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Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHAll things oil for a 2004 996 C4S
Leading reported evidence
Run 5w/40
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I always ran 5w/40 because my car had excellent oil pressure.
Leading evidence: 'Run 5w/40' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check oil cold' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Check oil hot after resting for 30 minutes or check oil cold?
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Suggestion · Original poster
Check oil hot after resting for 30 minutes or check oil cold?
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Suggestion
There are several ways to check oil level, but my favorite is stone cold after the car has been sitting overnight for a day or two.
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9 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Fellow Enthusiasts a couple of questions, thank you in advance;
1. Check oil hot after resting for 30 minutes or check oil cold?
2. If the oil level is 2 bars down on the display how much oil does that translate to, it is mid level on the dipstick?
3. On a low mileage engine (30K) that is only 6 years old (brand new block/pistons etc.) what is the correct oil viscosity for hot weather (85+) and cooler weather (60+) driving?
4. There are so many oils on the market what is the best all around oil brand to use for cruising, site seeing, 4-5 start/stops during an 8 hour road day?
5. Same as 4 for the oil filter?
Cruise On!
There are several ways to check oil level, but my favorite is stone cold after the car has been sitting overnight for a day or two. As long as you are consistent, that matters most.
As for viscosity, go with 5w/50, as these engines have opened up a bit after decades of use. I always ran 5w/40 because my car had excellent oil pressure. But newest research indicates that higher viscosity offers better protection.
Driven oils are my favorite, either DT or DI. It costs more, but there is a good reason for that.
1) Cold on a flat surface preferably sitting overnight. That said, I know how the reading differs between the different places I park: garage, street in front of house, parking at work.
2) For my car, the 8 bars on the display equals 1 quart. So 2 bars would be a quarter quart. 4 bars on my display equals mid level on dipstick.(2002 car)
3) For a low mileage engine I would use 5w40 for normal driving in the temp ranges you list. As the engine ages, agreed with MIke, depends on oil pressure, you might consider bumping up to 50W, . Tracking or other harsh conditions require different strategies
4) Change your oil every 6 months and this questions becomes less contentious. I'm using DI40. If I were to track the car I would bump up to DI50 , XP-6(track day only oil), or one of the oils that Slakker has been vetting
5) Use the Mahle cartridge filter. Changes in where the spin-on filters are made and the variable quality of them kills the change-out efficiency benefit. That said, LN sells spin on filters vetted for quality.
Don't over think this. The key is frequent oil changes. Have some UOA done on these first oil changes to know what your engine with a given oil is doing. And drive without a worry!
For those of you on the 6 month oil change interval how many miles are you driving ? Let's say it's 1000 miles isn't that throwing away good oil ? Or do you just say screw it oil is cheap ( relatively ) and a rebuild isn't . Just curious.
That's a great question. I'm at 3-4k miles at 6 months. Yes, oil is cheap relative the cost of a rebuild.
I haven't thought about this relative low mileage engines so I'll throw out some immediate thoughts. How is the engine driven, do they always get up to temp to get rid of water? Are the 'hot' miles equally spaced across the time? When they are sitting, do they go through temp ranges that causes condensation inside the engine? Many variables. Normally I would say that 2 UOA's would answer the question, but that would be for wear metals. In this case, I think the bad actor is water and I'm not sure how a UOA would see that or when it would be noted as bad. Hopefully someone with more info can comment.
While I dont like the cost of high quality oil, I continue to spend the money to keep it fresh with Millers Nano for years and now DI50. Even after attending 110+ track days and plenty of street driving in Chicago over the last 20+ years, my oil tests are still very good, and the borescope hasn't identified any borescoring.
Here is my typical year. Fresh oil in the spring which coincides with the first track day in April, then an oil change before for each track day that i attend during the year. Then fresh oil before winter after the last track day.
You get the idea, 4 track days means 5 oil changes in a year. No track days means 2 oil changes, one in the spring and one in early winter. I have averaged an oil change every 600-700 miles since 2002.
Money well spent in my humble opinion to keep the M96 running strong. Nikosil cylinders may be a different story.
