How many of you run synthetic?
 

Considering changing the oil on my 944 just because I don't know when it was last changed... filter looks fairly new, oil looks clean, but who *really* knows? Anyway, here's the problem. Around here a gallon of Shell Rotella 15W40 goes for about $6 and change. A *quart* of Mobil 1 15W50 is about $4.50. So you see there's a significant cost hit in using synthetic in a car that takes seven quarts of oil...

This is just a daily driver, not abused, about 110K miles (est. - odo is busted) and I live in a fairly mild climate. I figure that the conventional oil changed at 3K will still save me money over the synth even if I stretch it to 6K or 7K miles.

any input appreciated.

nate

I'm running mobil 1 0w40, I love it.

my friend/mechanic suggests castrol gtx in a 15w40(i think). he also suggested a synthetic for your tranny fluid too.

mobil 1 15w50, was running 0w40. too thin for a turbo.

20-50-castrol gtx, more often than necessary

Definately run synthetic.
I was using Mobil 1 5/10W-30 depending on the season.
However, when I get everything back together, it's getting filled with Amsoil from now on.
I am very impressed with their products.

Mobil syn. 10W-30 but might be switching to 15W-50.


IS ANYONE USING MOBIL SYNTHETIC TRANNY FLUID?
- (Is it worth switching over to?)


- 1980 931 and now the motor is being rebuilt for 5K

10w30 regular oil....

What do you guys think of Pennzoil, either conventional or Synthetic? I get oil changes for $10 no matter which one or weight I use.

Should I run the Pennzoil or spend more for something else?

Should be picking up the car tomorrow after school...:-D

WHILE I RUN MOTOR OIL IN THE ENGINE, I KEEP A QUART OF MAZOLA IN THE Back seat as a conversation piece, should the topic arise.

p.ps. why are the keys all mixed up on the keyboard, and why did i have to learn them in order,....in a song?????????????? ditd the nuns/nuts have that much power?????????????

Here is one source out of many to look at for why to switch to synthetic.

http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/synth_oil.txt

ok, i am convinced. i am going to switch my 350 tbi 1 ton boxter van to it, and pull my 6700 pound trailer 150 miles. hpoe the turbo 400 cAN TAKE IT. SHOULD CHANGE ITT ALSO.
TOM

toolboy. I noticed your in Bowie MD. Im down in St. Marys (leonardtown to be exact) and i have a busted up 944 that im parting out. Let me know if you ever need a part and ill let you run down and get it. (as long as its still there)

I heard that synthetic oil in engines with old gaskets and whatnot can be bad, but i don't really know anything about that.

but i do run the mobil 1 synthetic tranny oil. I still need to fix the sloppy linkage wear problem, but i've noticed a difference already.

Castrol 20-50 dino

Yes, I use synthetic in everything I have except the Ferguson 135, and this includes a pair of Ford 427 (Chris Craft) marine engines.

I use Mobil-1 15W50 in everything, but tend to lean toward the 10W30 in cold weather for top off.

Any of you guys still running dino, take a look at the following link and see how your oil stacks up against Mobil-1.

You'll note their 15W50 flows down to colder temps than some 5-weights, so it's some pretty awesome stuff. I think Amsoil Series 2000 20W50 is a better product, but much more expensive. I absolutely love their (Amsoil) Series 2000 75W90 gear lube, as it quieted my 165,000 mile 944 transaxle down nicely, and it shifts better too.

Check this out (and weep, unless you're using synthetic)

http://www.ac427.com/html/cobra_32.shtml


P

I use Mobil 1 10 -30, all my mechanic friends use it in their cars...

anybody tried the synthetic ATF?

Castrol 20W-50W

I use synthetic ATF in the power steering. Mobil 1.

I put Amsoil 2000 series 75-90 in my gearbox, and it's just wonderful down to -35C, shifts like a whole new transmission. However, at -35C it stiffens up so hard it takes 2 hands to get it in gear, and full throttle just to coax the car along. Let off the gas and the tires screech it slows down so hard.
Takes a good 10-15 mins of warming up at below -35C before it's drivable.
However, I would imagine most oils do that, so thumbs up for Amsoil.

Just for clarification, I believe the best Amsoil motor oil is the series 3000? Or perhaps I am crazy.

But yep, it does cost, about $13/Litre CDN.

Is amsoil really better than mobil 1 synth? If so, is it worth the extra cost?

Mobil 1 15w-50 motor, Swepco in transaxle.

I don't know if it is no longer deing imported here,but I used to use Mobil 1 10W30,then 5W40 was only available.Now 0W40 is only availale.Perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge can tell me what the low end viscosity implications should be in a moderate climate (10 deg C min to 38 deg C max-about 50 F to100F),
Have today purchased Mobilube 1 75W90 for gearbox so will be interested to see what effect this will have on smoothness of shifting.

Swepco is a pure synthetic, right?

Asking about oil is a lot like asking about religion... everyone has their opinion and anyone else who differs is wrong! :) I consider myself to be an oil change junkie, as I run synthetic (Mobil One 15-50 in my street cars and Royal Purple 20-50 in my track car) and I change it at 2500-3000 miles or 6 months, which ever comes first. I am positive I am overkilling it, but I haven't had any engine problems with any of my cars (or my Harley with 153k miles on it ) that would be traced back to oil related issues.

In all honestly, you can run the cheapest dino oil you can find, and as long as you on't overheat the oil and change it every 3k miles, you'll probably never have a problem. The main thing to keep in mind is that oil picks up contaminants over time, and the filter won't catch everything. Dino oil also breaks down and doesn't handle heat as well as synthetic, so thats why it is recommended to be changed more frequently.

People frequently talk about developing oil leaks when switching to synthetic, and thats sort of an urban legend, in my opinion. There WAS a problem back in the 70's, but that has long been solved. What does happen, tho, is that synthetic typically cleans a bit better than dino oil, and if you've got a failed seal or gasket that has some build up on it, sythetic will sometimes remove the build up and then it will start leaking. Personally, I would prefer that to letting sludge build up in your engine.

YMMV.

Regards,

Me too!
-Z.

moble 1 , 15 50 here

love it so much i put it in the benz also

I use the mobil 1 filters as well

Do they have the same valve setup as the OEM Mahle? I believe that valve is of some ipmortance to the happiness of your 944....

DAMN! almost forot to order my oil filters. thanks for the reminder :)

Mobil 1 15W50 & Mahle filter...

Mobile 1 Rocks! 20/50 here.

Valvoline Synth blend 20w50 with a Mahle filter.

Doesnt seem like you do your own oil changes, why not?

I do, but I work at Jiffy Lube (yea yea, I know) so if I bring my own filter, I can do my oil change for $10. I'm trying to decide whether I want to run Pennzoil or spend more and get other stuff.

Any Pennzoil opinions?

nj;lsjkrhalejfasjdf damn transaxle fill plug!!!! F@wk. I thought i could save a few bucks by just not bothering with buying a tool for 5 bucks at kragen and spend 2.50 on a bolt that would fit the fill plug. Well, the damn plug is in there so tight that it stripped. YES THEY CAN STRIP!!! HOLY COW!!!

So now it's in there, i cant change my transaxle fluid cuz its stuck, i dont wanna bother taking the drain one off because how in the world would i get it in? I know 2.5 liters is supposed to fit in there but then i'd leak a bit... wait a second... maybe that'd work... it'd be real messy.... BUT DAMN THAT FILL ONE!!!!

I've done two pennzoil oil changes on my 944. I've always used 10w40 and havent seen any problems with it. My engine is sad, it gets a decent ammount of blow by so the oil turns real nasty. Seems like im gunna have to change it every 6 months or so... or just do an engine swap with a v8... but thats for another day.

Oh, you're the JiffyLube guy! You should know whats good and whats not!!! ;)

I've been satisfied with running either Mobile 1, Valvoline, Castrol 20w-50 semi-synth. Changes at 4K

Mobil 15 - 50 and swepco @ tranny.

same here. As for Porschephile, Swepco is dino goop but VERY good dino goop.

I can live and attest to Mobil 1. I have used it in every single one of my cars without any complaints. My wife drove a Chevy Metro (stop laughing) for 230,000 miles till she wrecked it, but it still ran like new. The compression tests never dropped from 10.5:1, it was driven EVERYWHERE, there never were any leaks, almost no wear on the camshaft, and it had an auto tranny with NO OVERDRIVE so it sounded like an indycar at 80MPH. Lots of high RPM driving. My dad has used it in all of our VW's and Porsches. The 62 Ghia I have is is in it's third generation of owners with 385,000 miles and the origional engine has yet to fail. We used it in our lawnmower even (I said stop laughing) and have had it for over 18 years without any failure.

Porsche released many many technical bulletins praising the use of Synthetics. As for tranny fluid, I remember a while back there was some posts about which trans fluid to use.

That said, back in the 80s Porsche recommended the use of Castrol 20-50 GTX.

What's the part number on the Mobil oil filter, and where can you get them easily?

Penzoil sucks hard IMO