Hello everybody!
I own a MY98. There is no warranty on it.
I only drive about 6500miles (about 11'000km) per year. I find it really stupid to
change my oil every 6 months (with only 3500miles on it!).
Okay the Subaru Service plan says that you should change your oil every 6 months,
but it also says, that the oil is good for about 7500miles. I don't think that the oil is
used after 6 months of use and 3500miles? Am I right?
So I decided to change it only every 12 months.
What do you think???
ric :-)

 

Ric, I have always changed the oil around every 3,000 miles. I do this because the mechanic I use recommened it.

Dan

 

yeah... the same here... I have changed the oil every 3,000 miles (as recommended) - like clockwork....

 

my cossie used to eat 5 liters every 1000 miles

seriously now, the minimum is every 6 months, change it you cheapscate, turbo engines are very hard on oil.

 

Ric,

There are lots of good reasons to change your oil at least every six months. The UK service schedule is 7500 miles/6 months depending on which comes first, which I think is probably a little longer than i would be happy with.

Oil oxidises in the sump, and this reduces it's ability to remain in-grade (making it too thin when hot), and the additive package becomes less effective too.

Since you would only need to pay for the oil and a sump plug washer, it is a useful precaution in my opinion. I would also guess that you are doing a lot of short distance trips if you are doing that little mileage in six months - this also dramatically speeds up the rate of degradation.

If you want to know for sure and are curious enough to spend a little money, have an oil sample analysed after six months in the engine and see what the lab results are. The basic principle is that you should be changing oil on condition rather than time in use - most oils used in turbo engines are pretty much finished after as little as 3000 miles due to the high temperatures involved.

Cheers,

Alex

 

I used to use the "ongoing oil change" on my mini. Wouldn't recommend it though!

 

Frequency and severity of use also factor in. If you travel most of your 6000miles/annum over short distance runs (school run/short commute?) the engine will be taking much more of a pounding than if you were doing twice the mileage but on much longer trips.

Oh, and don't the WRC team change the oil in the rally cars at each service point (or as often as the rules allow)? Those cars don't really travel that many miles!

Moray

 

Oil is the life blood of the engine. Always use a good fully synthetic oil.

I use Castrol RS on my turbo petrol car and have heard also Mobil 1 Motorsport recommended.

The new Mobil 1 is too thin for performance turbocharged engines.

jon

 

I agree with the above comments...i only do 6k miles per year (short journeys mostly) and i get my oil and filter changed every 3 months regardless of mileage. Oil is like the blood in your body.

 

wouldn't fancy sticking a plaster on you sunilp, have to use swarfega after

 

Also make sure you change the filter everytime.

 

Thanks John

 

Maybe this is an outrageous comment but here goes:

I can't see the point in using the significantly more expensive fully-synthetic oil. Sure, if it was a race car or you planned to keep it for more than 100 000 miles then there might be an argument.

Realistically, most of us keep cars for less than 3 years. In that time, engine wear is not likely to be significant. These cars are clearly very reliable and will probably run for over 100 000 miles on regularly changed semi-synthetic oil without any problems. Subaru even recommends Shell Helix (semi-synthetic).

I've not heard of any engine or turbo failures because of using semi as apposed to fully synthetic oil.

So why waste money?

D.

 

The point is we pay far too much for oil. However like I have said elsewhere I can supply Shell Helix Ultra (Fully synthetic 5W30) at £5 per litre.

Mail me if you want some.

 

the turbocharger bearing is the week link in most turbo engines. The temperature here is enormous, use crap oil and you will see a turbo failure sooner rather than later. It is very important to let the turbo cool after a fast run before you turn the engine off as the oil will crystalise in the bearing if you dont and will lead to a turbo failure.

If you drive the car hard then you need to use a better quality oil than the standard spec if you want the turbo to survive.

 

DJB,

A fair point - the Shell helix semi-synthetic that was recommended by Subaru (now Castrol Magnatec) would be perfectly acceptable given that it conforms to all required API specifications.

Not using a synthetic oil is unlikely to compromise your engine lifespan significantly provided that it is serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.

On the other hand, A fully synthetic oil has many advantages over semi-synthetic or mineral oils. This is due to the tailored nature of the hydrocarbon molecules in a synthetic oil. This allows the oil to stay in grade at higher temperatures, and resist the drop in viscosity that happens as the oil ages in use. Lab tests have shown that the additive package that is in every oil can be almost totally used up within 3000 miles. Synthetics are less reliant on these additives to modify the properties of the base oil stock because these properties are 'engineered in'. This allows longer service intervals and reduces wear and corrosion.

To get an equivilant degree of protection under exteme conditions, you would have to change a semi-synthetic or mineral oil twice as frequently as for a synthetic oil which would offset any cost advantages. The car will be fine if you follow the manufacturers recommendations, but for added peace of mind the synthetic oils are holding all the aces....

Cheers,

Alex

 

so from all this are you guys recamending shell heilix ultra 5w30 . and i'm still looking for super roo oil addative .