Hey, I have a 1992 Subaru Loyale at 198k miles. How often should I change the oil and what kind of oil should I use. I live up in Montana and its starting to get pretty cold so do I need a different weight during the winter? My last oil change was 2500 miles ago with 5-30 weight. Thanks for the help.

weight sounds good, miles good, i use royale purple or amsoil, yes more per qt ,but i change the oil at 12,000mi filter at 6,000mi , as far as filters, wix, oem, mobile1, k-n, napa gold, , do not use fram

OEM and Purolator are the same filter with different packaging, and are the best in my opinion.

 

Change it at 3000 miles or less, probably closer to 2500 or 2000 if it's really cold for long periods (fuel and condensation in the oil don't get a chance to burn off).

don't spend your money on boutique oils like royal purple and amsoil. they cost way way too much and you will see good results from a dino oil. penzoil, Havoline, Chevron are my favorites. its not worth spending 30 bucks on oil for a car that has 200k miles on it. also 3000 mile oil changes are what is drilled into us. its not really needed with todays oils and filters. but for a car that has 200k miles on it i would stick to a 3 to 4k miles oil change. and use a good quality dino oil.

i use penzoil 10/40 and change it and filter every 3,000 miles.. but the oil pretty much stays clean, because it's a subaru and i'm constantly putting more oil in it

yes amsoil and royale purple cost more ,but only change it every 12,000mi ,regular oil cost 2bucks a qt , x, 4 = 8 + 4 for filter = 12 every 3,000mi , , ,amsoil 5.75 a qt = 23 + 4 for filter = 27 bucks ,every 12,000mi , so thats 48 bucks , using regular oil , i have amsoil in my 88 dl d/r wagon with 192,000mi , i have only used 3 qts in 6,000mi ,+ i sent a sample to black wells in ft.wayne IN, results were great after 5,000mi , + it gives me aleast 5-10 more lbs of oil pressure , i have tried alot of regular oil's in my dl ,and it likes the amsoil better , or you could just buy wal-mart brand oil+ wal-mart brand filter

aha.. another 92 loyale in missoula.

i run 10-30 Castrol GTX and Napa Gold Filters with good results.

I think i remember reading in the manual that 5-30 is too thin for extended highway driving.

I have found that mine burns more if I use anything with a W30 on it. I try too use 5W40 in the winter, and 10W5- or 20W50 in the summer. I have found the the synthetic oil does start a bit easier in the cold winter mornings (often single digits), so I use it most of the time.

 

And despite what it seemsmost people on here will advise, I use Fram oil filters. Not any brand loyalty so much as it is what the auto parts place with hours that I can actually come in carries.

 

'89 GL with 203k miles

'93 Loyale, 178,000 mi.

 

Gets its oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles. Bosch filter, Castrol GTX 10W30.

every manual i have ever seen says 5-7k miles, unless its sever conditions, then they say 3k.

the oil change companies got everyone thinking 3k is normal, so then you hear people changing at 2k thinking its better.

i say 5k unless you beat on it.

dead of winter is severe, so 3k is the least amount of time i would ever run oil.

 

mobile1 is worth screwing with. i picked up 1-2mpg on the highway by doing nothing else.

every manual i have ever seen says 5-7k miles, unless its sever conditions, then they say 3k.

the oil change companies got everyone thinking 3k is normal, so then you hear people changing at 2k thinking its better.

i say 5k unless you beat on it.

dead of winter is severe, so 3k is the least amount of time i would ever run oil.

 

mobile1 is worth screwing with. i picked up 1-2mpg on the highway by doing nothing else.

 

If you look at the manual's definitions for "severe service," I think just about everybody on this board would fit into that category.

It would be my impression that 90% of the people running in the old gen forum need to add oil at least once in 3000 miles, i know mine drank oil.

 

3000k interval, and i always check my dipstick at every gas fillup. I use OEM filters and Castrol GTX 10W-30

 

I'd stay away from the 5W-40's and the 5W-30's with that much spread you loose a lot of oil per quart to stabilizers.

i like the company and it looks cool so i use a k/n oil filter i change my oil evrey three thousand miles but i use the revlimiter as a shift light and i tend to romp on the car allot

my choice for oil is valvoline high milage 10w-40 however i am planning to go over to castrol syntec 5w 30 next time i change the oil heard it works better in imports

valvoline 10w40(winter) and 15w40(summer) replaced at 3-4k miles,....

 

Thanks

'93 Loyale, 178,000 mi.

 

Gets its oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles. Bosch filter, Castrol GTX 10W30.

 

I'm with Samo. 90 Loyale, 207,000 mi. /every 3K/ Castrol 10w30 / right now, I like Baldwin filters (look into em sometime, it's what the long distance truckers use). VT ain't that diff. from Montana in the latitude department.

Well... Thank you all for your replys. I think I just got reccomended basically every kind of oil they make and almost the same amount of filters. My car seems to heat up quickly and drops my oil pressure very very dramatically if I driver for longer then 40 minute intravels. So I think one of the thicker oils would work a heck of a lot better for me. Like 10-40 for example? Would that make sense?

 

Oh and its cool to see someone else from Missoula posting here.

The other guy from Montana is giving you sound advise.

Then Only thing i can say is NEVER USE PENZOIL If you go to long it will gunk stuff up horribly it my opion it sucks. Back in the good old days they had great oil but now its just crap.

Well... Thank you all for your replys. I think I just got reccomended basically every kind of oil they make and almost the same amount of filters. My car seems to heat up quickly and drops my oil pressure very very dramatically if I driver for longer then 40 minute intravels. So I think one of the thicker oils would work a heck of a lot better for me. Like 10-40 for example? Would that make sense?

 

Oh and its cool to see someone else from Missoula posting here.

 

if you mean that the pressure drops quite a bit while at idle after warm up, that is pretty normal. however, if it is staying low while in higher rpm's, you may have other issues. additionally, the gauges are also notoriously quirky.

find an oil that suits your needs and pocket book...drive around as you would normally do and then when you THINK it is time to change the oil..Have it tested to see if it really needed to be changed..the report will give a fair amount of info so that you can be in control and not the oil companies