Oil Questions

First question for dummies who haven't read their manual and don't have access to the car at the moment, what is the oil that comes from the factory in a 2003 3.6L 996? I seem to recall it is Mobil 1 0w-? and that you can get it at places other than Porsche now? The reason I ask is the 2nd question. I just passed 2000 miles on my new 2003 996, Yeah break-in is over! Woot! But I just got the message on the dash to check the oil. I checked it, sure enough it is low. Should it be low at 2,000 miles? The last time I checked it was at 900 miles and it was fine then. I don't see any smoke or noticeable oil burning, just wondering where my oil went and where I need to go to get some more. TIA!

0W-40. My local Autozone has it. Jeff

Yeap Autozone carries the entire line of Mobil 1 products!

Here's some info on pricing from previous posts: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ight=mobil+oil

Ok, we've ID'd the right oil and a place to buy it, what about why am I low after 2K?

I've added about 3/8 of a quart in 2,500 miles. Everyone says it's normal....BAH! My Audi's never did this.

No offense, but your Audi (or my wife's VW, or any of our other cars) does not have a flat engine. Even my old VW's & Subarus used to chew on some oil. YMMV J

So explain why this is acceptable then.

all engines can burn an increased amount of oil during break in, especially during the period of time when the rings are seating. i would recommend that you check you oil level more frequently, especially during break in.

Was it full at 900mi or down some?

My car burns about a pint of oil every 2000 miles. It is considered normal on boxer motors and not really a big deal. Just bought Mobil 1 for $4.75 a quart at WalMart. (Stockholder)

It's a common observation and a frequent complaint. There have been previous posts on the tt board about break-in techniques to help seal the rings faster ( basically accelerating to higher rpm's and slowing down in gear). Synthetic oil also slows the break-in process, apparantly because it's more slippery. Oil consumption is seen more in the tt's, but gets better as time goes on. A lot of tt owners have seen 1 quart per 600 miles. As an aside, when I used to drive an E class Benz, the factory standard was 1 quart per 800 miles before they considered it a problem. Some of the flat 6 consumption is visible on start-up as blue smoke- it has attributed to oil leaking past the rings, rather than down into the sump because of the flat configuration. AS

I had to add a quart of oil after my first 600 miles! I have put another 600 on the car and the oil level is still good...

By the way, the manual does not specify 0w-40. My dealer did however say to use it (he said any synthetic is fine...not just Mobil 1). So...should we be using 0w-40 or follow the manual's recommendations?

The new (well, last year) edict from Porsche is Mobil 1 0w-40 in all 996s.

Ghost Rider: Its completely normal for your 996 (and ANY car) to consume more oil than normal during the ring seating process. The rings are seated and the break-in process is complete when oil consumption drops to normal,.......a qt about every 2K to 3K miles. Use the Mobil 1 0-40 oil in these Variocam 996 engines since the variable cam timing hydraulics were designed & calibrated for that viscosity. This ensures proper cam timing at all RPM's. Hope this helps,.....

OK...now that I have several quarts of the wrong Mobil 1...I checked autozone's website for 0w-40 and it's not available to purchase on the internet. Does anyone know another online company that sells it? By the way, why doesn't the owner's manual suggest 0W-40?

Nick S, Sorry for not explaining further. "Flat" or more correctly "horizontally opposed" engines and vertical engines both "burn" slight amounts of oil. If someone says their car's engine oil level hasn't changed, it's bc the slight oil loss is being offset by other material (burned fuels residue, usually). Flat motors have one more issue - when at rest, any oil "stuck" between the rings may seep out into the combustion chamber, and be burned at next start. This is the source of the slight "cloud" out of the tailpipe upon cold start that is associated with flat engines. Any vertical (upright) engine would have this oil "seep" back down into the engine. J

Well, i think the variance in oil consumption maybe down to how the car is used. My Boxster S hasn't used and oil noticeably over the last 3 years, although it's low mileage (9,000 mi). It's correct when others here say that oil is consumed due to the inherent design of the flat engine with oil seeping into the combustion chamber. However, I think that when used on alot of short journeys, the frequency of the chance of "seepage" rises dramatically so more oil is consumed at start-up. I only use my car occasionally but when i do it's typically on longer journeys - 50 mile + and several of 100's of miles (and one of 1000 miles).