Para82

Terrible to hear about your loss, hopefully some good comes out of this.

Louis de Funes

this is also my 1st post

sorry to hear OP

I just bought a 2007 911S with 33k+ miles on it. Thus far I have no problems. Had an Oil change done and a Inspection after I drove about 600 miles.

I am debating if I should do the Deluxe Upgrade that Jake is offering.

I am just not sure what to do. Sorry not meant to hijack this thread.

Bruce In Philly

IMHO, I would not do it. As a matter of fact, I never did in 197K of miles and I had a failed engine at 47K. I always thought about it but didn't. I said to myself that I would do something when I needed a clutch but I never replaced the clutch.

Why didn't I do it? The odds were in my favor. I also figured I would just replace the engine and get another 100K miles on the car beyond the replacement. I assumed that $20K or so for an engine and another 100K miles on it was not a bad deal as I tend to keep my cars for a very very long time. Is this good logic? I dunno. When the 2nd angine failed, I sold the car as a roller and purchased a used 911.... so I didn't follow through with my own plans.

Another interesting fact is that when my 2nd engine blew, the IMS was fine. Something else gave way so spending the money for the IMS is no assurance of no failure.

There is no good answer for you. It is all about your emotions and feeling good. There is no guarantee that whatever you install won't fail. Some did it and swear by it. There is no good answer.... period.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Flat6 Innovations

Please email info@flat6innovations.com and we'll help you. These threads are not favorable places to share information at this point.

FYI- Nothing suggests that this was an IMSB failure. The engine is now extracted, and will go through my post- mortem evaluation at the end of the coming week.

Hella-Buggin'

It's more likely that Mobile and Porsche came to a corporate aggrement that enabled both of them to get something. Mobile agrees to supply all the dealerships at a discount and that cache elevates the mobile brand. The truth is that there are way better oils. I personally use Motul xCess because it's good and easy to get.

As far as the change intervals, porsche's recommendations are also based partly on marketing. Our cras are built so well,they only need the oil changed every 20k miles. It's more expensive but les frequent so it works out. I change my oil at least every 5k and more frequently if there is a track day in that interval.

Send your oil in periodically for analysis so you can establish a baseline and when that has a significant shift in results you know something is going to give.

Other than that, drive it like you stole it...
After proper operating temp of coarse ;-)

cvtbenhogan

Sorry to hear OP's issues. Really sucks and makes me sick. Shame on porsche for all of the issues with the m96-97 engines.

Good luck to the OP on the rebuild outcome.

USMC_DS1

3) Is the Porsche recommended oil change interval really dangerous?


Porsche changed their recommended oil change interval from 20K miles for MY05-MY07 997's to 12K miles for MY08. Since the engine didn't change until the MY09 997.2 we have to assume that Porsche lowered the change interval during the last production year to correct an inaccurate projection issued for the initial model years. In this case, a corrective factor of 40%... quite significant. Oil is relatively cheap as compared to an engine. The more frequent the oil change the more likely an issue can be detected before it's too late especially if an oil analysis is performed with each change.

Given that the sticker on our engine compartments clearly indicate Porsche recommends Mobile 1, and given the oil change recommendations in our Porsche manual, if the claims above our true, then Porsche either does not know it's own engine, or are negligent?

MB-1 is an old formula... there are more current/modern oils available which are also on the Porsche A40 approved oil list. Motul Xcess, for example, is highly regarded.

gripshifter

Thanks for clarifying Mark & Semper Fi. I'm going to give Motul oil a try next time. As for the recommended interval for oil changes, luckily it doesn't really apply for me since I always hit the one year mark around 5K miles and do my oil change annually.

Also, Jake, thanks for clarifying that this was not an IMS issue for the OP.

Flat6 Innovations

Actually, its changed at least 4 times in the last decade. Its been the same for the last 2 years.

They don't tell us this, we can see it in UOA and VOA that are continually going on here. We pull UOA on every engine that we see.

Para82

Good lord, really glad I purchased mine with 10,038 miles, can't imagine buying a high mileage 911 that saw oil changes every 20k!

Since taking ownership i've changed the oil every 3k!

Alfaguy2

My 2005 997 has now done 49,000 miles on its original engine. My view is that the IMS failures are just not predictable or really preventable by good maintenance and careful driving. That is not to say you should neglect good maintenance or abandon any care you give driving it but its something I no longer worry about.

I have set aside a contingency fund for an engine replacement though should I need one. Its still a cheaper solution than buying a later model 997 which may have had a harder life than my current very much pampered 997.

cvtbenhogan

Jake,

What oils and interval do you recommend?

I've been using mobile 1 and changing every 3k. I'm going change to something else and get an oil analysis.

Amber Gramps

I cannot fathom someone chasing Flat6 away from this thread.

What kind of idiot does something like that? Dude, post away.

Ray S

I'm guessing Jake has looked at, diagnosed, and repaired more M96/M97 failures than anyone else on the planet (outside of anyone working for Porsche in Stuttgart).

I think the question one needs to ask oneself is "do you trust him"?

I can only answer for myself, but I do.

LexVan

This has been well covered in old threads. Jake recommends his Joe Gibbs DT40 5W40 oil that he co-developed with Gibbs. Can every 5,000 miles. Do you UOA's with Blackstone Labs.