I have a Porsche 911 Turbo which does about 2000 miles per year. I change engine oil and filter annually and brake fluid biannually. What is everyone's view on how often to change the manual trans-axle and front diff oil?
Ho often to change transaxle oil on low mile car
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911 Turbo? I'm can only dream.... my solution would be to drive it more
Porsche's current recommendations (you didn't specify year) are 12 years or 180K km. A lot of the European makers consider their current manual transmission to have "lifetime fluids" and sell the replacement oil at an extremely high price and don't make it easy to change.
It's a 2001 model. I reckon it still has the original fluid in it. The OEM fluid is very hard to find.
Originally Posted By: 911TBO
I have a Porsche 911 Turbo which does about 2000 miles per year. I change engine oil and filter annually and brake fluid biannually. What is everyone's view on how often to change the manual trans-axle and front diff oil?
Change it every 2 years. That's the safe bet with how little driving you do. Porsche's call for every year is a little extreme.
Use a high grade automatic transmission fluid in the correct viscosity. No need for fancy Porsche branded lubricants. My recommendations would be:
- Rockland Standard Gear's SM-150
- SumOil Corp's Syntran
- Revolution Oil's Hi-Tek Transmission Fluid (rev-oil.com -- Great guys)
- Buzze Racing's Transmission Fluid (buzzeracing.com)
In my time as an automotive engineer for a few different race teams and series - these were our go-to suppliers for fluids. I still have a couple bottles of Revolution Oil's penetrating spray, gun oil, and rod&reel lube. Awesome stuff for my Florida life.
I have a Porsche 911 Turbo which does about 2000 miles per year. I change engine oil and filter annually and brake fluid biannually. What is everyone's view on how often to change the manual trans-axle and front diff oil?
Change it every 2 years. That's the safe bet with how little driving you do. Porsche's call for every year is a little extreme.
Use a high grade automatic transmission fluid in the correct viscosity. No need for fancy Porsche branded lubricants. My recommendations would be:
- Rockland Standard Gear's SM-150
- SumOil Corp's Syntran
- Revolution Oil's Hi-Tek Transmission Fluid (rev-oil.com -- Great guys)
- Buzze Racing's Transmission Fluid (buzzeracing.com)
In my time as an automotive engineer for a few different race teams and series - these were our go-to suppliers for fluids. I still have a couple bottles of Revolution Oil's penetrating spray, gun oil, and rod&reel lube. Awesome stuff for my Florida life.
Oil doesn't wear a wrist watch. If the storage conditions are good, e.g. low humidity and a temp stable environment (no wide swings in temp that would induce condensation) frequent oil changes are not needed because oxidation is very slow and the additive package depletes slowly.
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
dnewton3
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Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Oil doesn't wear a wrist watch. If the storage conditions are good, e.g. low humidity and a temp stable environment (no wide swings in temp that would induce condensation) frequent oil changes are not needed because oxidation is very slow and the additive package depletes slowly.
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
A big 2x on this line of reasoning.
Find out the condition of the current fluid; get a UOA. That will lead to a much better decision than any of this conjecture and rhetoric.
Unless you just like wasting money, which evidence shows is a grand penchant of many BITOGers.
Oil doesn't wear a wrist watch. If the storage conditions are good, e.g. low humidity and a temp stable environment (no wide swings in temp that would induce condensation) frequent oil changes are not needed because oxidation is very slow and the additive package depletes slowly.
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
A big 2x on this line of reasoning.
Find out the condition of the current fluid; get a UOA. That will lead to a much better decision than any of this conjecture and rhetoric.
Unless you just like wasting money, which evidence shows is a grand penchant of many BITOGers.
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Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Oil doesn't wear a wrist watch. If the storage conditions are good, e.g. low humidity and a temp stable environment (no wide swings in temp that would induce condensation) frequent oil changes are not needed because oxidation is very slow and the additive package depletes slowly.
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
I totally agree with getting UOAs if you are not sure.
However, he said he drives low miles. That means that oil is getting heated to operating temps then dropped back down. If he actually does live in Syndey, he lives in a pretty humid environment. 2 years of heat cycling and storing in humid environment will do work to an oil.
However, going back to the original idea, the only way to tell how much that driving style and environment is affecting the oil is to run UOAs.
Oil doesn't wear a wrist watch. If the storage conditions are good, e.g. low humidity and a temp stable environment (no wide swings in temp that would induce condensation) frequent oil changes are not needed because oxidation is very slow and the additive package depletes slowly.
Wanna test this theory? Have the current oil analyzed, including a TAN (TBN too if you want to be thorough). If the above conditions were met, more or less, it's likely you will find the oil in good condition... even if it is from 2001. If it is in good condition after 12+ years, why would new oil you install tomorrow need to be changed in two or three years arbitrarily... assuming low miles?
I totally agree with getting UOAs if you are not sure.
However, he said he drives low miles. That means that oil is getting heated to operating temps then dropped back down. If he actually does live in Syndey, he lives in a pretty humid environment. 2 years of heat cycling and storing in humid environment will do work to an oil.
However, going back to the original idea, the only way to tell how much that driving style and environment is affecting the oil is to run UOAs.
I've seen enough old-oil UOAs to know that seldom does inactivity contribute much to oil deterioration unless storage conditions are very bad. Even a few cylces a year, where the oil gets heated up enough to bake out moisture, is enough to keep it good. The only way to know for sure is to UOA but the odds are well in this guy's favor that he can run a LOT longer than 2 year OCIs. If any harm was done, it would have happened in the intervening 12 year OCI. There is one UOA here from a tractor that sat 30 years in a barn and the UOA showed it more or less "normal." The oil could have been used again.
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