2007 2.7L Porsche Cayman with M1 0w-40

[bvl]

Picked up a low mileage base Cayman last year that had sporadic dealer oil changes over the first 4 years of its life. Not a lot of P-Car UOA reports here (let alone ones with some decent mileage on OCIs ), but I'm a geek so I'll follow up with a new report every 6-9 months. My vintage has a 2Y/24K recommended OCI with Porsche updating post 2007 maintenance to 1Y/12K. I plan on doing a change every 6-8K miles, rotating between dealer and myself (where I am 100% sure M1 0/40 is going into the car ) Car is a mixture of 10m commuting and highway jaunts. We drive it like a proper sports car should be driven.

First report shows excellent wear, though the viscosity is a tad lower then I expected. My understanding is 0/40 is a very light 40w relatively speaking.

- b

 

[bluesubie]

Yes, M1 0W-40 is a light 40 weight and the SN version seems to holding its viscosity better in many applications (like mine) than the old SM version did. But, holy mackerel, that little Cayman really did hammer the viscosity!

Congrats on the car! Really curious how Mobil1 TDT 5W-40 would do in this application. Is the car under warranty?

-Dennis

 

[SubLGT]

How much residual oil is left in the 2.7L motor after an oil drain? If it was a Xw-30, it would have diluted the M1 0w-40.

 

[bvl]

The M1 0/40 is factory fill and the service history of the car documented only dealer oil changes. I can only assert M1 was used accordingly.

Car is under warranty for 4 more years (got CPO extension when getting the car). It was a low mile car when we got it, even by Porsche standards.

I am doing everything I can to reverse the neglect it suffered in its first 4 years on earth and drive it like a proper Porsche.

We'll see how it trends in terms of shear from UOAs, and if there is any deltas between dealer and my own oil changes. Just gonna take some time and miles. Darn.

- b

 

[buster]

What is the viscosity? I'm not able to see it.

FWIW, the most recent M1 0w40 of the last 2 years is much more shear stable than previous versions. It holds it's viscosity very well now, rarely dipping below 12 cSt. There are instances where it will drop, usually from high fuel dilution.

If you see significant viscosity loss again, I'd switch to a 10w40 or an oil with little to no viscosity modifiers. Mobil 1 0w40 is designed to handle those conditions however, and should be the best choice for this engine.

 

[Saab9000]

Common wisdom on the Porsche boards is to run an OCI of 3-5k miles. These motors tend to chew up oil, especially when you drive them like your supposed to.

A lot of people also recommend going to a group 5, full ester oil, like redline, Motul and a couple of others, in 5-40. Porsche puts out a list of approved oils that has a few grp 5 listed.

I run Red Line 5-40 only because its helps quiet the start up rattle that these motors suffer from.

 

[bvl]

I can't see doing 3K OCIs using a premium synthetic on a street car unless UOA's show the engine is hard on the oil quite honestly. Plenty of Porsche see low OCI's by folks just doing it once a year as they are garage queens and IIRC after 2007 Porsche listed 10K or 1 year as the recommended OCI. The newer DFI cars may be causing more issues but older non-DFI should be good to go for long OCIs if you are driving the car regularly.

For the next change, I will be doing it myself and it should fall in the 5-6K range so we'll see how much the dealer fill sheers in that time (it should be M1 0/40 as prescribed by Porsche). The UOA (linked as a PNG file...can't seem to get the link to appear in the post) had SUS as 62.3 and cSt of 10.87. Tad below range for 40w.

The following UOA will be with known M1 0/40 that I put in myself. So in a year I'll know more.

Thanks for the comments everyone

- b

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: bvl
I can't see doing 3K OCIs using a premium synthetic on a street car unless UOA's show the engine is hard on the oil quite honestly. Plenty of Porsche see low OCI's by folks just doing it once a year as they are garage queens and IIRC after 2007 Porsche listed 10K or 1 year as the recommended OCI. The newer DFI cars may be causing more issues but older non-DFI should be good to go for long OCIs if you are driving the car regularly.

For the next change, I will be doing it myself and it should fall in the 5-6K range so we'll see how much the dealer fill sheers in that time (it should be M1 0/40 as prescribed by Porsche). After that, the UOA will be with known M1 0/40 that I put in myself. So in a year I'll know more.

Thanks for the comments everyone

- b


As someone who drives a car factory specified for 3k mile OCI's on Synthetic oil I must tell you to use caution. Many higher performance engines use a lot of extra fuel as combustion chamber coolant and can dilute the oil significantly and quickly!

 

[bvl]

I'm not at all arguing against your use case and your OCI. My point is specific to street driven Porsche cars.

For the 987.1 Cayman Porsche's factory OCI is 2y 20K MI. Now none of the OCD types on BITOG would dream of running 20K on a fill without a series of UOAs. Most would not even do 10K. What I struggle a bit with is believing these engines are so hard on oil that the engineers signed off on 20K OCI's for a while, only to back it down to (a more reasonable) 10K OCI 2008+. Germans? ZEE GERMANS!

Your caution is well noted and why I am here doing UOAs

Lets see how this puppy performs. The only thing on my UOA that I wasn't thrilled with was the sheer but even that isn't a biggie from my understanding that M1 0/40 is on the lighter side of the 40 range.

- b

 

[cc951]

BVI
I don't see any mention but are you aware of the "intermediate shaft failure" issue? This is a well documented issue with the Boxster, Cayman, and 996 engines. Failure can occur without warning and the result is immediate catastrophic engine destruction. It's good you have an extended warranty but would it cover a new engine? Make sure because not all do. The general consensus in the Porsche community is to take proactive steps to prevent it. Start with using higher viscosity quality oil, no less than 5W-40. Inspecting the filter for metal particles at every oil change and getting an oil analysis looking for high metal content. The ultimate solution seems to be a retrofit bearing kit from LN Engineering.
There's a ton of info just google "IMS". Here is one good overview at Pelican Parts:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles...aft_Bearing.htm
In my personal experience, 2 yrs ago I actually did not buy a 2001 Boxster S which was in beautiful condition with 40,000 miles and ran great. The pre-purchase inspection included dropping oil and cutting open the oil filter where we found numerous metal particles. I really loved driving that car but couldn't justify the cost of IMS retrofit added to the purchase price.
I'm a long time Porsche owner/driver, a 20 yr PCA member and love the engineering and performance of these cars. MY 86 944 Turbo has 202,000 miles and runs like a top on 15W40 Rotella T Winter and Valvoline 20w50 VR1 racing oil Summer(non-synth). For newer Porsches my choice is 5W40 Pennzoil Ultra not 0W anything. I hope for the best with many years and many miles of driving pleasure in your Cayman.
CC

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: cc951
BVI
MY 86 944 Turbo has 202,000 miles and runs like a top on 15W40 Rotella T Winter and Valvoline 20w50 VR1 racing oil Summer(non-synth). For newer Porsches my choice is 5W40 Pennzoil Ultra not 0W anything. I hope for the best with many years and many miles of driving pleasure in your Cayman.
CC

Porsche no longer recommends any oil heavier than a 5W-XX and has back dated M1 0W-40 to our '86 MY cars and earlier.
Their is absolutely no lubrication benefit (unless you actually like power sapping oil drag) in running antiquated dino 15W-40 and 20W-50 oil grades.

To the OP, I agree with Buster, I suspect this was the SM version of M1 0W-40. Try the current SN version of M1 0W-4 next time, it's a good oil.

 

[bvl]

iMS is a concern on 986/996 (non turbo). 987 cars have a revised bearing that is in the middle of the block. Replacing is not practical and very few failures have been documented compared to rev 1 cars. 987.2 cars use the 9A1 engine that has no iMS. Sure I wish I had a 2009+ cayman but my 987 vintage is low low risk.

I agree on SM vs SN: dealer could have lots of bulk that is a tad old. When I DIY it will be SN

- b

 

[cc951]

Bvl
Glad to hear that you're aware of the IMS issue. That was my main concern. As to the viscosity debate: Every engine has different requirements. Porsche engines are extremely hard on oil, especially air-cooled and any Turbo model. The Porsche policy change to retro-spec to 0-40 for all engines was uncharacteristic in that it was for environmental reasons at the expense of engine life. I've made my decisions based on the real-world testing and observations from within the Porsche community. Anyone who values longevity of these fine engines should at least be aware of these issues. Here's an interesting collection.
http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html
I value the level of knowledge on BITOG and I'd like to hear your take after you read it.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
bvl - You are on "the right tram" using M1 0W-40

The Porsche people in Zuffenhausen DO know what they are talking about and as a matter of interest installed a 5W-40 synthetic as FF in 1992! They were first Manufacturer to use a synthetic as a FF!! At the time some of the so called Porsche experts were using lubricants as viscous as a 25W-70 IIRC in after services - to cure "problems" that they had discovered..............

Enjoy your car - the chances of a IMS failure is quite remote

Carrying out interim UOAs is the best way to determine the correct OCI for you and if you are concerned about "metal in the filter", have a particle count done as part of the UOA. This is much better than simple relying on a visual inspection of the filter

Enjoy you car as I always enjoyed my Porsches

Incidently, the original 356 cars used a SAE20 or SAE30 HD lubricant - even on the Autobahns and in racing (VW engines of the era and into the 70s used the same viscosities too).

Porsche in Zuffenhausen uses a 20w-50 lubricant (warmed to 80C before load is applied) in their Museum based cars that are still used at race demonstrations

Be cautious of the "experts" - especially those with something to sell............