Today’s post is the first in a series of ‘How To’s’ for the home wrench. I’ll start off right away and let you know there simply is no way of doing a ‘cheap’ oil change on a 911 as they require 9 qts of fully synthetic oil which in itself will add up. But you can possibly save yourself a few dollars from the local dealership as well as having the peace of mind in knowing the job was done properly.
The pictures provided will be on the lift, however this can easily be done on the ground with jack-stands.
First, start off by making sure the motor is warm and up to operating temp. This will insure the maximum amount possible of old oil is drained from the motor. You’ll want to start with pulling the drain plug as you would with any other car:
This is a 5/16 Hex Bit. Remove and discard the crush seal, clean and set aside. Word of caution… the oil will quite literally shoot out of the pan at first and WILL BE HOT. I always wear gloves as there’s pretty much no way to keep it off your hands unless you don’t mind drenching your tools. Let the car drain for about 20 minutes or so. You’ll want to be sure and have a large enough container to collect the oil, keep in mind you’ve got 9 quarts coming your way.
After the motor has had sufficient time to drain, replace your crush seal and torque the drain plug down to 37 ft/lbs. Next, move onto the filter…
Remove with your filter wrench of choice and replace the filter unit and rubber seal that will be included with your filter kit. Make sure to always replace this seal as constant heating and cooling can cause it to fatigue over time even if it appears 100% from the outside. Simply place your filter in the housing, fill with fresh mobil 1 (or the oil of your choice) and move topside.
From here the process is pretty straight forward… I fill with 8 qts of mobile 1 being sure to check the dipstick that the N/A 911 motors are so kind to provide us with, replace the cap and start the motor for about 20 seconds. I then move back to the bay and fill with the 9th and final qt. It’s always a good practice to check the dipstick numerous times in case you went too fast and left a drain-plug loose, or the filter loose. Doing your own oil change but pouring the oil straight in the top and out the bottom will NOT save you money! 
Your 911 is also equipped with a gauge in the cab to keep an eye on both oil pressure and amount. It’s the nature of a flat boxer motor to use a little bit of oil so always keep an eye on your level throughout normal operating conditions. As always you are doing this oil change at your own risk and I hold no accountability… That said, it’s quite easy and can be tackled by the home mechanic even on a complex motor such as your 3.4 or 3.6 liter Porsche mill. Thanks for taking a look and feel free to ask any questions, as always if you’ve found this tutorial helpful and would like to donate any small amount please send paypal donations to kuhawk@excite.com which allows me to keep posting these up. Wrench on!
