Help with first Oil Change

[superskid]

I have a 2001 Boxster S that I purchased last year and would like to do an oil change on it myself instead of paying so much at the dealer. I have a Jetta that I have been doing for years so figure I'll stick with the German engineering. I do have a couple questions though.

1.) The article on this site says to raise the left side of the car, so I put both the front and the rear on jack stands then go under and pull the drain plug? Do I have to lower the car to let it drain properly or will it drain with the left side higher? Seems to me lots of oil would not drain with it raised.

2.) I have always gone by the electronic gauge on the dash, when I look at the actual dipstick it has a big rubber end, where on this do I want the oil level to be?

3.) I am located in Northern Canada (Edmonton) so I only get to drive the car 6 months a year max, what weight of Mobil 1 (or maybe other brand) Oil is recommended?

4.) Lastly, I assume this is the best place for me to order all the parts necessary? Even with me located in Canada?

Thanks!!

EDIT: Oh I should add that I had an oil change done at the beginning of May, and now the electronic gauge when I first turn the car on is down to either 1 bar or 2. Is this a little fast for it to be low on oil? I park the car in my driveway and there is NOT a single drop on it?

[clickman]

Originally Posted by superskid

I have a 2001 Boxster S that I purchased last year and would like to do an oil change on it myself instead of paying so much at the dealer. I have a Jetta that I have been doing for years so figure I'll stick with the German engineering. I do have a couple questions though.

1.) The article on this site says to raise the left side of the car, so I put both the front and the rear on jack stands then go under and pull the drain plug? Do I have to lower the car to let it drain properly or will it drain with the left side higher? Seems to me lots of oil would not drain with it raised.

I jack up the rear of the car at a jack point near the inside of the rear wheel, then put a jack stand under the side jack point for safety. Once the plug is pulled, lower the car and let it drain for half an hour. Make sure you have a big enough tub!

Originally Posted by superskid

2.) I have always gone by the electronic gauge on the dash, when I look at the actual dipstick it has a big rubber end, where on this do I want the oil level to be?

I use the dipstick too. The range is marked on it.

Originally Posted by superskid

3.) I am located in Northern Canada (Edmonton) so I only get to drive the car 6 months a year max, what weight of Mobil 1 (or maybe other brand) Oil is recommended?

I've gone away from Mobil1 on the advice of a well-respected forum contributor with his own shop and lots of used-oil analyses to back him up. His recommendation is Castrol Syntec 10W-40, but it's not available in Canada, so we're stuck with 5W-40 (Walmart or CT). Just means you have to change your oil a little more frequently. If you're like me, you don't put on more than 8000 km in a driving season anyways, and so I change my oil just before putting the car to bed for the winter.

Originally Posted by superskid

4.) Lastly, I assume this is the best place for me to order all the parts necessary? Even with me located in Canada?

Parts: Filter, o-ring, crush ring, oil. The OEM filter is known to have problems: end cap splitting or rips near the center opening, missing or failed glue joints where the paper endcaps are butt glued to the media; either will allow oil to by-pass the media. At my next change I'm going to start using the Wix/NAPA Gold units (#57211). Much better made, and they use the same media as the spin-on units, so the pore diameters are about 30% smaller. I don't know if Wayne handles those, but NAPA in Canada does (probably not the cheapest). But you still need the crush rings (buy 'em by the dozen) and the o-ring for the filter canister. Whoever you buy them from, if it's from the States, make sure they send by USPS, not UPS, as the latter is well known for ripping off Canadians at the border.

Originally Posted by superskid

Oh I should add that I had an oil change done at the beginning of May, and now the electronic gauge when I first turn the car on is down to either 1 bar or 2. Is this a little fast for it to be low on oil? I park the car in my driveway and there is NOT a single drop on it?

May - August? Don't worry unless you start to see oil dripping from where the tranny mates up to the engine.

Welcome to the DIY world, and you'll see how easy these cars are to work on.

Norm
2001 Boxster, 5 spd

[superskid]

Thanks for the reply, after posting I looked around in the store here and think I will add the magnetic drain plug and screw on filter as well.

I am still slightly confused on where on the dipstick to look. I want the oil near the upper cut out of the two cutouts?

[clickman]

[superskid]

Thanks, where would I be looking exactly for oil, where the tranny meets the engine? Not sure where to look.

Thanks again,

[mcmike27]

Exactly...right where the 2 sections mate....clean off the area 1st with some degreaser and drive for a few days and then get under the car with an bright light and inspect that area. Look right where the cable sits connecting the 2 units...if there is a RMS leaking you'll see the tell tale signs of allot of gunk and fresh weeping oil from that location. Make sure you start off with a clean area and look closely. You may also find weeping spark plug tubes (if your model year has them???) or a weeping cam cover bolt or cam cover gasket.

[mcmike27]

Also when your ready you may want to upgrade to the L&N mag drain plug and the spin on/off filter adapter both are excellent products and you can get them here thru Wayne. I switched over on our 98 986 and I love the system. I also use the NAPA Gold spin on filter and buy them 3 at a time along with crush rings.

[clickman]

If there's oil coming from the area where the tranny and engine mate, you don't know if it's RMS or IMS. Rear Main Seal leakage can usually wait until clutch change. Intermediate Shaft Seal you should do some research on, and it ain't pretty.

[superskid]

I did purchase the magnetic drain plug and the spin on adapter!

Any chance you guys have pictures of where I should be looking, I'm really new to this car.

Thanks,

[mcmike27]

Slide under the car and you will see the safety cable that attaches the tranny to the back half of the engine block it sticks out on both sides of the crossmember that supports the engine and tranny. You cant miss it. Look infront of this cross member and behind it. Most times if there is a leak it's on the front half facing the front of the car. DEAD CENTER of the block. Clean this area well as it picks up allot of road crud and will be filthy.

[Oldguy57]

Originally Posted by clickman

If there's oil coming from the area where the tranny and engine mate, you don't know if it's RMS or IMS. Rear Main Seal leakage can usually wait until clutch change. Intermediate Shaft Seal you should do some research on, and it ain't pretty.

I have a Boxster 98 with 86k, just bought this spring and there's a drop of oil now and then where the tranny and the engine meet. Suposed to be like that since 2008 (dealers registry) and was told it's the RMS and to wait until clutch change, but I didn't know the IMS could produce the same symptoms of oil leak now I'll worry !!
Thanks in advance if someone can clarify this!
Best regards
Fermin

[Spacebird]

I just changed my oil (and installed an LN Engineering spin-on filter, etc.). A few things that I learned in the process:

I just changed my oil and have a few things to add:

- I backed the car on to a pair of Rhino ramps and then used two 2ton jacks to lift the front of the car. Getting the car level makes a big difference in draining out all the old oil.
- There is a LOT of oil in that crankcase. Make sure that your drain pan is big enough.
- The drain plug is soft aluminum and was probably overtightened in the past. I damaged the hex as I had to use a breaker bar to get it out. Have a spare on hand, or get a billet magnetic plug from LN Engineering, etc.
- 7.75L as called for in the manual is about 8.2 quarts. I put in 8, checked the level, idled the car, added more a few times to get the level right.
- I did a lot of reading on oil types, weights, etc. And decided to go with Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5W-40. I wanted the 5W-40 based on several knowledgable people recommending it (including Charles at LN Engineering). I opted for Pennzoil Ultra Euro as it's Porsche A40 certified and is very highly regarded on the BITOG forums. It's tough stuff to find; in a city of 4 million people I was only able to find it at a Ferrari dealership

[superskid]

My Pelican order just showed up so I am getting ready to do this. I like the idea of backing the car on to ramps then leveling it with jacks. Seems like it would provide decent room to work under and not force you to lower the car to level it.

I'm going to go with Syntec 5W-40 as mentioned above as it is readily available in Canada.

[mcmike27]

I place a big cinder block behind each of my ramps to keep them from sliding back and it gives you about 1' extra run out room if you accidently run over the Rino ramp 'hump' in the back. I also have a second set of eyes watch as I S L O W LY back onto the ramps. I havent jacked the front end up to level the car and I find I get most if not all of the oil out. You'd be amazed at how much flows out when you have to redo the sump cover gasket. I took mine off and let it drain overnight and got at least 1 to 1.5 qrts out of that engine. When it's DRY like that the engine took almost 9.5 qrts to refill it. Another good oil choice is Castrol 5W-40 Syntech now called Castrol Edge.