maximum oil change interval

For a car that is only driven 500-1000 miles a year in fair weather, how often should the oil be changed? If you're going to answer "every X months, regardless of miles", please explain why. Thanks.

Quotes source post: 16949357

Every 6 months. Oil with fuel contaminants will lead to bore scoring as the lubrication is washed away by the solvent (gasoline). There's a ton of info on this subject in this forum.

I think the miles driven on each trip also factors in. Let's say you drive it twice a day, 5 miles to work and five miles back. That's a very high percentage of your driving time where more fuel is being put into the engine (more fuel is pumped in when cold due to emissions). You end up with a lot more fuel in your oil without a chance for it to burn off. Contrast that with a lot of 100 mile trips where the engine spends a large percentage running at full temp and the fuel has a chance to burn off. The fuel is what supposedly erodes the seal on the IMSB and also washes more oil off the cyliders, contributing to bore scoring.

What about a car that is parked for 6 months? Usually my last drive is end of October. Car comes out around April 1. Last year I dumped 6 month oil with 5 kms. On it. Filter too.

Quotes source post: 16949447

I would agree. For a car that is driven every 7-14 days for at least 30 miles on country roads, every 6 months seems excessive. Any special tools needs to remove the filter (no spin-on adapter)? Anybody want to suggest oil weight/brand, or should I just use what the manual says?

Minimum of 1 year.

This topic has also been discussed over on The Bob is the oil guy forum. to sum up over 15 years of reading that forum and the oil experts, and of course Jake here on the 996 forum, there's a lot of factors involved, what I like to do and I think is kind of the happy medium is I watch the oil pressure when the oil is really hot. It always seems to be at a certain spot, and then all of a sudden once the oils gotten a little too old it seems to drop about a millimeter or two. Then I know this oil is ready to be changed. You can also do a smell test. Pull the dipstick and see if you smell a lot of fuel in the oil. Oil is cheap, our engines are not. Change it when you think it needs to be changed, I just got through changing mine at about the 6-month mark. I only had two thousand miles on this oil change. But the car sat a lot because of covid-19 so the bottom line is change it when you think you have to and don't be afraid to change it too often. And another thing you never asked, but what oil to use, best oil for our cars for normal street use is driven dt40 5w 40 oil.

I own 6 vehicles (5 cars and 1 truck), including my 996. I drive four of the cars and the truck only 2-3k miles/yr and the 5th car (which is my "daily driver") I only drive 3-5k miles/year. Nonetheless, I routinely change the oil/filter on all of them once a year. I don't know if there's any "rule" about this but it just seems to be the "right" thing to do. Certainly can't do any harm.

Quotes source post: 16949476

I'd give it a fresh change for the driving to start in April. I barely hit 3k miles in a calendar year, so mine is changed every 6 months. An oil change doesn't cost much and takes little to no time at all, it wouldn't make sense NOT to perform one IMO. That is of course, unless you're counting pennies to put food on the table.

For my fun cars, I change the oil in the fall before I park them for about 4-5 months. Annual mileage is about 1k or less on each. They are vastly better off sitting with new oil than with old...even it if's hardly used.

Quotes source post: 16949483

Porsche M9X engines needs shorter oil change intervals to stay healthy. I recommend Driven DT40 or MOTUL X-Cess 8100 5W40. You need oil with a proven anti-wear package high in ZDDP and Moly. Read this article from LN Engineering: https://lnengineering.com/free-downl...reference.html

Quotes source post: 16950102

Thanks! How about a filter? Ideally, one available from Amazon, since that's where I'll be ordering the oil from.

Quotes source post: 16950121

MAHLE (oem)

Wow lots of people really don't drive these cars a lot, or arguably enough! One comment should stand out here - oil is always cheaper than an engine. With that I don't understand the issue here. Is it a matter of cost or convenience? Oil change should take less than an hour on these cars and cost around $100 - $150. Every 6 months that's really not a lot of money for the joy of driving you hopefully get out of the car. FWIW, as a future owner of the car (currently searching) I plan to drive it all year round except for snow. I never really need to drive to work these days but still plan to take it for a hour long rip after work to clear the mind. I'll be changing the oil every 6 months or 5k miles with either the recommended DT40 or Motul (sticking to one) along with the filter. It's really cheap insurance. I think Jake preached about this but not letting your car idle for long at start up will contribute to less fuel contamination in the oil. Start the car and drive right away taking it easy and keeping revs under 3k rpm.

Quotes source post: 16950172

It's because of cold start enrichment. That process is intended to light up the cats, but is hard on the cylinders. And yes, once scoring begins, the fuel/combustion by products make it past the rings and contaminates the oil. Hence, one good reason to change the oil more regularly. Leaking fuel injectors can cause the same problem.

Quotes source post: 16950183

Sounds like a funny predicament. Car runs rich at start to light up the cats the extra fuel dumped washes off some of the lubrication from oil increasing the probability of scoring. Driving the car immediately to reduce that process can help but is also hard on the cylinders. With respect to injectors, do people run an injector cleaner added to gas? Once a year or every other oil change?

Quotes source post: 16950349

Personally, I just run Top Tier fuel from Shell - that is... V Power 93. I don't store my cars because of where I live. I drive them all year around. But I hear Driven Injector Defender is showing promise for guys needing a fuel stabilizer when storing cars over the winter. In the past, Jake Raby instructed me to run two cans of Sea Foam to remedy a clogged injector. It worked! But I don't run the stuff all the time. I just run Top Tier fuel from Shell.

I get about 2K miles in 6 months and can feel the difference when I change my oil every 6 months.

I like a special brew from ____________. An expert in 996 oil and, well modestly all things Porsche made me sign an NDA. So I cant tell you much about this special, very special oil other than its pulled from somewhere in the middle east. Some speculate its near or in the garden. Yes, that garden. This extra virgin extract is pulled from deep in the valley and has been kept silent until _________ learned of it and packaged it for big money and top secrete club membership to buy it. Instructions are clear. Change your oil as often as you can afford it. If one a year is good than twice a year is better. For me I like quarterly oil changes. In therogy this is better. I like reading my Black Stone reports. Surprisingly always perfect oil reports. Nothing is to good for my little beauty.

Usually, I change the oil every four months depending on the amount of driving. However, I do change the oil just before I slip it into the garage during the winter months because of the heavy amount of salt and calcium deposited on the roads. I started doing the oil analysis every third oil change......With anything related to the Porsche, reply to my wife....." Raby made me do it ".

Quotes source post: 16949483

Here's the oil I used. I got two 2 packs for my next two changes. I got the filter at Pelican. I was able to buy the filter wrench for about $8 at Auto Zone. Amazon Amazon

Quotes source post: 16950349

Driving immediately keeping revs between 1500-3000 with light throttle shouldn�t be too hard on the cylinders. It gets oil moving and gets the cats heated up.

Quotes source post: 16949357

It should be changed at maximum once every year. It depends on the quality of those 500-1000 miles - how many cold starts is that?

My car's going to be due for an oil change right around the time I put it away for the winter. Would y'all recommend doing an oil change before storing for the winter or waiting for the spring?

Quotes source post: 16950542

Definitely, fresh oil in the car BEFORE storage.

Quotes source post: 16950512

Roughly 20.

I am definitely in the camp of changing it every six months or so. Seems like relatively cheap insurance to have fresh oil in it more often than not.

Quotes source post: 16950550

What if you drain the old, fill with new, let the new flow through over a full operating temp drive, then crack the plug open and collect said oil back in original container, and fill with said oil when ready to drive in the next season if sitting for 6 months? After reading all these threads the only thing I can think next is to strap a depends to the oil pan for the mystery saturation.

Quotes source post: 16951582

I've heard its pretty common to store expensive cars "dry", meaning they flush all fluids and raise the car on stands. It wouldn't be a bad idea to run some fresh oil, then drain. I wouldn't worry about the other fluids IMHO, but I'd put Driven Injection defender in the tank to stabilize the fuel during the six months. Or, just forget the whole thing and drive it all year like me! hahaha