Porsche factory fill, 1999 Boxster, 8,860 miles

Whimsey · Dec 6, 2004

That's right this is the ORIGINAL FACTORY FILL from a recently purchased cherry 1999 Porsche Boxster. The previous owner had this as a toy and used it literally for nice weather "Sunday" long drives in the countryside where he lived. The only "short running" he did was to move the Boxster in and out of the garage periodically. That is where I suspect the fuel dilution comes from. Porsche recommends 15,000 mile or 1 year OCI's. I guess the previous owner never read past the 15,000 mile part in the owner's manual

. The best we can determine is that Mobil 1 5W-40, a European only formula, was the factory fill. Porsche now uses Mobil 1 0W-40 as a factory fill. But I don't think Mobil 1 had a 0W-40 in 1998/1999. If anybody as other knowledge as to the Porsche factory fill for the Boxster in 1998/1999 let me know. The oil was changed at the time of sampling and replaced with Mobil 1 15W-50. Not the best for winters in NJ but it won't get started in the extreme cold. Only with temps in the high 20's at the worst. No oil was added in the 8,860 mile OCI. The dipstick was down around 1/2 quart. The sump capacity is around 9 quarts. The oil was still a darker golden and the oil filter was basically clean. No obvious crud stuck in it. The first # is the UOA and the second is Blackstone's "average" at approx. 5,000 miles. Terry did the analysis. If he wants to add to this he's more than welcome to. But his comments to us will be kept to us

.

ALUMINUM 10/9
CHROMIUM 1/1
IRON 18/20
COPPER 24/4
LEAD 6/3
TIN 1/1
MOLYBDENUM 27/7
NICKEL 1/0
MANGANESE 0/3
SILVER 0/0
TITANIUM 0/0
POTASSIUM 0/0
BORON 100/26
SILICON 21/8
SODIUM 7/4
CALCIUM 2259/2084
MAGNESIUM 556/242
PHOSPHORUS 829/1141
ZINC 1002/1353
BARIUM 1/1

VISCOSITY 64.9/66-74
FLASHPOINT 365/>385
FUEL% 1/ ANTIFREEZE/H20 0,0/0, INSOLUBLES 0.4/
TBN 5.9

Remember Blackstones Univeral #'s are for Mobil 1 0W-40.

For a 5 year old factory fill with almost 9,000 miles on I think this is a testimony to Mobil 1, at least their European formula, and Porsche's engineering and build quality. This Porsche is not mine, unfortunately,

, but I'll try to answer any questions you might have.

Whimsey

Pablo · Dec 6, 2004

I just say dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

But, why chance it? What was the PO thinking? More money than brains........WHY is that so common?????????

Anyhow - THANK YOU for sharing.

What does the Boxster engine displace?

ekpolk · Dec 6, 2004

Well, I've long heard jokes about "couldn't care less" hyper wealthy types who just trade it in when it's time for an oil change, and by golly, here's a real-life example. Wow.

Now, I'd really love to see a UOA done on a five year old fill of vanilla dino used in like fashion. Can anyone offer one of those??? This would do one of two things, either show that syns really are superflous (I doubt it would come out this way) or bury for once and for all the "oil is oil" arguments. I know that this use pattern is so exceptional that it proves little, but still. . .

Whimsey · Dec 6, 2004

Pablo,
Some people just don't think or care about a vehicle until it breaks, no matter how smart they are. My late father was that way, but without the money part

. He just didn't care to service the vehicle until it broke, usually the day we were to go on a 2 week driving vacation. Oil changes were very few and far between. Maybe that's why his cars usually died prematurely

. That's probably why I went the total opposite and became an oil freak on BITOG

.

The engine in the Boxster is a 2.5L flat six. It makes 201 hp @ 6,000 rpm and 181 foot pounds of torque at 4,500 rpm. The redline is 6,700 rpm. This Boxster is in immaculate condition, inside and out and even underneath

. Thank goodness the lack of oil change didn't damage the car.

Whimsey

buster · Dec 6, 2004

I'd be very happy with this report and would definitely continue to use Mobil 1. It's clearly Mobil 1 and looks like M1 SS. It has Moly and Boron.

pitzel · Dec 6, 2004

This UOA looks absolutely excellent. Adds even more ammunition to my belief that the age of oil doesn't matter at all, and that only the usage cycle of the oil should be taken into consideration (something that the GM oil life monitors do quite well).

Patman · Dec 6, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by buster:
I'd be very happy with this report and would definitely continue to use Mobil 1. It's clearly Mobil 1 and looks like M1 SS. It has Moly and Boron.

Magnesium is too high for it to be SuperSyn, and besides, they didn't make SuperSyn back in 1998/1999. That was when TriSynthetic first came out actually.

This report is simply amazing! For those who think you need to change the oil once a year even on seldom driven vehicles, think again!

buster · Dec 6, 2004

quote:

Magnesium is too high for it to be SuperSyn, and besides, they didn't make SuperSyn back in 1998/1999. That was when TriSynthetic first came out actually.

Correct. I meant Trisynthetic. It does have some similarities to SS though, with the Moly and Boron which I don't think were in Trisynthetic.

Patman · Dec 6, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by buster:

quote:

Magnesium is too high for it to be SuperSyn, and besides, they didn't make SuperSyn back in 1998/1999. That was when TriSynthetic first came out actually.

Click to expand...

Correct. I meant Trisynthetic. It does have some similarities to SS though, with the Moly and Boron which I don't think were in Trisynthetic.

Perhaps the European version of it came with boron and moly? Or maybe there is indeed some sort of break in additive used by Porsche?

Motorbike · Dec 6, 2004

I don't think it's any version of Mobil oil myself but then again I'm no expert

Looks like Motul from the time period

Bill · Dec 6, 2004

quote:

The sump capacity is around 9 quarts

I think this may be a part of the clue as to why the oil held up so well all these years,
9 quarts is more then double what the typical 4 banger sump is,
remember this oil analysis from a Porsche with almost 20,000 miles?

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001815#000000

Patman · Dec 7, 2004

I've been thinking about this UOA all day long, and am curious. Are we absolutely sure this is from the factory fill of oil? What if he took it to the dealer for some service or warranty work and they did an oil change without him knowing it? (perhaps while fixing another related issue?) It just seems too good to be true for oil that is five years old.

Don Stevens · Dec 7, 2004

That is amazing. 2.5 litre or 2.7 litre?

For that matter Porsches are amazing. The large dry sump system helps a lot for oil endurance and remember, Boxters are water cooled as are all late model Porsches. The point is the oil is no longer the only engine coolant as it used to be on the air cooled models.

Quick Story. I had a 1981 911SC that my wife drove to work, I autocrossed and used in driver's education event on weekends. She drove 300 miles per week in stop and go traffic and I beat the crap out of it on the weekend. 220-250F sump oil temps were not uncommon in this car and the Lord only knows how hot it got inside the engine when she was idling with air on in summer traffic jams.

I sold the car to my mechanic at 140,000 under the premise that it was getting tired, needed a rebuild that I could not afford, and that he was going to do in his spare time. he drove it another 100,000 miles in Florida heat and never tore the engine apart. He did end up putting a gearbox in it but the engine was never apart.

It was an amazing machine.

Don

Patman · Dec 7, 2004

That's true, with the cost of oil changes at the Porsche dealer it's not like they are going to do it for free like a GM dealer might do.

pitzel · Dec 8, 2004

What makes you guys think that oil actually 'wears out' from sitting too long?

At my former place of employment, we had fills of oil that were in service for 40-50 years with only minor filtration every 5-10 years with an external filtration system. Oils are designed to be inert as possible -- that is why they have high flashpoints and low volatility levels.

Oil breakdown never was an issue. The only issue we had with the oils was gas accumulation, but circulating the oil through an appropriate machine with a vacuum pump took care of that problem when we did filtration.

Whimsey · Dec 8, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I've been thinking about this UOA all day long, and am curious. Are we absolutely sure this is from the factory fill of oil? What if he took it to the dealer for some service or warranty work and they did an oil change without him knowing it? (perhaps while fixing another related issue?) It just seems too good to be true for oil that is five years old.

The oil was never changed. The one and only time this car saw the dealer was 1500 miles ago, about 1 1/2 years ago, for a new gas cap under warranty. The dealer did not touch the oil. And the car was never serviced anywhere. It's all original. Trust me the dealer is not that generous to throw in a "free" oil change near the end of the warranty period when they charge over $150 to do one

! They figure if you can afford to buy a new Porsche you can afford to pay for the oil change yourself

. I'm still amazed as to how well the oil held up for a 5 year old factory fill

.

Whimsey

ekpolk · Dec 9, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by pitzel:
{snip}
At my former place of employment, we had fills of oil that were in service for 40-50 years with only minor filtration every 5-10 years with an external filtration system. {snip}

OK, I'll take the bait. In what sort of equipment??? Large stationary engines? Train engines? Obviously the context matters for this question, but what volume of oil was involved?

Don Stevens · Dec 10, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by pitzel:
What makes you guys think that oil actually 'wears out' from sitting too long?

I was concerned that oil was like brake fluid and absorbed moisture over time. Moisture eats additives = weakening over time.

Don

Gene K · Dec 11, 2004

WARNING: If this engine uses Vario-Cam it is not supposed to use 15W-50. I would be very careful to adhere to the 25&#176F minimum.

Quote ebaker:
"Currently Porsche has approved all ACEA A3 oils in 0w40. Also 5w40 and 5w50 if the temp is above -12F. There were some issues with cold 15w50 not flowing well enough for the variable valve lift mechanism. This is from a technical service bulletin dated 7/04."

Gene

ebaker · Dec 12, 2004

In 2000/2001 Porsche used M1 15w50 as the factory fill. Maybe it sheared a little. That may be what was in this car. They switched to 0w40 in 2002 or 2003. I don't think the 1998 models had the variable valve lift. I believe Porsche reccommends 0w40 for all the older models, even the hot running air/oil cooled engines.

[ December 13, 2004, 12:19 AM: Message edited by: ebaker ]

Porsche factory fill, 1999 Boxster, 8,860 miles

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