poll: What oil are you using and what change interval?

[Tsukasa]

It was synthetic i wanted to say,my bad for my poor english lol

[ttnio]

I am using Walmart Super Tech 5W30 full synthetic every 3500 miles. No problem at all.

[bluesubie]

This past Monday, 0W-30 was now Belgian as well.

Yeah, I've seen a few comments about that. Thanks.

 

I guess GC will just have to be called European Castrol now. The main thing for a turbo owner is that it still meets the impressive Euro specs and not the girly man API specs.

 

API SL

ACEA A3/B4

BMW LL 01

MB 229.1; 3, and 5

VW 505/502

 

-Dennis

[DonnyJagaru]

Interesting point on the Walmart synthetic. I'm pretty sure a company as large as Walmart would be quite careful to not sell something that could result in a class action lawsuit so I'm guessing there's nothing wrong with that oil at all. I'm running Mobil 1 5W20 in my car for the first time and it'll be interesting to see if it suffers the "burn off" some folks talk about.

[bluesubie]

Interesting point on the Walmart synthetic. I'm pretty sure a company as large as Walmart would be quite careful to not sell something that could result in a class action lawsuit so I'm guessing there's nothing wrong with that oil at all. I'm running Mobil 1 5W20 in my car for the first time and it'll be interesting to see if it suffers the "burn off" some folks talk about.

The "burn off" is more problematic in the turbo cars which are better suited for non Resource Conserving oils (like M1 0W-40, High Mileage, and M1 TDT).

 

N/A EJ Subaru's can pretty much run on anything, but doesn't your car spec a 5W-30? It's true than many 30 grades shear to a 20 grade anyway, but M1 5W-20 has a low HTHS of 2.75 and that will likely drop over time.

 

-Dennis

[Captain Ned]

I guess GC will just have to be called European Castrol now. The main thing for a turbo owner is that it still meets the impressive Euro specs and not the girly man API specs.

 

API SL

ACEA A3/B4

BMW LL 01

MB 229.1; 3, and 5

VW 505/502

 

-Dennis

The new bottle even boasts the A3/B4 right on the front.

[turboboost]

Mobil1 0W-40 European every ~4000 miles.

[Captain Ned]

Mobil1 0W-40 European every ~4000 miles.

When I can no longer find GC/EC, that's my fallback position. GC/EC is a thick 30, while M1 Euro is a thin 40. Spec-wise, they meet in the middle. The real key is that API SN specs on ZDDP only go up to 30 weights, so this oil has all the ZDDP needed to keep bearings happy and still retains API SN certs. I'd much rather replace cats poisoned by ZDDP than main & rod bearings that failed due to a lack of ZDDP.

[SLegacy99]

Subscribed.

 

Seems like the T6 is the most popular. I feel like I'm often at Pep Boys staring at the shelf, pondering. I usually get Shell, but I've never gotten the T6. Ill have to try it. Last time I got Quaker State, 5W-30 and when I checked my oil there was only 3 quarts in there. So I think I will stay away from that one.

 

OEM oil filter every time.

[aerophool]

Amsoil Signature Series Synthetic 5W-30. Changed it at 3000 miles, will change it again shortly.

 

Actually first 3k was Subaru's production oil...and second 3k was Mobil 1 Full Syn...that stuff knocked my mileage off a little.

[HAMMER DOWN]

Amsoil Signature Series Synthetic 5W-30. Changed it at 3000 miles, will change it again shortly.

Please send me you used Amsoil, so I can run it another 10k:eek:

[krazykorean35]

Whatever 5w30 dino oil that is on sale at O'reilly's or Carquest every 3k. 60k+ miles and counting, wouldn't waste my money on synthetic at this point.

[Humble Ride]

Ok looks like major opinion differences across the board. But I'm a little fuzzy on what I'm looking for/or what makes a good oil for my 2.5i non turbo with piston slap? What qualities am I after? I've read a lot in here an I'm still a bit fuzzy. My last oil change (don't laugh) I put a heavy Archer oil in. I'm not impressed but that's what the shop I worked in thought was so good.

 

 

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[Tooslick]

A degree of piston slap is inherent in the large bore, boxer engine design. I have it even using Amsoils top tier synthetics (I've tried a variety of SAE grades). However oil analysis shows extremely low wear rates for Fe, Cr and Al, ie piston, ring and cylinder wear.

 

My advice is to turn up the radio until the engine warms up....

 

TS

[Humble Ride]

So basically it doesn't make a difference with the slap? It's just a cute little surprise some of us are lucky to get. Well I knew it wasn't to big a deal an I've been driving with it for 20k miles. You kinda get used to it.

 

 

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[Humble Ride]

I put a Bosch filter an T6 in today and it has never sounded better. Minimal to no noise.

 

 

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[Tooslick]

It's possible a thicker oil may dampen out the noise a bit better. But functionally I'm not sure there's much if any difference in wear protection. Yes, a 5w-40, HD diesel oil is going to be thicker on startup compared to a 5w-30, API/SN, gas engine oil at moderately cold temps.

 

I've never used something as thick as the Rotella or Mobil 1, turbo diesel truck in my Subaru's. So I may have to try that....

 

TS

[DonnyJagaru]

The viscosity of the oil at startup (cold) will be the first number. So all 5Wxx will be the same. I'm of the opinion the more narrow the span, and the heavier the viscosity, the better the lubricating properties of the oil. I believe science backs this up. So 10W30 better than 5W30 in summer and 5W20 better than 5W30 in winter. To s-t-r-e-t-c-h the viscosity of motor oil you add polymers to the mix. These have no lubricating properties in themselves so the fewer the better. Not a chemist here and the reality is you could probably run damn near any oil in these cars and they'd give you a long service life.

[gimpydingo]

The viscosity of the oil at startup (cold) will be the first number. So all 5Wxx will be the same. I'm of the opinion the more narrow the span, and the heavier the viscosity, the better the lubricating properties of the oil. I believe science backs this up. So 10W30 better than 5W30 in summer and 5W20 better than 5W30 in winter. To s-t-r-e-t-c-h the viscosity of motor oil you add polymers to the mix. These have no lubricating properties in themselves so the fewer the better. Not a chemist here and the reality is you could probably run damn near any oil in these cars and they'd give you a long service life.

 

 

As you said - the first number is the cold viscosity - 0 being ideal for near freezing temps, 5 being averages temps like you'd see in Northern California, some colder mornings, but not really freezing, 10+ being more in desert in the summer.

 

The second number is the high temp (operating temp) viscosity. Since the turbo produces alot of heat it sheers down 30 weight pretty fast - hence why people stay clear of the "regular" synthetic mobil 1, it sheers to 20 weight in no time. That's why a lot of people have switched to Rotella T6, the 40 weight doesn't sheer down nearly as much and at temp it's probably closer to a 30 - 35 weight, maintaining a good amount of it's viscosity.

 

I've drained my oil when it's hot, mobil gushes out like water, rotella while still thin, you can still see the viscosity of the oil as it drains.

 

 

Polymers can help maintain the viscosity and stabilize the oil.

 

 

Anyway there are a ton of topics on this that get far more technical. Try BITOG for more discussions.

[Tooslick]

That's partially correct....

 

For a 5w-xx oil, the standard test temp is -30C/-22F. In order to meet this the viscosity of the oil must be < 6600 Centipoise(Cp). So at that temp a 5w-30 and 5w-40 will be comparable. However at moderately cold temps of say 0F or above, a 5w-40 will be significantly thicker than a 5w-30, since it's only thinning out to a 40wt at operating temp, vs a 30wt.

 

If you plot the viscosity-temperature curves for both grades, you'll see what I mean right away.

 

 

Standard Test Temps: (SAE J300 test)

 

0w-xx < 6200 Cp @ -35C/-31F

5w-xx < 6600 Cp @ -30C/-22F

10w-xx < 6600 Cp @ -25C/-13F

15w-xx < 7000 Cp @ -20C/-4F

20w-xx < 7000 Cp @ -15C/+5F

 

Where xx can be 20/30/40/50/60

 

TS

[05LGTLtd]

^The current SAE multi-grade labeling system is really misleading sometimes for sure.

 

A given 0w-30 may be thicker than a 5w-30 at all temps above 0*F. Or a 5w-40 might have no advantage to you over a 10w-30, if you don't see really cold temps.

 

Manufactures may "underrate" a given product due to how they perceive it effects their product line up. Or just because it's so close to the cut off that statistically one given batch out of 100 might be in the heavier grade.

 

VII's have historically been shear prone, true. But some of the newest formulas seem to have overcome much of that. Also it is the interaction of the base stock and the VII's that get you a high VI oil. A given base stock may have a very low pour point and extreme cold performance may be excellent. That doesn't mean that it out performs any other oil at moderate temps. Since 90%+ of the US pop never sees -25*f, let alone try's to start the car at those temps, it is quite a strange way to grade oil here.

 

If we had some real consumer advocacy, the PDS for every oil would have a graph that would show the viscosity of that oil across a range of temps.

[DonnyJagaru]

I don't think I'm completely wrong here. I recall the first number represents the viscosity of the oil at 0°C and the second number at 100°C. These are the freezing and boiling points of water, but not what an engine will normally subject the oil to of course. Everyone knows a synthetic oil will have lower viscosity at lower sub 0°C temperatures, but still has the same ratings as a conventional oil within this xxWyy span. IMO, what you really want is a base oil that has properties of the first number and not necessarily a thinner base with polymers added to thicken it up to its claimed specification.

[bluesubie]

I don't think I'm completely wrong here. I recall the first number represents the viscosity of the oil at 0°C and the second number at 100°C. These are the freezing and boiling points of water, but not what an engine will normally subject the oil to of course. Everyone knows a synthetic oil will have lower viscosity at lower sub 0°C temperatures, but still has the same ratings as a conventional oil within this xxWyy span. IMO, what you really want is a base oil that has properties of the first number and not necessarily a thinner base with polymers added to thicken it up to its claimed specification.

It would be nice if it was that simple, but Tooslick's info is from SAE J300 and is correct.

 

Standard Test Temps: (SAE J300 test)

 

0w-xx < 6200 Cp @ -35C/-31F

5w-xx < 6600 Cp @ -30C/-22F

10w-xx < 6600 Cp @ -25C/-13F

15w-xx < 7000 Cp @ -20C/-4F

20w-xx < 7000 Cp @ -15C/+5F

The first number represents a maximum viscosity at the above temps, and does not tell you anything about the oil's viscosity at 0C. http://www.pqiamerica.com/coldcrank.htm

And viscosity requirements are the same for conventional or synthetic. SAE J300 does not have different guidelines for conventional or synthetic.

 

IMO, this along with people thinking "W" means weight are probably two of the biggest myths in regards to oil (along with people thinking Mobil sued Castrol, but that's another thread).

 

 

-Dennis

[Tooslick]

Donny,

 

I completely agree with you about the negative effects of excessive polymeric thickeners. I'm not a fan of the wide range (0w-40, 5w-50), multi grades, particularly for turbo apps. A thicker 5w-30 or 10w-30 synthetic that meets ACEA A3/B3 is going to be more shear stable and probably result in less oil consumption.

 

TS

[SBT]

So reading this, would I have to buy the non-ILSAC Grade 5W-30 "MST" SynPower to have ACEA A3/B3 coverage, or is the ILSAC Grade 5W-30 SynPower and ACEA A1/A5 standard okay?

 

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/synpower.pdf