Haven?t run my 996 in a while?anything I should do?

I haven�t been on RL in a while and I haven�t driven my 996 in a while, at least 8-9 months, I am ashamed to say. I was ready to sell it last year. I�m glad I didn�t. I had too much going on personally, and with work, to even glance at the car. It has been garaged of course, it�s got a nice thick layer of dust on it, and the battery is dead dead, and yep the frunk is closed. Shame on me (again) for not getting the trickle charger on it. One positive in the situation, there�s not a single drop of any fluid on the garage floor under the car. I am going to jump power via my portable jump pack to the fuse for the frunk release. Then I�ll jump the car and see if the battery will hold power or not. If I can start it, I plan on taking it for a nice easy drive before changing the oil after the long hibernation. Is there anything else I should do before jumping it? Before starting it? Any other precautions? thanks.

Let run 2 minutes then go slow till all the temps are up 15 minutes or. So then redline it at least once a 30 minute ride should be good

You will need a new battery. Not even worth trying to jump it. Even if you are able to jump start the car, allowing the battery to reach that point make it a future risk. You say the car has been in the garage for 8-9 months, but when was the last oil change? Oil degrades with time in the engine and use. If you change your own oil, change that and get a new battery first, then go have a long drive.

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Fresh dt40 with less than 1k miles. Hate to dump it, but it�s been a minute�

The battery will probably be fine with a �deep cycle� charge if you can find a shop to do it. Oil� 1000 miles is enough to get some fuel intrusion in the oil - especially if you�ve got a leaky injector(s). If it�s been sitting around for 8 months it�s probably a good idea to change it out. Technically speaking, the right time to change it would have been before it sat for 8 mos.

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I will have to take a look at my records of the exact mileage, it could have been 200-300 miles for all I know. I think I have a couple cases of dt40 in my garage so I will change it either way.

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2 min idling does nothing but keeping it running longer in the 'inject extra fuel to heat the catalytic converters' regimen and increasing the risk of fuel diluting the oil. Instrad drive off straight away and keep revs between 2k and 3k rpm till you get to ~150F I second rev it to redline once operating temps are reached.

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This was my standard procedure, start and go, keep it below 3k until up to temp. But up to temp is a guessing game, as I don�t have an oil temp gauge. Depending on weather, I generally drive until a very certain intersection which is approx 5 miles away before getting on it. Obviously in colder weather I go further. Also, I have never redlined the car, 5500-6000rpm is the most I�ve brought it too.

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The above imo, is the correct way to run our cars, contrary to most other engines. Most engines will benefit from a gentle warm up at idle before any load is put on them. This prolongs cylinder/piston/bearing life. But in our m96 cars it does the opposite with heavy rich cold start AF mixture laying on the bottom of the flat 6 cylinders, wiping out the oil film needed for long life. And with our very low life m96 cylinder construction, any thing we can do to prolong those cylinders is a plus. Imo, more important than keeping it below 3000rpm till it gets warmed up, is to keep load way down to a minimum. That means no burst of open throttle till it hits 3000rpm then let off, nope. Accelerate very easy till at least some heat is built up in engine. NO load. I'd even go a step farther before full load on engine and wait till the t-stat opens up, then drive for a little while and engine can normalize temps thru out the cooling system with no hot spots anywhere, coolant flowing freely. This lets oil temps rise also. Then let it fly to redline every shift if ya want... jmho

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its my understanding that coolant gets up to temp before oil does? So when you say wait til the thermostat opens up, that�s still before engine oil is up to operating temp right? In the summer my coolant could be up to temp just a few mins.

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correct

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I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were saying to wait until t stat opens up to give it the goods. I re-read it. Thanks for the input.

The coolant temp gauge is faithful enough for tracking warmup, by the time you're between the first two white lines your oil will be over 100F even in cold weather, at which point I'm just shifting before 4k which is my regular street driving. The manual instructs to not idle at all ("When starting the engine, be ready to drive immediately"), then shift below 4200 for the first 5 minutes of driving, so some combination of immediately driving and shifting in the 2.5-3.5k range until there's some signs of life on the temp gauge seems reasonable. You can also drop into neutral for a few seconds to check what your oil pressure is at idle, as temps go up idle pressure goes down, you can get a sense for the normal value in your car once its fully at temp. You'll want to get the coolant needle moving past the 12 o'clock position (crossing into the 0 in 180 if your car has Fahrenheit dials) at some point during your drive to help get rid of any moisture in the oil, if I'm just cruising around town it usually doesn't get up there and the 12 position corresponds to ~195F for oil. Check the tires if its been sitting for that long? Redlining the car is important because you want to be verifying the functionally of the rev limiter, which is a critical piece of safety gear

How much gas is in the tank. If not full, I would go and fill up, preferably with non-ethanol premium gas and try to drive at least a half tank out and the refill again to reduce the effects of old gas.

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ahhh yes. I do remember (isn�t this terrible, I have to remember) watching the oil pressure gauge and waiting for it to settle in its home, I want to say I am looking for 3 bar at 3k rpm if memory serves me correctly. That usually occurs around this certain intersection that�s right before my spirited driving back roads so it works out nicely. I can�t wait to get this car out of the garage. I am still knee-deep in a major home renovation that I should be wrapping up the current phase of in the next 2 weeks, and taking a nice well deserved break before starting the next phase. Also work has been hectic too. Excuses excuses�I am just hoping she fires nicely and we can pick up where we left off in our relationship.

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I don�t recall, I won�t know until I get juice to the battery. Yes, will be filling it to offset the older fuel if there�s room in the tank, there should be. When I would take the car out I wasn�t running around the corner and back, I was getting some driving in..and I rarely fill up on my way home, I usually fill up on my next trip out. Which usually bites me, because I�m often running late lol

The beauty of these �modern cars� is that you can just get in and drive it, even after 9 months. I would try to get rid of all that gas in the tank before refilling, unless you put Sta-bil in the tank. The battery could be compromised, so I would keep your car unlocked before you go somewhere only to find out you can�t get into the frunk to access whatever ice cream you bought at the store on your drive, lol. Plus the battery is in there.

My response was for an initial start up after a long period of silence by letting it idle it allows you to listen for odd sounds that could end in a disaster if you just drive off loose belts dried out air hose lines still alive rodents nesting it’s not my normal procedure which is a 30 second check and off I go

It would be a good thing, when a car sits for more than a couple months, if you put a wrench on the crank pulley and gently turn the engine over about 1 turn. This will allow oil to get under the seal after sitting and keep it from heating up on the first start. Rear and front main seals will appreciate being unstuck gently. Also at 9 months the fuel in the tank if it has ethanol is like kinda tired. If it's not full see if you can get a can of E-free premium to top it up. (Farm and egg places usually have a pump some regular stations do there is a web page on line to find e-free)

Nine months is not that long. Just hook up a new battery, go for a drive and then change the oil and put new gas in is what I'd do.

While oil certainly has a shelf life, I'm having a hard time understanding what deterioration oil could experience in 8-9 months of non-use.

It’s more the condensation buildup that’s in the oil sump that does the damage and if the oil is fresh when stored it won’t be a problem after a good run and then change for fresh oil

Well she fired up nicely after a 9 month hibernation. The heavy layer of dust was no concern to me once I got inside and was reminded of that oh so great Porsche scent. We went on a 40 mile drive around some back roads, everything was business as usual, like I drove it yesterday. Hoping the 1hr run time was enough to charge the battery up, we�ll see tomorrow if it held the charge overnight. I left the frunk open in case this time. Damn it felt good to be back behind the wheel of the 996. My brother needs to borrow my e53 x5 this week, so looks like I�ll be taking the 996 out some more. Don�t mind the airbag light, I have to get it cleared since I took my door panel off to readjust my window.

Nice! So, which of all the suggestions did you do before you first started it?

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the majority of the comments here were really pertaining to the first few mins of driving so I just did my standard routine, begin driving immediately, keep revs and throttle input low until warm, then proceed to have fun. Only thing I did prior to starting was check tire pressures which were all good. today I will be confirming if battery held the charge. edit: also later today will be confirming at which mileage I did last oil change. I keep a spreadsheet on my laptop for all service. Here, and some results via a quick google search have mixed views. Some say if the oil was fresh before storage, it�s fine. Some say must change no matter what. But let�s define fresh? Fresh meaning, change it immediately before storage driving like zero miles? Or is a few hundred miles acceptable? Or is it silly to risk running with contaminated oil to save $100 or so?

Couple hundred miles before storage is probably OK. I think I average 100 or so before mine goes to the spa with her rich friends each fall. I mean, I have to drive it to the storage place.

I have done 3 oil changes since getting the car, 4000 miles and 2 years ago. 6/26 was my 2 year anniversary with the car, and it�s wild to think I�ve only done 4000 miles. Besides this sabbatical, I have driven it whenever I wanted. But normally my drives are an average of 40-50 miles at a clip, 60-90 mins� so that�s 80-100 cruises. Of course there�s the few occasions my wife and I took a day to explore doing a couple hundred miles.

Assuming you have1k miles on the oil, might as well test it before you change it. Always good to know.

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The oil that is sitting in the car is basically indistinguishable from what it was 9 months ago. This is incorrect. Just drive it. This is also incorrect. Why would there be any extra water present that wasn't there to begin with? It's a sealed system. Do you evacuate the atmosphere of any partially used oil bottles to make sure you aren't causing "damage"? Of course not.

I did a Google search on oil that sits unused in a vehicle and there are several sources that say yes, it does degrade. It may not degrade enough to matter for the purpose discussed here.

About a million boat owners change the oil when they park for the winter, the others go into the shop every spring and spend money to clean things up.. Extreme internal rust results if not done, but they also pickle the cylinders. Granted this is more extreme than the average Porsche garage.. The issue is the entrained water in the used oil , mixes with the combustion residue and sulphur and you get a Nasty brew.. I drive mine year round so ... not a problem.

Yeah, don't know why people resist changing the oil. Then they complain that they have bore scoring from bad oil that fails to properly lubricate the engine. Seems like a small price to pay for a smooth running engine that's durable. 🤔

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My boat still has an old Johnson 175 OceanRunner two stroke that screams and will push my little 21� CC to nearly 40mph at WOT. With ideal conditions, my cruise is approx. 30-32mph. that being said - good metaphor!

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That 2 stroke oil doesn't hurt a thing either.. My 1976 Evenrude fires off like a champ even if left sit for years... I do however do a hot-choke-to kill on it when I know I'm done for the day..

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Going to guess all of those results were people posting opinions and none of them involved measured TBN or TAN values.