HooptyGL Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Ever since i've owned this car i've been having to put like 1/4-1/3 a qt of oil in every 300-350 miles...roughly every time i fill up or check the level....i know im not burning it and i can see no apparent leak coming from the block...could it be going out the tail pipe? Its an ea82 5speed GL wagon. neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Sounds normal to me. Mine needs a whole quart every 1,200 miles or so (I'm also used to old 70's american V-8's that burn way more than this) At that rate, you often can't see smoke from burning it. What viscosity are you using? Usually switching to 20W50 in the EA82's will help alot if you are usually using 10W40 or 10W30. I use synthetic 15W50 or 10W40 in mine so I can still start it easily in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 If it aint leaking out somewhere then its going out your tail pipe from one of many locations. The amount you are loosing isn't significant. The fact that you check it and top it off regularly is good news. Keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooptyGL Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 running conventional 10 weight 30 oil, no sense in switching over to synthetic unless im going to pull the head gaskets. 20 weight 50 motor oil eh? will that effect my mileage? neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 no sense in switching over to synthetic unless im going to pull the head gaskets. Huh? I don't understand your logic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooptyGL Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 Huh? I don't understand your logic... i love my GL and wouldn't mind the cost to run synth but im pretty sure that the engine will run hotter and would thus cause for my headgaskets to burn out quicker. or does that logic make less sense? neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 i love my GL and wouldn't mind the cost to run synth but im pretty sure that the engine will run hotter and would thus cause for my headgaskets to burn out quicker. or does that logic make less sense? neal I had never heard of synthetic oil causing the engine to run hotter. Anyone else hear of this? There's a few threads here on synthetic oil -- maybe I'll see if they mention this. Zeke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ru_ Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 i love my GL and wouldn't mind the cost to run synth but im pretty sure that the engine will run hotter and would thus cause for my headgaskets to burn out quicker. or does that logic make less sense? neal Synthetic oil will make it run cooler if anything....more friction modifiers. the thicker the oil, the better it lubricates. Here's a tip.... 10W30...is like SAE 10 oil when cold and SAE 30 when hot. thusly, the higher you go....10w40, 20w50 the thicker the oil gets respectivly. Synthetic oild resist heat and have more friction modifiers in it to allow LESS engine running friction, thusly less hot. ALSO synthetic oils come in rediculous mixes like 5w50 and 10w60. Unless your making 300 hp in a 1.8 L N/A, I highly doubt synthetic is needed. I don't even run synthetic in my car....I find (and heard) closer to a straight grade oil is better for turbo's (eg 10w30, 10w40, 20w50 or just SAE 40). I ran synthetic a few times, but found that the kendall 10w40 makes more oil pressure than the 5w50. To each's own. Oil is oil..as long as the engine is getting some, all is good. OH YA btw....subarus don't need a whole lot of oil pressure to run properly. I sometimes see only 30 psi at 3000 rpm.... Subaru recommends no lower than 10 psi at 2000 rpm.... (for the ea82's anyways) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobmater Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 i use 10/40, it should slow the leak a little as opposed to 5/30 or 10/30...haha all soob's leak oil, thats not that bad of a leak at all, i use almost a ful quart every 1,000 miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Have you changed the PCV valve (and used an OEM subaru one)? That's a really common source of oil usage on these cars, and it's often hard to see any obvious signs of it as the oil burning comes and goes depending on driving conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 i run amsoil 10-w 30 in my spfi with 191,000mi , higher oil pressure, only added 2 qt at 5,000mi , i changed the filter at ,6,000mi and will change the oil at 12,000mi , may run royale purple in my turbo wagon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooptyGL Posted October 21, 2005 Author Share Posted October 21, 2005 i run amsoil 10-w 30 in my spfi with 191,000mi , higher oil pressure, only added 2 qt at 5,000mi , i changed the filter at ,6,000mi and will change the oil at 12,000mi , may run royale purple in my turbo wagon is there any particular reason your not changing the oil at a more decent interval? Or, are you trying to see if you can actually make it to your 12000 mi goal? neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I vote for checking the PCV system for proper operation aswell. On synthetics and temperature… Yes, synthetics normally show lower oil temps and in some cases even lower water temps, some of this is likely due to the reduced friction they provide. But, synthetics reject heat, or more to the point they don’t absorb heat as readily as conventional oils do. Parts of the engine that are primarily cooled by oil (like the bottom end) and even those that’s are secondarily cooled with oil (like the heads) can actually run at higher temps within the metal because the synthetic dose not carry the heat away as well. In a typical water cooled engine this is rarely a problem. A lot of this research and knowledge comes from the air-cooled VW world were the oils cooling roll is just as important as its lubrication. While the debate on Synth vs. Dyno still rages in that community as well, a lot of us would never run synthetic in our air suckers. Sometimes appearances can be deceiving and it’s good to know what’s really going on. Just one point of view Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 i agree why are you trying to go 12k with out an oil change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 I think 12k is Amsoil's suggested change interval. (I don't personally believe in running ANY oil for that long. In my car, I run Mobil1 synthetic and change every 3000 miles, but your car is your car and you can do whatever you want.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobmater Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 i agree with kelly, every 3,000 miles is the ticket. you could go longer, but why? if you cant afford to buy oil, then, your pretty much screwed because, us soob's leak oil lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syonyk Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 1/4-1/3rd quart every 350 miles is about 1 quart every 1000 miles, which is perfectly normal. You don't get little puddles under your Subaru when you park? Consider yourself lucky! The PCV often causes things such as blowing a smoke cloud after a sweeping right hand onramp. -=Russ=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 is there any particular reason your not changing the oil at a more decent interval? Or, are you trying to see if you can actually make it to your 12000 mi goal? neal Hey, if you're putting in a quart every 1500 miles, then you are changing it all, slowly, every 6,750 miles right..... The synthetic I use says you can go up to 10,000 miles, but I still try to change it every 6,000 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoostedBalls Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Oil is oil, yes, but remember- Friends don't let friends use hi-paraffin oils, Penzoil, Quaker State, etc. They do a real crappy job of de-waxing the oil in the refining process leaving lots of wax in the oil. This turns into a pretty glossy, cool-looking greasy sludge on your precious engine components. Valvoline, Castol, Havoline, etc are good choices for conventional motor oil. Increasing the viscosity of oil is likely to increase oil pressure, engine heat; and reduce blowby, leaks. If your engine oil pressure is low at operating temp- increase the viscosity. Viscosity= resistance= heat. The manufactures recommend a certain viscosity for their engines; this is for an engine with tight tolereances, many of our engines (ok, most) have a crap-load of miles on them and the factory tolerances are no longer valid. We must step up in oil viscosity to "fill the larger gap". Let your oil consumption and oil pressure be the judge. Oil changes, synthetic or regular- Synthetic is supposedly better at lubricating metal parts but not as good at lubricating flexible parts like seals. People say there are more oil leaks with synthetics but lower operating temperatures. 7000 mile oil change? Recipe for disaster, change it when the oil strats to get dark, not black. The filter should be changed before you hit the 3000 mile mark no matter what oil you are using. No since in pumping $6/qt Mobile One through your engine if it is carrying chunks of crap with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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