Need recommendation for break in on Porsche engine

[Nicolai]

I have been lurking on this board for some time, I find the oil analysis fascinating.

I just finished rebuilding the engine on my 1989 Porsche 964 Carrera 4. The engine had 175,000 and was remarkably clean inside. It had used Castrol GTX 20-50 most of its life. The engine still had good compression and ran great I purchased the car from Southern California but when I moved it to Central Oregon the car started leaking oil very badly so I needed to tear it down and re-seal it. While I was there I replaced the pistons and cylinders, bearings, heads rebuilt etc... Now that it is all done I would like to select an oil that would be suitable for my colder climate. Porsche recommends 20-50 and 10-30 for colder climates but I thought I might be better off with something like Mobil 1 0w40 but since I plan on replacing the oil at 3 times in the first 1000 miles as part of the break in procedure I would like to find a less expensive oil until it is broken in. Also note that an oil change on this car is 9 quarts, 13 if the oil in the oil cooler is replaced. So M1 will get real expensive real quick.

The climate here in Central Oregon is not too cold most of the year lows of 40s highs of 90s but winters can be cold last week was -17f and Tuesday was the first day above freezing in about a month.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nicholai

 

[StevieC]

A high performance engine like that probablly needs a really good synthetic for deposit control. (Check you owners manual) I would use Pennzoil Platnium or German Castrol (Says made in Germany on the box) for those short "Break in" intervals then switch to a synthetic that meets the requirements as outlined by Porsche. You might have better luck posting this in the European Forum on this site.

After the Break-In you could use a 5w50 oil so you have good flow properties in the winter but still maintain a 50wt oil. Or a 5w40...

I like Amsoil and I know they make a great 5w40 European Engine oil.

 

[Saab9-3]

Why not Redline 5w40, will cover hot and cold and is a stout oil.

 

[OVERKILL]

I would ask Doug Hillary. He has extensive experience with Porsche engines.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
Nicolai - Firstly WELCOME to BITOG! Great car!

I would use Delvac 1300 15w40 as your run-in lubricant. There is really no need for so many oil changes in such a short space of time

More important is your break in regime which should be a mixture of "love it - hate it" - a fair bit of light load to heavy loading with an eye on the oil temperature. Don't baby it!

After about 1k - 2k miles I would change to Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40 (similar to the Delvac 1 in my Boxster) or to Mobil 1 0W-40. The Approved and Listed lubricant for these engines includes Mobil 1 0W-40 (and about 99 other lubricants) and a variant of the lubricant I use

Mobil 1 0W-40 or 5W-40 and all Porsche engines from MY84 are a great combination. Some people like to use a "mixed fleet" 15w40 HDEO in 964 engines but that is a personal choice - the two Mobil 1 lubricants I've mentioned are at least their match

I am off to visit Zuffenhausen in April and to catch up again with Klaus Bischof the Porsche Museum's Director. The new Musuem is about to open at that time

 

[Nicolai]

Thanks everyone for the detailed replies.

Doug, I will follow your recommondation on Delvac for break in followed by Mobil 1 0w40 afterwords. Using M1 is the easy choice as I aleady use it in my Cayenne Turbo. M1 was also recommended by a friend that works for Porsche at Weissach. His recommondation was to run the motor for 20 minutes at 2000 RPM then drain. Drive the car for 100 miles then Drain and again at 1000 miles when the valves are also adjusted. After 1000 go to normal service intervals. But I did not want to spend $300 on oil with very little runtime, it just seems like a waste of good oil, I am sure the oil is still good at this point but it would be drained to remove any break in metal.

Since the original oil recommondation was for 20-50 what do you think of using the Mobil 1 15w50?

Have a good time in Zuffenhausen, I was there twice in 08 once in May and once in September, the new building is going to be stunning when completed and when I last saw it in September it was coming along nicely. In May it still looked like a concrete skeleton.

Thanks,
Nikolai

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
Nicolai - Thanks for then update on Zuffenhausen - great!

Mobil 1 15W-50 is very popular amongst many air-cooled 911 owners - of all MY. It seems to work very well in racing too

Mobil 1 5W-50 is the only SAE50 lubricant Approved and Listed by Porsche, it is a very good lubricant. It is available in Canada (and the rest of the World) but not in the USA

As you will know Mobil 1 0W-40 is the only lubricant Approved for the Cayenne Turbo and it will work well in your 964

I use Delvac 1 5W-40 (over Mobil 1 0W-40) because it has a little more viscosity at very high temperatures and I like this in the M96 engines. I live in the Tropics and my M96 bulk oil temperature is mostly around 96-106C in the heat of summer