since the turbos have so little oil, do we need to drain?
how much oil do the turbos hold?

 

Relative to the approximate 9 quarts of oil the car holds, the amount you'll get out of the turbo tanks is pretty small. I've never measure the quantity when draining them, but it's probably somewhere around 6 to 8 ounces each. It's easy to do if you're under the car already. I do it as I figure the intent of changing the oil, is to change as much of the oil as is practical.

 

Most dealers and indies don't. And I haven't heard of too many turbo failures on these cars and the turbos would be the first failure due to contamination. Also consider that when most people change the oil on their wet sump engines they don't wait long enough to ensure the oil pump completely drains. Just sayin'.

 

I change my own oil, and have asked all the pro's about it. all of them have told me to not bother. What most people don't tell you is that the car actually holds 12 quarts, but only 9 drain out with an oil change. Once you understand this, the thimble full you get from the turbos is ridiculous. Also, the drain plugs are a different metal than the turbo housing so there's danger of stripping the threads. So my advice is forget the turbo's and just deal with the torrent that shoot's out of that giant plug from the holding tank.

 

Draining the turbos is a good idea because it will give you an indication if all is well in that area. If one drains more oil than the other, that is a sign of a blockage, and that is better to spot sooner rather than later.

 

Interesting, thanks for sharing. If that is true, I see almost zero reason to mess with draining the turbos to get out that least few oz of dirty oil if 3 quarts are retained still by the car. I didn't do the turbos last time I changed the oil, if they go, then its just an excuse for another mod :-P.

How often are you guys changing your oil? I know spec is 15k miles, but that seems like an aweful lot considering how hard most of us drive our cars. I guess Porsche would know, but do many people here change thier oil more often than 15k miles?

 

I still change mine every 3-4k (usually 3). There is no way in hell I would go 15K.

 

I do my own oil changes and usually do turbos every time or other time. I change oil every 3-4k.

 

Ditto.

 

What he said

 

Interesting every 3-4k miles people are changing it. You've gotta think Porsche would realize this car would be driven hard, and they've obviously built it for that reason, so why is there such a common feeling that oil changes are needed every 3-4k miles like on a conventional car with regular motor oil? Is it just habbit or a random sense of piece of mind? As I said, I too am considering changing it early, but i was thinking about 8k to 10k miles, rather than 15k, and I have no good reason for why 15k is too many when Porsche says its ok. Who's asked thier Porsche service guys about this? I DIY my oil, but if you have Porsche do it, do they really schedule you in at 15k miles?

 

Change every 4k here too..I've seen some very bad things inside engines serviced every 15-20K (the very first time I took the car to the Porsche shop, the owner of the shop wanted to show me the effects of long drain intervals...they were NA angines but...boy I've never seen so much sludge..)

4K may be exagerated, but I think no more than 6-7k anyway.

 

I always drain the turbo sumps. It not only removes the excess dirty oil , but if you drain them into a small can you can also check for any debris that might be caught at the bottom and also is good practice to make sure no sludge is being retained.
I do it for "best working practice" and it costs very little to do anyway.
Frank

 

Since I don't put a lot of miles/year on my Turbo, I generally change the oil every year and a half to two years. If I were driving it more, I'd probably change the oil around at around 7-10k depending on the oil analysis.

 

Every 3 to 4 k here not the turbos. It's the cheapest thing to do to keep things in good order. An oil Change is about the cost of a tank of gas these days.