I need a new oil filter for the 'ol Subaru. People (on the board) say stick w/ genuine subaru oil filters. Does subaruparts.com carry genuine or aftermarket? Here's the URL of what I found: http://shop.subaparts.com/auto_parts/search.html?offset=0&model=4wd&year=1984&sub_model=4250&part_type=engine_mechanical

 

Also, there are 3 dif. results for the oil filter, 2 are almost $30 and 1 is $5; Any clue as to which is the one I need?

 

Thanks

And just a newbie question here, but why stick with Subaru oil filter??

 

All the oil changes in my old 87 GL I used a fram filter from schucks......and I'm about to change the oil in my 92 Loyale.

 

Hi-jack of thread over.....

Fram sucks. vast quality diffrences between brands.

If I can't make it to the dealer, I just get a K&N filter. I'm not gonna stress over a few bucks buying online.

I'm not gonna stress over a few bucks buying online.

Good point.

Check out www.1stsubaruparts.com , go to parts catalog, then input the info (for you 1984 and Subaru), it will next ask for model, select Brat, then select Maintenance & lubrication, then engine service, then filters, then oil filter, you will see that a genuine Subaru filter costs only $5.95 retail, and $4.28 from internet sales.

A genuine Subaru oil filter is made by Puralator. Lots of places stock them like Autozone and Fleet Farm !_! You can get their basic one or their primo "pureONE" filters.

I heard that once the Subaru name is actually put on the Purolator oil filter it improves it.

 

Santa Claus lives!

the white filters up here have "Six Star Subaru" on them. They are made my purolater, and aren't that great.

 

 

The black or blue ones are genuine JDM Subaru, and made my Nippon...These are the filters you want.

I've never had problems with Fram, but that's probably because I change my oil every 2000 miles with a filter change every other time. That said, I buy my OEM filters by the case (of 6) and find the cost is the same unless I find a super sale on the Fram. I have switched over entirely since the cost is virtually the same.

Ed, why such a funny oil change schedule?

When I first bought my 81 Subaru back in 1988, I changed the oil every 2,500 miles. Since I was a driver at the time I was changing my oil every six weeks!

 

After about 10 years, um, actually it was about 10 months but it felt like 10 years I began to lengthen the time between oil changes. My ultimate solution was to switch to 20-50 weight and now I let the oil go 5,000-10,000 miles between changes. The key point to remember is as older cars burn and leak more oil than newer cars, the car is continuously going through an oil change AS LONG AS YOU DON'T LET THE OIL GET LOW! Never lower than a quart down then put another quart in and you're good to go for a while.

 

Just hit 257,000 miles on the original engine.

All your non synthetic oils start off as plain old 30 weight. It's the additives that enhance the oil so it meets all those oil petroleum standards. The first time you start the car after the oil change, the additives start to go away; by the time you get to 3000 miles you are back to plain old 30 weight oil. That's why I change my oil at 2K; if I miss a weekend I can still get it done before the 3K mark. I got this from an oil engineer a long time ago and it seems to work for me. I generally get pretty decent mileage out of my cars...in excess of 250K typically. Changing the filter every 4K comes from the owner's manual which now says change the filter every 7500 miles. Call me conservative. Simplistic explanation, but I'm a simple guy.

Ed, why such a funny oil change schedule?

well, i use the castrol gtx-napa gold filter combo. seems to work well.

 

oh, and i was just wonderin.. did you pick up that 83 wagon in washington. i seem to remember running into someone down at hellgate conoco this past summer who had just picked up a wagon like that in washington or oregon or something. anyways... nice rig..

Fram used to be a great filter. Then Allied bought them. They now use a very low grade paper element that has been known to end up in the engine. After seeing the inside of a few filters I no longer use Fram oil filters. Top end Purolator or Subaru/Nippon filters for my rigs.

 

Most of the top end filters use an anti-backflow(I think that is the correct term) valve as that is one of the main benefits of the OEM filter. Almost all the bottom end filters do not have this. What this means is those without the valve allow the oil to drain out of the filter and subsequently out of the oil pump.(read, dry start up)

 

Also, thicker oil in the winter is very hard on the engine. Ever notice how thick it is when you add oil when it is freezing? That is what it looks like in your engine. 20w-50 in the summer and 10w-40 in the winter.

Now considering that I am not an engineer(nor do I want to be) these are solely my opinions.

Yeah, in the winter 10/40 makes sense, unless you live on the West Coast.

On that note, what weight oil would you guys recomend for a seattle area winter with mountain driving 2 or 3 times a week.

 

I have noticed that on start up until the car is warm oil pressure is up around the top of the gauge (85psi I think), then when it warms up it drops to normal at the same rpm's..........