1998 996 - what engine oil??

[James996]

Hi,

Hopefully someone on here can give me a good steer. I have just picked up a 1998 996 with 44k on the clock. Although low miles, an older, yet well serviced car. Simply, could someone advise the best oil and grade to complete a much needed engine oil change? Many thanks.

 

[bobsan]

good place to start....

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/product-finder/car/engine-oil/porsche/product-finder-2.aspx

 

[thirteeneast]

+1 for Opie I Always buy from there.

 

[adrian996]

I've been using Castrol GTX Magnatec in my MY2003 996 for ten years or so with no problems. My Indi recommended it to me and tells me that one of his other customers has a 3.4 996 that he uses at the 'Ring and he only puts Magnatec in it. This is a 10w/40 semi-synthetic oil.

My car is low use and low mileage (24k) so I thought that it would suit the car. Seems great so far.

 

[thirteeneast]

With the IMS Grenade in our Engines is that not a bit of an un supported risk?...

However it does intrigue me as a good idea.

Something else thats always puzzled me is why is fully synth so expensive if its made in a lab. why should it be effected by the price of crude oil.

 

[adrian996]

A risk? No. In fact I'd say that using any 0/40 oil is more of a risk in these engines. Have you ever seen the stuff when it's hot? It's like bloody water - as thin as Williams hair.

I noticed a dramatic reduction in oil usage when I changed to the Castrol. In fact my car doesn't use any oil at all now. I can only surmise that the previous oil usage was due to the oil being so thin that it was getting past the 'rings all the time. My engine was audibly quieter when I changed to the Castrol also. She smokes far less on cold start up too which can only indicate that there's less oil in the head.

 

[thirteeneast]

And what about the fact that its only semi synth opposed to fully?.

I can understand moving from 0/40 to 10/40w but to try semi is well brave.

 

[thirteeneast]

Are you sure its not "Castrol syntec" Which is a fully synth oil now recomended by Porsche an LN Engineering?.

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Magnatec 5W-40 semi-synthetic used to be on the Porsche Approved oil list a few years ago. Don't know why they dropped it - I expect it was more to do with Castrol wanting to promote their newer synthetics, and not re-applying for Magnatec, or maybe because the service intervals of the newer cars is extended to 20k between changes. Either way, it is good stuff, and seems to be very popular in the aircooled engines, which must be just as hard on oil, as it provides a lot of the engine cooling.

 

[thirteeneast]

I use to love that stuff.

 

[thirteeneast]

Adrian, Ive been thinking about this for the last 24hrs and I gunna try some 10/40w semi this summer when I do my next Oil change too.[]

 

[adrian996]

Hi Richard. I'm no expert but the the basics of a more tenacious oil can only be a plus in my opinion! As I say, my engine was audibly quieter when I changed over to it. See how you get on.

I'm certain that Porsche did an awful lot of expensive research to find out which oil was the 'best' for the 996 engine but I just don't feel that we (British) live in a climate that warrants such a thin oil. (I'm also pretty certain that some pennies must have changed hands between Mobil and Porsche also so that they bagged the deal and got to have their stickers on the inside of every Porsche 911 engine lid! Nice work if you get it![])

Adrian.

 

[thirteeneast]

+ If we do frequent oil changes it makes sense that it would be a plus.

Thanks for the food for thought.

 

[tim92gts]

Has anyone tried the M1 5W-50 on the approved list?
If the Mobil 1 version is NLA i'm thinking of the Millers version.
Car is a 2003 with 50k on the clock.
I'm also hoping to do the Hartech thermostat upgrade and a coolant change when my garagiste is back from holiday.
Has anyone ever heard of a cat failing due to xs ZDDP in the oil?
I'm running 1200 ppm in the 928 and the cats were working fine when last installed; it's always used about 300ml per 1k miles
so could be a worst case scenario for poisoning.
Any feedback appreciated
Tim

 

[chris gibbs]

Maybe I'm just a heretic but I just use any 10w/40 fully synthetic from a reputable manufacturer and change it every 6 months. My car is out of warranty so its down to me if I am doing anything daft!
If purchased in 25 litre drums it's not really that expensive.

I have always wondered how manufacturers seemed to double the service interval of some models without actually modifying the engine. Its partly to do with better synthetic oils but I would bet that its also to do with the market expectation of 24K+ service intervals - way way too long in my amateur opinion. After all - I've only been driving old cars for 40 years[]

 

[AlexBell]

ORIGINAL: tim92gts

Has anyone tried the M1 5W-50 on the approved list?

I use it, it's the one all Porsche workshops here use because of the cold winters. Oh.. and it's the same oil all Porsche Works racing teams use for racing, Le Mans, Nurburgingring.. you name it. So why follow Porsche's recomendation when there so many knowlegdeble indie's around? [8|]

 

[tim92gts]

I use it, it's the one all Porsche workshops here use because of the cold winters. Oh.. and it's the same oil all Porsche Works racing teams use for racing, Le Mans, Nurburgingring.. you name it. So why follow Porsche's recomendation when there so many knowlegdeble indie's around?

My main worry is the indies advising Magnatec which is very low on HTHS. The M1 5W-50 has become NLA over here so will probably go for Millers, supposed to be as good.