yearly maintenance (<9,000miles)

[joee76]

Just wanted to get some feedback on performing a yearly maintenance on the car if I drive less than 9K miles per year.

I drive my car only on weekends...I photograph weddings and I put on about 3,700 miles per year only. Throughout the winter, I do store the car, but I drive it on days where the roads are clear and run through the gears whenever I can. This winter, I probably did this about every other week. I did start my car and drive it around my underground garage for about 20 min.

I know I should get the yearly maintenance done, but do I really need to since I don't really winterize the vehicle completely ?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I live in Toronto, Canada, in case you are familiar with the kind of weather we get up here during the winters :)

[White987S]

joee76, you should change the oil every year. You should also change the brake fluid every 2 years. Then I would follow your maintenance guidelines in your owner's manual.

[pk2]

joee76, you should change the oil every year. You should also change the brake fluid every 2 years. Then I would follow your maintenance guidelines in your owner's manual.

I drive my Box quite a bit less than Joee76... but year around.

Can you tell me what exactly is breaking down in a synthetic oil when it's just sitting around in a cool & unstressed crankcase and why it wouldn't be breaking down sitting on the shelf in a cool unstressed little jug? Is it all the cold startups?

I always thought accumulated heat, dirt and probably squishing was what breaks a synthetic down... not time. I've never seen an expiration date on a can of oil (never really looked in all fairness)

Regards, PK.

Edited March 23, 2008 by pk2

[White987S]

joee76, you should change the oil every year. You should also change the brake fluid every 2 years. Then I would follow your maintenance guidelines in your owner's manual.

I drive my Box quite a bit less than Joee76... but year around.

Can you tell me what exactly is breaking down in a synthetic oil when it's just sitting around in a cool & unstressed crankcase and why it wouldn't be breaking down sitting on the shelf in a cool unstressed little jug? Is it all the cold startups?

I always thought accumulated heat, dirt and probably squishing was what breaks a synthetic down... not time. I've never seen an expiration date on a can of oil (never really looked in all fairness)

Regards, PK.

1) Porsche says to change it once per year

2) Moisture accumulation in the oil

[White987S]

I did start my car and drive it around my underground garage for about 20 min.

What exactly does this accomplish? IMHO all you are doing is burning up fuel and annoying your other tenants. The car will not reach peak operating temp in 20 minutes. This is very hard on your emmission systems and oil. About the best thing it does is prevent your tires from flat spotting.

[joee76]

joee76, you should change the oil every year. You should also change the brake fluid every 2 years. Then I would follow your maintenance guidelines in your owner's manual.

Hi White987S...so the Annual Maintenance check is just an inspection pretty much ? It doesn't appear to include an oil change, according to http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?a...aint_box_us_ann

Thanks again for taking time to reply.

[grover]

I was thinking the same thing, joe- my owner's manual also says max 2 years between oil changes?

As a follow-up; how important is the "read out fault memory"? Everything else, I can DIY. Is there any way to DIY the fault memory? I don't suppose this is something I can get done free at autozone ;) Reason to join the local Porsche Club where I could bum it off another club member at meetings?

Edit: aha, this changed in MY04, where Porsche omitted the annual maintenance requirement and changed it to 2 years. The previous owner of my 04 986 had it done annually, though, so the maint schedule is all hosed up. Two more annual changes and it'll be back on track with 15k cycles... maybe I'll just do it that way. The obvious question is - what's different between an 03 and an 04? Is this Porsche admitting to being overly cautious, or did something actually change?

Edited March 23, 2008 by grover

[pk2]

1)Porsche says to change it once per year

My dentist says floss every day.

2Moisture accumulation in the oil

Hmm, Mobil 1 & other synthetics do have small amounts of hygroscopic additives, I'll buy...sorta. But I live in an pretty warm and arid climate. I suppose in rainy snowy Stuttgart, there'd be enough of condensation to "soak" the oil in a year. Not sure the same rules apply here though. Question of relative humidity I guess.

But. it's been 4 yrs and 4k so I suppose its time.

Thanks

PK

Edited March 24, 2008 by pk2