Porsche carrera gt-2004 User Manual

Maintenance, Car Care

121

Oil change 

The engine oil has to be changed at the intervals 

listed in your Maintenance Schedule. 
f Please observe the chapter “CAPACITIES” on 

Page 183.

We recommend that you have the engine oil 

changed at your Porsche dealer, who has the re-

quired oils and the necessary filling equipment. 
If you suspect an oil leak in the engine have your 

dealer check it out immediately. 
All current engine oils are compatible with each 

other, i. e. when making an oil change it is not nec-

essary to flush the engine if you wish to use a dif-

ferent brand or grade of oil. 

Since, however, each brand of oil has a special 

composition, you should, if possible, use the 

same oil brand if it becomes necessary to top off 

between oil changes.

If your vehicle is used frequently in stop-and-go 

traffic in cold weather, the engine will not always 

be properly warmed up. 

Condensation from products of combustion may 

accumulate in the oil. In this case, it is advisable 

to change the oil more frequently so that your en-

gine once again has 100% efficient engine oil. 

Engine oil performance class 

Engine oil is not only a lubricant, but also serves 

to keep the engine clean, to neutralize the dirt 

which penetrates into the engine through combus-

tion and to protect the engine against corrosion. 

To perform these functions, the oil is provided with 

additives which have been specially developed for 

these functions. 

The efficiency of an oil is expressed, for example, 

by the API, ILSAC or ACEA classifications. 

Viscosity 

Like all liquids, engine oil is viscous when cold, 

and thin-bodied when warm. The viscosity of an oil 

is expressed by its SAE class. For cold viscosity 

(measured at temperatures below 32°F/0°C) the 

SAE class is given as a number and the letter “W” 

(as in winter), for hot viscosity (measured at 

212°F/100°C) the SAE class is given only as a 

number. 
The viscosity of an oil is, therefore, always the 

same if it has the same number of an SAE class. 
Oils with two viscosities are called multigrade oils; 

oils with only one viscosity are termed single-

grade oils. 
Single-grade oils cannot be used in your engine. 
The viscosity of the engine oil for your Porsche 

has to be chosen according to the ambient tem-

perature given in the engine oil recommendation 

table.