Engine oil again
02 November 2002, 11:10 PM
#1
I know this has been done to death a while ago,but i cant find the answer on any searches. My local dealer has told me they use Magnatec 10w40,will it hurt if i use 15w40(or is 10w40 safer to use)on my 98uk turbo
03 November 2002, 01:51 PM
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03 November 2002, 09:28 PM
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easyr
My Subaru dealer also uses Magnatec and my car ran without problems. I coincidentally changed oil to a top price 15-50 oil, and it didn't protect my engine any better. In fact, my engine fell to bits.
Back at same dealer with repaired engine and Magnatec back in it now. Dealer is convinced that the Magnatec 'properties' offer very good protection for Subarus. True or false who knows but I certainly think its a decent oil.
My Subaru dealer also uses Magnatec and my car ran without problems. I coincidentally changed oil to a top price 15-50 oil, and it didn't protect my engine any better. In fact, my engine fell to bits.
Back at same dealer with repaired engine and Magnatec back in it now. Dealer is convinced that the Magnatec 'properties' offer very good protection for Subarus. True or false who knows but I certainly think its a decent oil.
03 November 2002, 09:50 PM
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Hi, just to add confusion to conflict, in my owners pack thing,(my97uk tbo,)there is a card saying 'quote'-" IMPORTANT Subaru uk Recomend Shell Helix Plus-ask for this at your next service"????,(no viscosity stated), thats strange, cos, i thought scoob dealers used 5/40 mobil 1 exclusivly , as only supplied to dealerships???, is this true?, whats the story wi this Helix recomendation info card i have??
cheers
Billy.
cheers
Billy.
04 November 2002, 12:40 AM
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Shell helix 
I would say that running a car on semi synthetic isnt as good as running a car on fully synthetic due to the gained properties of fully synth over semi synth.
Basically a fully synth oil is MUCH better than a semi synth, you cannot argue with that but the fully synth has to protect the engine and that can only be done if the fully synth is of a decent grade.
Tony
I would say that running a car on semi synthetic isnt as good as running a car on fully synthetic due to the gained properties of fully synth over semi synth.
Basically a fully synth oil is MUCH better than a semi synth, you cannot argue with that but the fully synth has to protect the engine and that can only be done if the fully synth is of a decent grade.
Tony
04 November 2002, 08:22 AM
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Imprezive - my old mY99 also had a "ask for shell helix plus" card in the service pack.
Indeed I ran the car on it for 3 oil changes until I switched to fully synth. I noticed two things - the car ran a lot smoother and it used more fuel !
I liked the former and didnt really care about the latter!
I'll be having the first 1k service on my new MY02 in the next two weeks and I will be putting in semi synth for another 4 k miles - just to aid running in - I'll then switch to fully synth.
T.
07 November 2002, 12:19 AM
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Out of interest I have 2 Subaru main dealers closeby here in the sunny west, one dealer uses Castrol GTX Magnatec 10W40 semi-synthetic and the other uses BP Visco 5W40 synthetic for servicing Scoobies. I guess as long as the manufacturers spec is met the dealers do a bulk buy deal with whoever they can a good deal off... What I do is do an in between service oil/filter change using Magnatec and use the dealers for the 7500 mile service (keep up the service history) thus my motor gets new oil (be it only semi-synthetic Magnatec) every 3750 miles... Car now on 114000 miles and going well
07 November 2002, 08:34 AM
#21
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"magnatec" got a very bad rep off certain manufacturers after the finger was pointed for certain engine failures (allegedley??!!) make up your own mind.
full synth is ONLY better if its in the right grade otherwise you might as well run on chip fat...
we run most road cars on 15w50 fully synth Silkolene and competition cars on 10w60 fully synth Millers!!
(check out scoobyshop for a deal on both!!!!!)
full synth is ONLY better if its in the right grade otherwise you might as well run on chip fat...
we run most road cars on 15w50 fully synth Silkolene and competition cars on 10w60 fully synth Millers!!
(check out scoobyshop for a deal on both!!!!!)
07 November 2002, 06:15 PM
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Trumble
Yep, car 98MY saloon on 114K miles and going well. Only ever broken down due to an immobiliser fault and a dodgy battery.
My local dealer uses 10W40 magnatec, the previous owner (a friend who owned the car up to 100K miles) used a dealer that used 5W40 BP visco, however having read these excellent threads I may insist my dealer uses 15W50 Motul or Mobil 1 Motorsport even if I have to give them the oil at service time.
My car is very slightly tappety for the first mile then fine, I wonder if the 15W50 oils would improve this??
Ian
Yep, car 98MY saloon on 114K miles and going well. Only ever broken down due to an immobiliser fault and a dodgy battery.
My local dealer uses 10W40 magnatec, the previous owner (a friend who owned the car up to 100K miles) used a dealer that used 5W40 BP visco, however having read these excellent threads I may insist my dealer uses 15W50 Motul or Mobil 1 Motorsport even if I have to give them the oil at service time.
My car is very slightly tappety for the first mile then fine, I wonder if the 15W50 oils would improve this??
Ian
10 November 2002, 09:00 PM
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Stockcar
In your experience do you think an thinner oil than 15W50 would be better for me, especially in winter - I drive 5 miles to work each day and usually don't get over 50 mph so the engine barely warms up. Would 5W40 be better to protect the engine on these short runs (however at weekends the car usually gets a good 100 mile thrash)
cheers
Ian
In your experience do you think an thinner oil than 15W50 would be better for me, especially in winter - I drive 5 miles to work each day and usually don't get over 50 mph so the engine barely warms up. Would 5W40 be better to protect the engine on these short runs (however at weekends the car usually gets a good 100 mile thrash)
cheers
Ian
10 November 2002, 11:59 PM
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Not slagging dealers, but do they know better than 20,000 peeps on here?
IMHO if you run a standard car, then most decent oils will do.
But many ScoobyNetters have serious mods and it's important to understand the increased stresses your car is enduring.
I am running 300bhp-plus, but NEVER boot the car from cold, and change Castrol RS10-60 every 4,000 miles. So far so good
Richard.
IMHO if you run a standard car, then most decent oils will do.
But many ScoobyNetters have serious mods and it's important to understand the increased stresses your car is enduring.
I am running 300bhp-plus, but NEVER boot the car from cold, and change Castrol RS10-60 every 4,000 miles. So far so good
Richard.
11 November 2002, 01:05 AM
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Ian, 5W40 would be a good choice.
Hoppy,
'Not slagging dealers, but do they know better than 20,000 peeps on here?'
Err...So you'd be happy for any member of scoobynet to service your car then?
Hoppy,
'Not slagging dealers, but do they know better than 20,000 peeps on here?'
Err...So you'd be happy for any member of scoobynet to service your car then?
11 November 2002, 03:58 PM
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Does the same top 3 list apply to N/A Scoobs?
It's a 1.6GL that stands for up to a month (usually only 2 weeks cos I miss it) while I'm at uni, then gets 15+ mile runs being very well warmed up before pushing it.
It's a 1.6GL that stands for up to a month (usually only 2 weeks cos I miss it
) while I'm at uni, then gets 15+ mile runs being very well warmed up before pushing it.
12 November 2002, 10:14 AM
#28
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Right,
As posted in nearlier topic, I speak with a top lubricants technical people on a daily basis.
Here is what they say: (and they know more than all of us put together)
"As regards your Subaru , from your comments I think it must be a pre 2000 car. 5w - 40 is not a must. Only real stipulation from Subaru is not to use 0w oils ( Ther are some poor quality ones out there which the turbo would not like). So no problem in using 5w-40 Visco 7000 or Duckhams or 10w60 Cartrol Formula RS - all full synthetics. Customer Technical tell me that as the actual API/ACEA specification of the oil requested by Subaru is fairly standard and they do not actually specify full synthetic then a cheaper ( but excellent performance alternative) would be 10w 40 Castrol Magnatec.
If you use your car really hard ( ie do things like track race days) then I would stick to full synthetic otherwise Magnatec would be fine. Viscosity grade is not really the issue - overall quality of oil is what matters.
Hope this helps"
I would remind everyone, they are not F1 cars
MB
As posted in nearlier topic, I speak with a top lubricants technical people on a daily basis.
Here is what they say: (and they know more than all of us put together)
"As regards your Subaru , from your comments I think it must be a pre 2000 car. 5w - 40 is not a must. Only real stipulation from Subaru is not to use 0w oils ( Ther are some poor quality ones out there which the turbo would not like). So no problem in using 5w-40 Visco 7000 or Duckhams or 10w60 Cartrol Formula RS - all full synthetics. Customer Technical tell me that as the actual API/ACEA specification of the oil requested by Subaru is fairly standard and they do not actually specify full synthetic then a cheaper ( but excellent performance alternative) would be 10w 40 Castrol Magnatec.
If you use your car really hard ( ie do things like track race days) then I would stick to full synthetic otherwise Magnatec would be fine. Viscosity grade is not really the issue - overall quality of oil is what matters.
Hope this helps"
I would remind everyone, they are not F1 cars
MB
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