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I'm doing a thorough tune up to my "new" Legacy wagon and, of course, an oil change is called for. Any preferences from you all as to what motor oil to use for a Subie 2.2? I've always liked Valvoline in my Detroit iron and was planning to use either a synthetic or synthetic blend in my Subaru. The car has almost 150,000 miles on it.

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I'm doing a thorough tune up to my "new" Legacy wagon and, of course, an oil change is called for. Any preferences from you all as to what motor oil to use for a Subie 2.2? I've always liked Valvoline in my Detroit iron and was planning to use either a synthetic or synthetic blend in my Subaru. The car has almost 150,000 miles on it.

I run mobil 1 in my subies, got an extra 2 mpg out my 93 2.2 when I switched to synthetic. Have not tracked my 96 since switching.

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yeah, I second Caboobaroo...

 

except for that I'm still a firm believer in that semi-synthetic blends are a waste of money. a regular dino oil (GTX, or GTX High Mileage) with some Lynch or Lucas additive is really gonna do wonders in older cars, and if you can manage it without leaky seals, full synthetic is reccomended.

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DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC IN A CAR WITH 150,000 MILES!

 

When my mom got my old 91L from my dad, at 176k miles, she took it to jiffy lube for a synthetic oil change. This is the engine that my dad beat the hell out of for 10 years, but took care of, NO OIL LEAKS. Within the first 2,000 miles, oil started leaking. After about 20k miles(full dino juice after the single syn change), ever possible gasket on that engine was leaking oil.

 

Synthetic oil has additives in it that dont break down, unlike the ones in dino oil. Using non-synthetic oil for so long creates a varnish on seals in your engine, keeping oil from getting to them, and keeping them conditioned. When you throw synthetic in there, it's additives wear away at the varnishes, doing their job, and eventually make their way to the dry, cracked, shrunken gaskets and whatnot, and start a leak. After another 20-25k of natual oil, the engine pretty much stopped leaking oil, but I dont think it will ever completely quit.

 

I usually use castrol GTX or valvoline high mileage with a napa gold filter

 

 

 

just my $.02

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What drivvle is this? Because your engine is full of old mineral oil gunk, you should continue to strangle it??

 

The seals are probably cracked, but not leaking because they are full of sludge. Synthetic will NOT CAUSE leaks, but the cleaning action will expose leaks.

 

I say, make the switch, and be ready to replace rocker cover and camshaft seals. Replace the PCV valve too, and check all the PCV hoses for blockage.

 

After say 1000miles, replace the oil filter again, and top off the oil. The filter will likely be full of the deposits that the synth has cleaned out. Synth will handle 6k mile intervals easily, so don't change it more often than that.

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The truth of the matter is that synthetic motor oils got a bad reputation for causing oil leaks when they first appeared on the market about 20-25 years ago. The reason was that until just about that same time, engine seals were made mostly of rubber. Conventional motor oils caused these rubber-based seals to swell, therefore manufacturers designed and used seals that were sized slightly smaller in order to compensate for the dimensional changes and to prevent them from wearing excessively. Synthetic engine oils have a significantly reduced effect on rubber seals, meaning they caused little or no swelling, and this in turn was the reason that switching to a synthetic in an older engine resulted in major engine seal problems and leaks. Get the picture?! Some synthetic engine oil manufacturers began adding substances to their products that would cause rubber-based seals to swell in much the same way that conventional oils did, and even though this cured the problem with most oil leaks, the damage had been done and many people were scared away from synthetics. Nowadays, however, almost all modern engine seals are made from synthetic materials that are not affected by oils and solvents and are not prone to swelling and/or shrinking. So, if your engine is less than 20 or so years old, it really doesn't matter how many miles are on it. If it's not leaking at the present time with the use of conventional engine oil, it will not leak simply by switching to a 100% synthetic base-stock lube.

 

BTW, I've been an avid Amsoil user for many years! :)

 

Cheers ...

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I have to chime in here on the oil leak issue. I think there is some truth to oil cleaning gunk and starting leaks.

 

I have run many used cars in the 100k-120k mile range out to 200k miles. I drive a lot and when running dino I change the oil every 3k-4k miles. I have found that most of the cars I do this to start to leak DINO oil after about 6 months. The reason is because the seals were plugged with crap from the previous owners neglect, and the detergents in the DINO oil will clean it out and start leaks. I have had this happen to nearly every cheap used car I have ever owned for any length of time. This has all been with Pennzoil. Any oil that is changed regularly in a neglected used car will probably start leaks IMHO. If it leaks replace the seals. Synthetic oil will clean faster so it may cause symptoms to appear more quickly.

 

I stick by my recommendation of the Rotella 5w-40 for a few reasons. It's a cheap group III, around $3 a quart. Most group III's are over-priced in the $4.50 a quart range. It's readily available at Walmart. It has great start-up flow with the 5w rating and a 150k mile old engine will probably like a 40 weight. The HDEO additive package combined with the group III base oil will probably keep the engine nearly as clean as a group IV (Amsoil, Mobil 1).

 

Regardless of what oil you choose you want to change it often because it will be cleaning out the previous owners crap.

 

Slightly OT....

Amsoil is great stuff. The outback has been happy on a diet of 5w-30 ASL and 10w-30 ATM since about 120k miles. Mobil 1 before that, Pennzoil before that. After the current Auto-RX rinse cycle is done I am going to be switching it to Amsoil AFL 5w-40 year round. The Jeep is running the AFL right now and loves it, I might try the 5w-30 HDD in that this winter.

 

Happy oiling!

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a regular dino oil (GTX, or GTX High Mileage) with some Lynch or Lucas additive is really gonna do wonders in older cars

I was curious if anyone else had used any LUCAS additives in their Subarus. I love their stuff, but didn't know how folks with Subaru cars have reacted to it in their engines/gas tank.

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synthetics are better oils period. they clean better, have better tolerances and specifications, and remove old dino oil residue/varnish/deposits/ect, from engine(s) rather well. If this means taking it away from a seal that the old oil deposits were keeping from leaking, then so be it... just because you're old motor might leak with a syn change doesn't mean it isn't time to change your gaskets and seals anyways.

 

btw - on the topic of amsoil, I've had automotive buddies tell me their teachers thoughts, industry stuff, different ads... ect.

 

I've heard everything under the sun, from checking out their site (with what may be propaganda, or not) to listening to my boss tell me specifically never to touch ANYTHING that doesn't have an API seal on it. I don't know what to believe, but I do know that it sounds interesting that they don't have any american petroleum institute seals on their products.

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I don't want to go to extended drain intervals and so synthetics don't make economic sense for me.

 

I'm using Castrol high Mileage and change every 5K miles. The engine is noticably quieter on cold starts, but other than that I can't prove any difference. I have oil analysis done on my cars and trucks, but won't do this one until it hits 150K miles in a couple of months - it has 144K right now.

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To buck the trend.....

 

I have been using dino oils in all of my cars for over 40 years. I usually buy the cheapest API tested oil that I can find.

 

I change the oil and filter religiously every 3000km. I do the work myself, and so the cost is minimal.

 

I have never had an oil-related problem on any of my vehicles, some of which I have kept for many years.

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I agree with forester2002s 100%. If you change your oil religiously at the recommended interval, it doesn't matter what type of oil or filter you use. You should have no problems.

 

But I do have an argument with synthetic oil. This is the honest-to-God truth, I'm telling nothing more than my own experience:

 

I ran only partial synthetic oil in my Legacy for about 15k miles, Valvoline DuraBlend 10W40. I always noticed that the oil was being lost at about a quart every 1500 miles. I didn't think anything of it.

 

Then it got worse, I was losing a quart a WEEK, especially if I was driving briskly. It certainly wasn't pouring out any seals, although my cam seals were leaking some. So there had to be only one other option: I was burning it.

 

I had a friend drive away from me and had him get on it. In between the 1-2 shift, I saw a puff of blue smoke come out the tailpipe. I have never seen a Subaru burn oil in my life except for that day.

 

So I switched back to dino, regular Valvoline 10W40. I don't even check my oil anymore, because it doesn't leak a drop. I burn zero oil. I even asked some of my fellow Dragonslayers if they saw anything at all while I was racing up the mountain, and they said they saw a puff of black smoke on occasion :D, no blue smoke. I didn't add one drop of oil the whole 1600-mile trip. That's right, it means my cam seals aren't leaking anymore either.

 

So, take that for what it's worth, I'm not saying anything about synth stripping away varnish left by dino, I'm not saying anything in favor of one or the other. I'm only telling of my own experience!

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You're going to get answers all over the board on this question...My advice (25 years as a professional auto mechanic - not Subaru) is to follow the owners manual. If it calls for 5w30 petroleum based oil, then that is what I'd use! While synthetic or synthetic blends purport to be better (whatever better is???), most japanees engine run an easy 200,000 miles using what the manufacturer recommends. Just one man's opinion.

 

 

 

I'm doing a thorough tune up to my "new" Legacy wagon and, of course, an oil change is called for. Any preferences from you all as to what motor oil to use for a Subie 2.2? I've always liked Valvoline in my Detroit iron and was planning to use either a synthetic or synthetic blend in my Subaru. The car has almost 150,000 miles on it.
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Just gotta' throw my $.02 in. Switched my '95 Legacy over to synthetic more than a year ago and I love it. Most impressed when I drain the crankcase. The old dino juice used to pour out like dirty water--but the used synthetic flows out with the same "body" and viscosity as when it was put in.

 

And the engine seems to run smoother, although that could be my butt-dyno just trying to please me.

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