What is a good oil change interval for a 1989 Carrera 3.2 Daily Driver?

[mmm]

3000 miles? 5000 miles?

IIRC, my manual says 15000 miles (7500 miles for turbos), but that seems awfully long.

[yelcab1]

I would say 5000 miles, which is what I do.

[ajackson]

You have to change the oil?

[mmm]

Originally posted by ajackson
You have to change the oil?

Yes, Wesson or Canola is best, and makes the exhaust smell real nice too. Cut up some potatos, throw 'em in the oil tank, take your car for a spirited run on a hot day, and serve yourself up some French, errrrr, German Fries!

[brcorp]

Yes, you must change the oil and anti-freeze.

But seriously folks, the Porsche engine longetivity is a function of the oil, i.e. change the oil regularly and the engine will last forever (Unless a head stud breaks or the valve guides wear out). For the $25.00 or so it costs to change the oil and filter, I would not go longer than 5000 miles. Less if most of your driving is stop and go or short trips.

[CarreraS2]

Does dirty oil have anything to do with broken head studs or worn valve guides?

Those are the things that seem to be the leading cause of 911 engines having to come apart.

Anyways, I personally go 5000-7500 miles in my daily drivers, or once per year. With a 911, with a huge oil filter and twice the capacity of most other cars, it would seem that's pretty conservative for a normal street driven 911.

[mmm]

Originally posted by brcorp
Yes, you must change the oil and anti-freeze.

I was worried that my car was low on coolant but couldn't find a place to top it up. Then I read somewhere that the real concern was oil temperature on these cars, so I just dumped some coolant in with the oil to get a 50/50 mix. I figure that'll keep my oil temps down real good.

[Beethoven]

Luckily, us REAL Porsche drivers in the REAL world have to switch to Winter oil and so have to do two mandatory oil changes per year.

[Rick Lee]

If you Carrera burns enough oil, then keeping it topped off should eventually cycle out all the bad oil, right?

My Carrera never went more than 3k miles without new dino oil and filter. 993 gets new Mobil 1 and filters every 5k or after each track event, whichever comes first. I don't care what the manual says. Preventative maint. is my mantra.

[Bill Verburg]

Service intervals will depend on service severity. The most severe use for most drivers is lots of short trips, where the engine and oil never get really hot for long periods of time. For that sort of use 3k mi max.

[alf]

Just check the level often and if the oil looks cruddy change it. I do it at least every 5k. It is easy to remember and i could not multiply by 3 too well

Oil is cheap, engines are not.

alf

[project935]

Every 5K oil and filter sounds good for all around - dino or synthetic.

With good synthetics and mostly highway miles, you could probably get away with a filter every 3500 and oil every 7000.