Looking for advice on oil for my '89 Porsche 3.2

[Big Dave]

Just got a '89 Porsche Carrera 3.2 with 13,500 miles. Car has had Kendall GT1-30 its whole life. It was changed about every two years by the past 3 owners judged by the service history with the car.

I want to move on to a synthetic. Porsche has a TSB out that recommends M1 0W-40 for all of their cars from the 70's to present.

What is the opinion of the board on this? How about M1 5W-40 SUV? Others?

David

 

[TimVipond]

AMSOIL's recommendations:
Engine Oil
Grade 1......API*
SAE 5W-20 XL Synthetic Motor Oil
Series 2000 Synthetic 0W-30 Motor Oil
Synthetic 5W-40 European Engine Oil (my choice)
Series 2000 Synthetic 20W-50 Racing Oil
-20 To 35°F......10W-40, 10W-50
-25 To 20°F......10W-30
-30 To 0°F......5W-30
Above 14°F......20W-50
Above 5°F......15W-40, 15W-50
Below 14°F......5W-20
Sounds like an engine flush would be in order.
Engine, with filter..........10.0 quarts[1]
1. Add 6.1 liters (6.5 qt). Run the engine at idle
and add another 3.0 liters (3.2 qt). With engine warm
and running, check the reservoir dipstick.
DO NOT FILL TO THE MAX level. Oil level must be between
the MIN and MAX gradients. Draining time is 20 minutes.

TORQUES
Oil Drain Plug.....51 ft-lbs[1]

 

[hominid7]

Considering the age and lack of oil changes, i would start off with Castrol syntec blend 20w50 or 10w40 depending on your outside temp. I'd make it a rapid oil change, perhaps 1000-1500 miles, or when it starts looking dark.

Old Germans like thick oil. They are the exception to the 'thin is in' school of thought.

 

[carock]

Lots of experience with Porsches. All air cooled cars like synthetics. There is a trick to prevent seal leaks when you make the switch. Just put in one quart for the first oil change. Then, on the next change, which can be done in just 1000 miles, add two quarts. On the next change add 4 quarts. The next change you can go all the way ( 9 quarts for 1989?).This way you will not get any seal leaks.I have lots of experience with Redline in Porsches and it is great. You can use 10-40W (recommended) or 15-50W.

 

[TimVipond]

Carock - I think you are offering good advice for Redline in Porsches. Since Redline is more of an ester based synthetic and some think a stronger cleaner than a PAO based synthetic, would it still be as necessary to do the 1 quart change at a time method with a PAO synthetic?

 

[peterr]

The 40 weight synthetic of your choice, with a second choice of a decent 15w40 HDEO, except maybe in winter.

I use Esso XD-3 0w40 in my 1988 944 Turbo. But I am in Canada.

For availability in Indiana?

Mass Market stuff:

The Mobil 0w40 or 5w40 T&SUV should be fine.

People on BITOG love Pennzoil Platinum now. Not sure what coice there is in 40 weights.

Belgian Castrol would be good. What is it ? 5w40?

Loss of good specialty oils like Amsoil and Redline. For Euro cars I like the Agip oils and lots of people like the Royal Purple and Motul

Indiana should be rife with Schaeffers dealers since I think the agri market is big with them.

my $0.02

 

[hominid7]

I am still of the opinion that an 18 yr old car with an entire lifetime of SAE 30 oil would not be a good candidate to jump right into using a light-weight syn.

The owners manual calls for 15w40 above 5*F and 20W50 above 14*F. I would stick with that, and use preferably either Castrol GTX or Castrol Syn-Blend until you get some history with the car.

 

[AndyH]

Quote:

---

People on BITOG love Pennzoil Platinum now. Not sure what coice there is in 40 weights.

---

It is available as a 5W-40...but it's VERY difficult to locate.

Quote:

---

Belgian Castrol would be good. What is it ? 5w40?

---

Yes, Castrol Syntec 5W-40 is/was referred to as "Belgian Castrol" or "BC". I believe it is now made in the U.S. from foreign and domestic content. Probably the same oil, just blended in the U.S. now.

 

[John K]

I bought an 87 911 a year ago with 65k on it. I don't know why you'd want to go with anything other than the factory recommendation. Suggest joining PCA and checking with local members. I would not recommend a straight weight oil, esp in your part of the country. Impractical to follow (IMHO) carock's recommendations esp w/11.5 qt sump. The maintenance records I got with my car often listed oil changes with no mention of what type of oil they used(!); but I put Mobil 1 0W-40 in. I'm happy with it so far. If you change oil yourself make sure you use a large enough container to catch the drain. I used a 15 qt container the first time but the hole in the top was not big enough so the dished top overflowed!!!! Enjoy your car!

 

[Big Dave]

John,
How is your '87 Carrera doing on the M1 0W-40? Did you go straight into the M1 0W-40 after getting the car? Regarding my car I was thinking of going with a Castrol Syntec Blend 20W-50 for the first change.

Then probably go with a M1 15W-50 or the M1 0W-40 at the next change.

David

 

[John K]

So far so good, though I haven't driven the car as much as I thought I would. The clutch was near the end of its life when I got it, and there is an issue with the passenger side front tire hitting the fender and the tire has suffered. Have had problems resolving that....the car has the wheels specified for the turbo body and I think they are too wide, 7" rims in front, 9" rear. Handles great though. Took to a dealer to have clutch replaced and they did valve adj and some other stuff, unfortunately they replaced the Mobil 1 that only had 25 miles on it and charged 11 qts @ $8.80/qt!
I checked Tire Rack and they recommend even wider rims; they don't differentiate between turbo body and regular one.

 

[Big Dave]

John,

Regarding your wheels. I believe a standard Carrera should have 6X16 fronts and 7X16 rears. A 7" was never used on the front of a Carrera. That might be your problem.

Bummer about the dealer dropping good oil!

David

 

[John K]

David -

You are correct. They do show optional 7" and 8" 15" wheels, but not the 16" that I have, and they have a double asterik(sp) by the listing but haven't found what that means. The wheels that are on the car are listed in the owners manual for the Turbo Look Body which has wider fenders........

 

[Audity]

John K, regarding your wheels, it is possible that the widths and diameters are workable, but the offsets are wrong. If I'm not mistaken, the '87 used the "old" offset (23mm or something like that?) found on the Fuchs and cookie-cutter wheels; with the C2 (in 1990?) the 911 went to the 50 or 52 mm offset, and 16" diameter.

Also, if the wheels are aftermarket they could be wrong. Check the backs of the wheels for the offset numbers.

I have a couple of sets of C2 wheels for my 924S, 7&8x16 which work fine, but I can't use the earlier offset wheels.

 

[glenncof]

Take a look at FORUMS on www.rennlist.com and www.pelicanparts.com

Oil change strategy should depend on several factors primarily how much you expect to drive it & seasonality, your climate when driving, and $$$. If racing you have another set of considerations.

I have a 1985 Carrera I bought from Porsche at 17K miles. I'm now at 175K miles. When 'new' it would get 1700 miles/qt of 20W50 dino. Now I'm at about 1000 miles/qt.

I'm in San Fran/San Jose area and drive it daily 11K / year.

Up to 120K I changed oil at shop every 7500 miles. After 120K, I did flush ~12x1K. Oil consumption is now stable.

Always used 20W50 dino and only GTX after 120K.

If I had to do it again I would do 3K OCI. Should only use Mahle OC-54 filter.

I used 20W50 Dino due to cost ($1-1.50) Note: 12 qt and two drain plug as it is dry sump. I would use 15W50 synth if cost effective.

This engine is notorious oil consumer, most average 600miles/qt per Porsche ! They use brass valve guides which are issue.

The 10W40 synth will get much lower miles/qt than 20W50. A friend with a late model said he gets ~600mile/qt. That would be ~20qt / 5K OCI, M1 at $7 gets expensive. That's $3000 in 100K miles.

 

[glenncof]

Oh yea, I seem to remember Royal Purple the best synth for "not leaking" in this application.

 

[jonny-b]

Big Dave, since you are planning to go for synthetic oil, isn't it possible to eliminate the leaking issue if you use a maintenance dose of Auto-Rx? Since your car only have 13500 miles on, it shouldn't be a problem doing so.

 

[oliver88]

The best results I have had in my 1987 3.2 and 964 cup have been with Red Line 10w40...The UOA's were exceptional given the usage...For a dino oil, I had nice results with both Rotella T 15w40 and Chevron Delo 15w40. Current Porsche recommendation is M1 0w40 for all Porsche from 1973 onwards.

 

[Big Dave]

I'm kind of torn on which way to go. I'm a believer in synthetic's and use M1 0W-40 in my '06 GTI and M1 15W-50 in my '95 M3.

However with the Porsche Carrera 3.2's I see both sides (dino-synthetic) evenly represented. I think one thing going in my case is the very low miles on my car-13,313.

I have narrowed the field down to M1 15W-50 or Castrol GTX 20W-50. Both of these oils seem to be the more popular choices of Porsche 3.2 owners. In light of the fact that the car has few miles and widely spaced oil changes using Kendal GT1-30 perhaps the first change should be with a dino oil such as Castrol GTX 20W-50 to get a feel for how the engine reacts.

I suppose if things go well with the GTX I will then try the M1 15W-50 at the next change. Feel free to argue that with me!


Having said that I do plan on using M1 75W-90 gear lube in the transaxle. It calls for a GL-4 rating and I think the M1 product meets that.

David

 

[ebaker]

I'd reccommend M1 5w40 Turbodiesel or Rotella 5w40.