Subadozer

Yes, I think here is at least one place the Amsoil bias enters in here and there's nothing a 3rd party can do to fix that. At least there's full disclosure on the apples to oranges comparison. When I switched to the European Formula from Amsoil OEM (which I was getting cheaper than Rotella T6) I wanted to extend beyond the 3,750 OCI I had been following but refused to do so without UOA's. I went just under and just over 8,000 on the 2 changes before switching to their Signature Series, which is the same price (pay $20 a year and you get wholesale prices on everything, gallons of the SS/European are $30.65). My first UOA of the SS plus over-advance CEL's about the same time is what resulted in my long-awaited installation of my BNR 16g, IP&T oil line, etc. I'll be very curious to see the UOA upcoming in about 1k miles, now that I don't have a VF-40 with a stuck waste gate and the turbine wearing away at the housing. If I can get my OCI up to a consistent 8-10,000 confirmed by UOA then I will be satisfied.

Because it's on the Amsoil site you might find this report on testing of 10 different oils to be biased but the testing was done by a "3rd party" lab. I found it interesting none the less because of what it showed about the various aspects of synthetic oil. http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g3115.pdf I've only got about 4,000 miles on my 16g so am no help on the longevity issue. However the kind of customer service that Bryan provides is top notch and to me that is worth a lot.

It's probably one of those things that there are so many things to line up that a fraction of a degree off on something dominoes to other alignments, which might also be really difficult to get 100% spot-on. I know Bryan disliked the hassles of the core system but I wonder if he's willing to still do rebuilds if the price is right (...he says with an available core for sale ). I suspect one of the advantages of the new castings is that his milling time is reduced or eliminated.

When I first owned mine I asked a dealer service writer about it. She seemed to be quite knowledgeable on the topic but said it was an expensive job to have done and that she didn't think the risk was worth the money. (that dealer had serviced the car for a good share of its life up through the 60,000 mile service...it was at 90k at that point) She said they usually only did it as part of turbo service.

I looked at the 16g as reliability insurance and the upgrade feature was icing on the cake. I'm just thankful I got the old one out before it caused serious damage.

I'm sure it's much better for all involved and I'm truly glad that you've been so successful to be able to do this. Unfortunately I waited too long to get my rebuilt version in and now the bottom has dropped out of the used VF-40 market.

It would appear that the DS one is less prone to getting clogged. When I pulled mine that one was still about 75% clear but the turbo one was only 50%. It's been replaced with the IP&T filtered oil line. I put a new filtered bolt back in on the DS but ground off the nipple so it can be more easily removed for inspection.

Spotted 2 LGT sedans within 10 minutes of each other in western CT. The first was a silver headed up Nob Hill Rd toward Weir Farm National Park at 5:00. The other was a medium blue headed south on route 7 toward Branchville at about 5:10. I was driving a silver work van so it's unlikely you would have noticed me.

It's easy to reverse them. I considered doing this when I did mine this past winter but the flow through the bolt and filter is reversed so it's not a good idea. I think that the protocol is that the bolts with the raised section have filters and the ones that are flat do not. Looks like somebody may have done the switch with yours, thinking that it would be easier to service the filter. Using Mike's directions you should be able to switch them back without the added hassle of grinding off the nub while the bolt is installed down behind the timing system cover.

Timing belt should be done about this mileage. It's not an inexpensive job to hire done but gives you easier access to the left side filtered AVCS bolt. Ideally it should be replaced with a filtered bolt with the nipple ground off the top. No I used the Hammer Down method.

As a guide on how much might it be worth to access the driver's side filter, I recently pulled both (~156k with only partially known previous OCI history). The turbo side was blocked about 50% and the driver side was still clear by about 75%. Obviously your car might be different. I replaced the turbo side with the IP&T filtered oil line and the other side with a new filtered bolt with the nipple on the top ground off to make it easier to remove if there's a next time.

The GRP has been gone for a few weeks. Probably went to auction. No chance of seeing you today as I'm down in VA for work. Although the car's still up home so there's a chance you could see that.

From the looks of your pictures there's been some significant design changes between the 4th and 5th gen as relates to the accessibility of some of the turbo fittings such as the oil return line. Even though not applicable to my situation I found your information interesting and I'm sure the 5th gen folks will find it very helpful.

Yesterday mid-afternoon: light (silver or white) LGT sedan in the parking lot of Sidney, NY Price Chopper. Obviously didn't get a close look but appeared to be a woman driving. Likely DD and not on here.

I just finished doing mine. Had over-advance CEL's and dealer wanted $1,000 +/- $200 depending on if they could replace the banjo bolt w/o removing the turbo. That was for 2 new OCV's and replacement of the d/s AVCS filtered banjo and the turbo banjo. I didn't want to put this on a CC and didn't have the money so tore into it since I had the IP&T oil line sitting in a drawer. I was so close to the turbo I decided I better drop the DP and check it and it was bad enough that I decided it was time to install the 16g and the STi UP that have been on my shelf for 2 years. Hope it makes you feel better, it took me about 6 partial days to finally get it all back together and then messing around with the results of a coolant leak and forgetting to fully tighten the fittings onto the new in-line oil filter. I figured I saved +/- $2k and you've confirmed that.

At long last my shelf queen 16g is on the car. Took over-advance CEL's and discovery that the shaft on the turbo on the car was starting to loosen up (later discovered stuck-open wastegate) to motivate me to end the 2+ year procrastination. Now on to the tuning.

This is what I thought looked better but was convinced by others to go from the top. I was also doing the PS rocker cover so that side was easy. I was told by a friend who works at the local dealership that their techs do the plugs from below. Of course it helps to have a lift.

Maybe this is a good place to post this question. I accessed my turbo yesterday. There is almost no play side-to-side but in/out it moves over 1/16." Based on the new turbo I have ready to go in there shouldn't be any play in either direction. Is one type of play worse than the other and if so which? How close was my turbo to failure or might it have gone on quite a while longer? Obviously I understand that there's no way to know for sure but general knowledge and guesses are welcome.

There's at least one other banjo bolt with a filter but I don't know if this would starve the turbo for oil if it gets plugged. With my recent experience with an over advance CEL I'm wondering if a failed OCV could also result in a failed turbo. Other's more knowledgeable than I will have to confirm or deny these possibilities but I thought it would give you something to research in the mean time.

Yes, I was able to remove the front bracket bolt without the U-joint after dropping mine and not having it hit the floor. Can't recall for sure if I used a U-joint for the other one but if possible 1/2" drive is better because there's too much flex in 3/8 drive extensions and the socket is deeper. You might need to get it started with a breaker bar. For the front bolt I put the socket on the head and then threaded the extension down through to engage it.

Well after having the new banjo bolt and shorty 17mm wrench for over 2 1/2 years and my IP&T filtered oil line since soon after they were released I finally was externally motivated to get to this today. With my over-advance CEL and the dealer recommending replacing this and the driver side filters I decided I would tackle it and save the money. I found that removing the turbo shield and the hoses that connect to the top of the rocker "compartment" made things quite a bit easier to get at the banjo bolt. In fact I couldn't see how I would be able to do it if I left the shield in place. And the shorty 17mm wrench appeared to be a necessity due to the proximity to the inside fender wall. When I pulled out the bolt I could see that it wasn't fully clean and I wanted to really be able to see its condition so got the filter out and then carefully cut the plastic frame and slit the element so I could flatten it out and see through it. The inside of the screen was black and when held up to the light I was relieved to see that it was only approximately 50% blocked. I would have been a lot happier had it been a lot cleaner but with almost 160,000 miles on it maybe that's too much to expect. I also checked the OCV's and the one on the turbo side is not moving easily. It's possible I tweaked it enough getting it past the reservoir bracket to jam it up but putting the opposite force on it doesn't seem to release the piston to spring back. I don't really want to take the time and effort but I'm now thinking that with the CEL's, increased wear metals in my UOA, and the possibly jammed OCV it would be a wise move to pull the DP enough (is it possible to just do the turbo end end move it out of the way?) and check my shaft play. If it's bad I guess I'll also be installing the BNR 16g and my sTi UP that have been sitting on the shelf for 2 years.

I'm using the 5w-30, which is what I used when I was on the OEM. Went back to 5w-40 for the European, at least partially because the 30-weight wasn't available at the time. The Sig Ser is the same price as the European and starts with a much better TBN.

Only used M1 for one change cycle but after the free dealer change (Quaker State) I switched to Rotella T6 for a few. Then switched to 3 changes of Amsoil OE and saw my oil consumption fall somewhat. Switched to 3 changes of Amsoil European and now am on the Signature Series. The latter has held up the best according to my UOA's that I've been doing since the change from the OE.

Should this be done in the car or is it something that works just plugging the cable into the computer in the house. My guess it the former but it's so cold out I am looking to minimize the amount of time I have to spend outside by doing as much setup as I can inside.

I'll have to keep a lookout for you when I'm in town. You're right, LGT's seem to be pretty rare in this area. I was really surprised to see the '05 GRP OBXT there at Five Star. My friend who works there says it's going to auction.