but it's been changed every 5-7k or once a year which means there were maybe 5 that didn't need to happen. I don't think I could pick up a good condition engine for $800ish

More frequent oil changes also means you (or someone you hopefully trust) is under the vehicle more frequently and can hopefully spot problems before they go south. It was an oil change that actually alerted us to both our RMS failures (the tech noticed the telltale "single" drip) and waiting another 7-10k could have very easily been a new engine.

Doug_B_928

I recall reading somewhere, but don't recall where, that the sucking method, well, sucks at getting out potential impurities compared to letting them run out of the bottom of the sump with the oil. Thoughts?

Mike in CA

My thought is that you drive into the quick lube place, they almost immediately stick the suction tube down the dipstick tube after shutting down the engine, and suck out some amount of oil. IMO, there's no way that they are going to extract all of the dirty oil that you'd get by letting the engine drain down for 30 minutes. Not only might this leave dirty oil in the engine, it could also be problematic as to how much oil to have them add back in, with the possibility of overfill. I guess I'm just too obsessive about this kind of thing.....

grohgreg

It will likely dismay you to know then, that many dealerships - including Porsche - are moving to this same system. They suck it out from the top. Don't think for a minute that they replace the oil with individual liter bottles either, they pump fresh oil in through a refill hose connected to a 55 gallon drum. Unless they spend the extra bucks for a system that can meter to 0.1 liter, it's not unreasonable to expect an occasional over-fill.

//greg//

Slow Guy

My .02, marine mechanics have been doing the "evacuation" method for years (not too easy getting a drain pain under an engine in the bilge area) but then again marine engines (v8, v6's) have been "marineized" (correct term?) so where the dipstick tube ends and how much of the oil gets sucked out I don't know. I just have to believe older design (car) engines with the tube to measure oil level don't go all the way to the bottom of the pan. It's also very possible mfgrs. (inc. Porsche) are moving in this direction with the "capped tube" system that Greg has and the tube is designed to evacuate more of the oil, I see that as a very real possibility esp. if they've moved the oil filter to the top of the engine for easy "one location" maintenance.

Is it critical to get every last drop of old oil out? Not in my opinion. I doubt many shops let it drain for more than 2 - 3 min. before they plug it back up (personally I let it drain for 15 min + but I'm incredibly ****...). With 9 qts. + I don't think it's that critical to get every drop. In my 993 there's no way you could get all the old oil out unless you disassembled the oil cooler lines in front of the RF tire. On that car a oil change leaves ~1.5 qt. of old oil in the system, I don't lose sleep over it. As long as the oil is changed when it's warm the impurities are "suspended" in the oil and will come out with the old oil.

Personally, with the quality of today's oils I've long since abandoned the 3 - 5k oil change frequency. Does it hurt to change it that often, absolutely not, I just don't need to do it. I'm personally happy w/ 7,500 mi. (w/ VERY high quality oil) but wouldn't worry if it had to go to 10k (I've never gone that far though). I'm still not comfortable w/ the 15k changes and probably never will be, too many internet pics of gummed up engines for me to go that far. I'll most likely have Blackstone test my oil during my next 7,500 mi. change just to see how it's doing (don't have a baseline to compare with though).

Since Greg's "Grease Monkeys" aren't getting anywhere near his drain plug I (personally) wouldn't have a problem letting them do the job but then again I'd be buying my own evac. system to do it myself, as I said, I'm ****. I have a small evac. system now that I use to change the oil in the mowers, pressure washer and even the motorcycle, it works very well ($20 at Lowes) (wouldn't work for a car though!).

Important thing is to change it, and keep records in case Porsche needs to see them later (heaven forbid).

Just my .02.

Addendum: The Nashville dealership only carries 2 oils (both 55 gal. drums). They are (as of last year) M1 0w40 and Pennzoil 5w40. This is because they are a Sonic dealership and that what Sonic buys. I don't like either oil. They have a central oil station where the tech dials in the amount of oil from which brand and then it's pumped into a 1 gal. (?) funneled container. The system isn't close to being exact. They're building a new dealership (with new service facilities), maybe they'll have a better system in place there?
I'm sure they've had to add a different oil for the new diesels but I don't know how or what it is (I missed the last tech. session there).

medtech

Well, at least you read your owners manual...

Hmmm, let's see... $35 for some kid who doesn't even have a GED and is known for screwing up Hondas, or $40 for a Porsche trained mechanic with a reputation to protect.....which one do I pick??

92C2Targa#119

The TDI CD needs a VW 507 spec'ed oil? No other should be used in it.

Mike in CA

At least the Porsche dealer or knowledgeable indy will know how to properly deal with the undertray, PDCC lines, filter housing, etc that need to be removed and replaced to access the filter regardless of whether they suck the oil out the top or not.

In any event, if what you say about many Porsche dealerships oil change proceedures is true, then I am dismayed , and all the more reason for me to feel good about doing oil changes myself.