subaruplatt Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Had the Oil and filter done along with a new air filter and new wipers. Regular Dino With 4300KM of extreme service winter city driving on the Oil. Possibly as much as 26,862KM on what might be the original air filter and wipers. The air filter was oily and dirty. Weird though because at the last Oil change the guy said it looked clean. You could really hear the difference in engine smoothness. I am starting to think I might want to change the oil more often in the winter than at 4K and I definitely believe that 24K is enough for an air filter. Is there any resin or oil soaking pretreatment in a subaru oem paper air filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-fleet-feet Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Ignore the guys who do oil changes and tell you your Subaru air filter is clean. The day I licensed Dragon I took her into JiffyLube to get her oil changed (it was nasty and it was too cold and wet to do it in a driveway). I had an air filter with me, and the manager told me 'looks new, you don't need to change it.' I should have ignored him! All he did was undo the two end clips and peek inside, not take out the filter and TURN IT OVER. When the dealer went over Dragon to give a definitive (and partially wrong) answer to the oil leak, the actually pulled the filter and I started to steam. See, the filter looks clean from the top, but from the bottom - yuck! It was black. Seems like a waste to many who know me (I include aircraft-engineer here), but I change my air filter no more than 6,000 miles apart. Especially if you're driving in a city, or in a dusty desert area, or even a place with a lot of construction (debris clouds). The price of the filter easily gets offset by better mileage and, ultimately, a longer-lasting, happier engine. I think it's worth it - my last vehicle had 348,000 miles plus on her original engine and transmission. It didn't get that high without a few more air filters, oil filters, fluid flushes, and fix-it-NOW-it's-broken than the manuals called for. Oh, I'm also positively ANAL about wipers. One chatter, one smear without debris on the blade, and I'm straight to the nearest store with Rain-X blades or Anco's. No matter what price. I doubt mine go 4 months before I'm ripping them off, whether I'm in Arizona or Washington, or anywhere in between. A whole 24k on your wipers and filter? ((shudders)) I also don't seen anything wrong with putting plugs in every year, but that's another bone of contention... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 I think I have proved to my own satisfaction that a 4KM oil interval with regular oil/extreme city winter service just isn't enough. Filter was dirty on the one side but clean on the other but no where near plugged. Wipers just started not to work perfectly. I use lots of fluid. I used to put new nkgs in my old VR6 every year, used to clean and re-oil the KNN every year. Used Amsol 10/40 and changed it at least 6K. Put a bavarian exhaust and austrian rotors on it etc. I'm a big fan of nitrogen shocks. All this maintenance was to compensate for my extreme driving habits. Ala revving the snot out of it and driving it like I would a funny car. 300KM of abuse and my buddy still drives the crap out of an original and unopened engine. The original VR6 dual timing chain VR6 engines were really tough. But those cars weren't cheap, $35K in 95 and they came only in the corrado and the first year GTI. Some of this realization makes me laugh at the subaru head gasket senario but then I realize that GTI VR6 was 67% front heavy and of course the A3 is the logical successor, But I digress :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Dont forget the PCV Valve. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatswhatshesaid Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Wait...are you saying that you don't change your filter every time you change the oil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Dont forget the PCV Valve. How often would you change it? Wait...are you saying that you don't change your filter every time you change the oil? and, no you don't need to change the air filter more than once a year in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-fleet-feet Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 The empiric test of a PCV valve is take it out and shake it; it it rattles, it's not clogged. You can put it back in. Most people on this board recommend OEM PCVs only. Also recommended is using Teflon tape to wrap the threads before screwing it in. I will admit I just yank the things once a year in normal driving (for me, about 18-21,000 miles) and replace them when I do the fuel filter. If I'm driving towing a trailer or in mountains nonstop, I do it every 6 months. They don't cost much and a clogged one will eat up your mileage. With gas so high now, it seems worth it more than ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 The empiric test of a PCV valve is take it out and shake it; it it rattles, it's not clogged. You can put it back in. Most people on this board recommend OEM PCVs only. Also recommended is using Teflon tape to wrap the threads before screwing it in. I will admit I just yank the things once a year in normal driving (for me, about 18-21,000 miles) and replace them when I do the fuel filter. If I'm driving towing a trailer or in mountains nonstop, I do it every 6 months. They don't cost much and a clogged one will eat up your mileage. With gas so high now, it seems worth it more than ever. I never thought about that! would that be to prevent a vacuum leak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 One chatter, one smear without debris on the blade, and I'm straight to the nearest store with Rain-X blades or Anco's. . send me your "OLD" ones?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 The empiric test of a PCV valve is take it out and shake it; it it rattles, it's not clogged. You can put it back in. Most people on this board recommend OEM PCVs only. Also recommended is using Teflon tape to wrap the threads before screwing it in. I will admit I just yank the things once a year in normal driving (for me, about 18-21,000 miles) and replace them when I do the fuel filter. If I'm driving towing a trailer or in mountains nonstop, I do it every 6 months. They don't cost much and a clogged one will eat up your mileage. With gas so high now, it seems worth it more than ever. 21,000 miles = 33,796.224 KM my last service was 24-27 KM sounds like the 36kM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keltik Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I considered taking my LegWag to the local spannerhouse to get some service work done. When i was there to make a booking i asked "so what brand air filters do you guys use?" to which the chief mechanic said "We use whatever they came in with - just blow em out with compressed air and shes all good to go again". I did the service myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatswhatshesaid Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I considered taking my LegWag to the local spannerhouse to get some service work done. When i was there to make a booking i asked "so what brand air filters do you guys use?" to which the chief mechanic said "We use whatever they came in with - just blow em out with compressed air and shes all good to go again". I did the service myself. That's crazy...I certainly hope they don't charge people for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-fleet-feet Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Unfortunately, they do - and double if you're female. Thanks be, not to me, but I've read dealer receipts where it's been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Yah Know, One of the things most people miss and it is the most simplest. Go for at least a half hour drive before you drain the oil. The hot oil will saturate more and drain much more sediment from the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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