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YOUR RESEARCHWhich transmission fluid to use in manual 996?
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Replace 2 days ago at the dealer...they
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i just had mine changed 2 days ago at the dealer...they used a Shell 75W-90...IIRC....shifts nicely..better than before...03 coupe 109,500 miles
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I don't know whether the transmission fluid had been changed before that.
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When mine is changed, I'll be using the factory oil.
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I'm getting close to 90 kmi, so I changed my transmission fluid.
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Suggestion
In my 986 Boxster S I'm going to use CRX 75w90 NT for my next fill, according to Karl at performance racing oils it is the right one for that stock transaxle.
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Suggestion
I went back to factory fill because of this but will likely put in Redline for this summer season and see how it fares next fall when it gets cold again.
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Cold shifting problem solved, minimal notchiness too.
I've done some searching and haven't found what I need. Search feature here seems to be as bad as ever.
I'm interested in changing out my transmission fluid in my 996 M/T. I understand the dealer uses some uber expensive Porsche part number fluid. Is there an equivalent fluid. I know for example often EXXON/Mobil will make OEM fluids and re-label them for a car maker. Does this apply to the 996 tranny fluid?
This is a different gear box than the old G50 that uses the swepco oils.
Any help? Thanks!
Andy
The problem with the above reference and others I have found in the racing/DE forums is that the GT3/GT2/Turbo all use the G50 transmission along with the GT1 block. This is different from the M96 transmission.
MY 99' has it in it and at almost 109k miles the differance before and after I changed it is night and day... shifts WAY better, quieter, and smother. I was SOOO shocked that an oil could make any differance at all, let alone a very noticable improvement in my case.
ALSO - I had a wierd squeal I was chasing (whick is one of the reasons I descided to change the oil) and it completely went away ???? No one knows why, but I am very happy it did ! Thought it was the clutch, but its gone now?
My indy shop runs this in quite a few boxsters and 996's and say lots of folks cant tell, and quite a few are amazed...
The job is so easy I let my 10 year old do it (except breaking the plugs loose and final tightening) took an hour... most of the time was watching the oil drip out... pumping the new in was a little rough, but not bad
$25 per liter of the factory stuff is not bad for a once in-a-while service, and there's no question if you're using the right stuff...
http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/me..._Code=996Trans
Robert is the mechanic I use at Lufteknic, (the owner), and he is really quite adamant that the Delvac Mobil 1 75W-90 is the best he's ever come across. He'll put in the OE Porsche oil if you want, but I certainly feel stupid arguing with his extensive experience. Changing mine this spring to it.
I asked my dealer the question and he told me use a 75-90 synthetic, whatever brand you want. I finally went with the Redline and I'm happy with it. They use the Mobil brand and another Indie is using Swepco.
Buy 3 Liters. you only need 2.7 liters. I just changed mine with OEM. I put in Royal Purple 15K miles ago and its just not as good with the same spec. I couldn't get a hold of any OEM at that time.
I had Swepco in my car and it's outstanding but combined with the short shifter and the Swepco oil my car was nearly impossible to shift in the cold until the oil got warmed up.
I went back to factory fill because of this but will likely put in Redline for this summer season and see how it fares next fall when it gets cold again.
I've used Redline fluids in the Tranny and Diff of every one of my cars and been very happy with it's performance. I always change those fluids once a year no matter what though.
Andy
in the MK1 manual its on pg 197. same info just we dont have so many bells and whistles...
<thinks> man 50 extra pages in the manual just for a glove box?
Go for the factory fluid. Cost me about $100 but worth it. I have a 2004 C2 and tried Mobil Synthetic 75-90 but when the trans was cold it was difficult/stiff shifting into 2nd and 3rd. Went back to factory fluid and can’t believe it made such a difference. Cold shifting problem solved, minimal notchiness too. Some of the other recommendations may good but you can’t go wrong with the factory stuff.
Redline, but you have to use the GL-5/6 75w90 for transmissions/transaxles not the 75w90 for rear end gears/differentials. The rear end stuff has friction modifiers for LSD's that makes it too slippery for Porsche synchronizers to slow the gears for a smooth rapid shift. Same with the Mobil 1 synthetic 75w90LS, have to use the Delvac which is used mostly in big rig trannies and gear cases but is hard as hell to find and comes in 5 gallon pails only from what I have seen. Redline made my trans shift much smoother hot or cold at 49000 mile change.
YMMV
Steve
700 miles on OEM fluid after 15K miles on Royal Purple. the feeling is night and day. I will not make the mistake going nonOEM again. This is one of the things porsche engineers did right the first time around.
Apologies for digging up such a zombie-fied thread, thank Google for that.
Local dealer says the fluid is only available in 20L jugs at nearly $800 per, and they of course don't have any in stock. Where are you guys getting your factory fluid? And is it still considered the best option? I'm a most-for-my-money type of guy, but my 2nd gear synchro is pretty grumpy, so I want to make sure I get the best stuff for the job so as not to see any further deterioration for as long as possible!
Thanks guys!
Brian Flanagan
'03 C4S 6M
KrazyK, you may remember I had a similar thread not too long ago. Since I wasn't getting the answers I wanted, I read every transmission oil/fluid thread I could find on the web. Probably 20 of them. Swepco came up a lot, but if you aren't tracking, Delvac was the most mentioned fluid I saw. I got the Motul since I will be tracking.
Good luck!
I went with Motul Gear Competition FF 75w 140. Track day isn't until April so I can't say how it did yet. But shifting in general has been smoother. I'm not sure how much of that is just the fluid being new though. The jury is still out.
I have a 2003 996. I'm getting close to 90 kmi, so I changed my transmission fluid. Based on reports of what worked and what didn't, I went with the Porsche factory fluid from Suncoast Parts for 40 $/qt. Ouch. It took just under 3 quarts.
A tip on changing it yourself: When my car was about level, only half of the fluid drained out. The drain plug is toward the rear of the car, so I pulled out the jack stands and dropped the rear of the car as low as it would go without crushing my drain pan and whoosh...the rest of the fluid drained right out. It looked as clear as if it were new. The magnetic drain plug had a dozen or so flakes of metal on it, which seems to be the same as what I've seen on other vehicles over the decades.
The shifting was fine before. Surprisingly, the shifting is now
more difficult
: it's "notchy" and harder to push into each gear, both when cold and when warmed up. If anyone has a manual transmission fluid that produces better shifting than the factory fluid, I'd like to try that next time.
That's interesting. I've changed out mine (also a '03) twice and each time the shifting is even smoother afterwards. The fluid was quite dark the first time I drained it though. Are you sure you had the stock fluid on it before?
Just had my transmission fluid changed as well. Was confused as to which fluid to buy but ended up ordering Porsche OEM fluid from ECS tuning. Shifts are now considerably smoother. Car has 52k miles.
My experience matches Ashai's, well the shifting part. I don't change the fluid but have it done and I don't know what it looks like.
In your car's case be sure you do a proper clutch fluid flush/bleed. I have found letting this go beyond 2 years, while brake function is unaffected - street driving only -- the clutch action deteriorates and shifting becomes less smooth, almost like I'm not pushing the clutch in far enough.
For the clutch fluid flush/bleed my advice would be to start with and do a proper brake fluid flush/bleed then move on to the clutch hydraulic system.
Wow, timely post. Just went through the search for fluid. The Shell fluid that porsche recommends has a new name. It is now called Shell Spirax. And the are multiple types of Spriax. Turns out Prosce fluid is the S5. After all that research I found you could not buy it in the use in less than 20 qt jugs.
Went with the ECS for OEM fluid. They were the cheapest I could find at $32/quart. Pelican didn't have OEM fluid, but they had a Fuchs fluid that was fairly cheap. Almost went with that.
Porsche transaxle fluid is $26.5/L from Sunset! Why buy from anyone else?
http://www.porschepartshub.com/oe-porsche/99991754600
Cheaper than a single oil change and it's done only every 50k or more. The most important thing is most ppl find the stock fluid is the best.
Damn. Went to their website but could not find fluid. Should have posted before I purchased. Oh, well. ECS is local and a site sponsor so I don't mind supporting them.
I've read numerous stories of 996 owners that used other oil in the transmission and experienced problems. Going back to the factory lubricant solved the problems.
When mine is changed, I'll be using the factory oil.
I ordered the Mobil Delvac 75/90 from Suncoast, still waiting for the shipment to arrive. $40 or so per gallon plus shipping. I'll be interested to see if shifting improves or declines. Only have 15 to 20,000 on the last fill and drain after the dealer did some transmission work. Starting to feel a bit difficult in the 1st to 2nd gear change.
Can anyone confirm on a 2004 whether the drain plug is a hex or triple square bit?
Thanks
Mine is a 2003, which should be the same as your 2004. It used an Allen wrench/hex key, 10 mm I think--conveniently the same as my LNE engine oil magnetic drain plug.
I've had the car for 50 kmi. I don't know whether the transmission fluid had been changed before that. I was really surprised that it looked so clean when I changed it. The color matched that of the fresh Porsche fluid that I pumped in.
Yes, that's what I remember too. BTW, the Delvac is designed for GT3 transmissions which use steel synchros (ours use brass).
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-gt2-...ml#post4373630
I just ordered three liters of Porsche fluid from Sunset at$28/bottle yesterday at about 3pm. It was delivered to mydoor this morning around 9am.
My local dealer wanted $60/bottle
You may want to try Motul 300 next time then since at least you have a reason to experiment outside of P fluid. There are a few happy Motul 300 users here on RL.
I will, mine is notchy when cold (selecting 2nd).
There was a fluid change done about a year before I bought the car but I don't know what oil was used, so for the sake of $50 it's worth the change.
Thought I'd post a brief update. I have no allegiance to this dealer, but it took me a while and some phone calls to figure this so thought I'd post it to save someone some time. Other dealers may also carry the same
Sunset parts has the Shell oil that is recommended by Porsche in 2 formats.
999 917 546 00 Shell Transaxle (75W-90) in sealed original 1 liter bottles from Porsche is about $30-35/liter.
They also have the 20 liter barrel of the same oil from which they can take liters and send them to you unsealed in their bottles. This Part Number : 000-043-204-19-SP and is about $25/liter.
Hope this helps someone save a little time.
I've had the Porsche manual transmission oil in my car for over a year and I have short-shift kit. Shifting into first and second gears is a bit hard on cold days before the car is warmed up. After that, it's fine.
Just buy the stuff from the dealer and get on with it. Honestly with such a large service interval you'll probably never do it again - how much are you actually going to save, and at what potential cost? It takes 2.8l if I remember correctly. $120 well spent for peace of mind and having the right stuff in a critical and very expensive mechanical system.
It always surprises me how people love to talk about the driving experience of Porsche and then undermine that experience with inferior aftermarket parts. These cars are a collection of everything that goes into them and when you begin swapping pieces out you're changing the entire system. I'm not trying to pick on you specifically, this is more of just an overall observation that I can't quite understand and goes beyond just transmission fluid. If, for example, these transmissions had a habit of going bad and the oil was suspect then it would be prudent to investigate better alternatives - but why even waste the time otherwise? Especially when discussing a potential savings of maybe $60 of the entire time you're going to own the car?
For what it's worth I used Porsche brand fluid in my transaxle and front differential. It took 5 quarts all together. It was expensive. It's a Porsche.
The Porsche dealer in Calgary sells Shell Spirax S2 for Manual Transmissions. The previous owner for my 99 included 3L which he bought from them which I put in it. Works/shifts fine. I needed a 3' breaker bar to crack open the plug though!
South of Calgary, land of little rain, rattlesnakes, black widows and the odd cactus. Plus never driven in the winter so even if it did snow no biggie.
I was just trying to be helpful. This oil IS from the dealer and is the same exact oil in two different bottles. Some people like to work on their cars themselves. If you want buy the EXACT same oil at your dealer for twice as much, feel free. Others may want to use the information I provided and save a little money
.
Thanks for your info and I'm sure it will help people save money. I don't think Charle's post was directed to your post though. At least not the way I read it. He agrees with you on using only OE fluid.
Mobil delvac 75w-90 is the factory fill for 996 GT2/GT3, not the regular 996 we're talking about here. Their transmission is different than ours. They use steel synchros and ours use brass.
I've never tried it but the 997 guys swear by it. There's a thread saying it fixes 1st gear crunch or something like that. If you search the 996 forum, you will see some people said they tried it but didn't like it., not as smooth as 996 OE fluid and also not smooth in colder climates. They ended up swapping back to the OE fluid. I'm not sure how true all those are but I just want to report what I've read on this forum.
Thanks. To clarify I wasn't talking about/to you (or anyone in particular) so I apologize if it came across that way. If its the same product for less - that's great. My point is that cutting corners to save a few $ slowly undermines the very thing everyone seems to love about these cars.
Do you mean this:
Driven Racing Oil™ Syncromesh Transmission Fluid
http://www.jegs.com/p/Driven-Racing-...45756/10002/-1
or this:
http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...to-all-racers/
or this:
http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...ts-gear-teeth/
Wher are you guys buying your Manual Transmission Fluid? I only see one option for Manual Transmission Fluid at Suncoast. It cost $40 per bottle.
I have a 2001 911 C2
Yep, that's what I used. $120 to change the transmission fluid is about the same cost as 8.5 quarts of Joe Gibbs DT40 and a filter for the motor oil change.
Millers Nano for tranny. Fabulous improvement for my 48,000 mile C4. Expensive but no more so than Porsche brand. I put Millers Nano motor oil in as well.
Purchased on Amazon. $103.
I ended up buying mine from my local Porsche dealership: Checkered Flag Porsche, in Virginia Beach. It worked out to $143 after tax. Suncoast shipping cost would have made it about the same. I changed it yesterday.I am going to see if I notice a difference on the very cold mornings where I was getting stiff shifts for the first 5 minutes of driving.
In my 986 Boxster S I'm going to use CRX 75w90 NT for my next fill, according to Karl at performance racing oils it is the right one for that stock transaxle. I'm also running the CFS 10W50 NT oil on track for HPDE and changing it about every 5000 miles with good UOAs.
