nismoz Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 For last couple months I had rarely driven the car, since I started to take the public transport. Its almost 6 months from the last time I changed the engine oil but it only has about 1300 miles on it. Is it neccesary to change the engine oil? I looked at the Subaru maintenence booklet and it said OCI is every 6 months or 3750 miles which ever comes first.. What harm can the engine oil ,that wasnt changed for more than 6 months with low mile on it, cause? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBad Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 I would say that if your only doing 1300 miles in 6 months I see no harm in going longer then the recomended service interval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z28dreams Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is exactly my situation. I've had my car since about April and have only put 1500 miles on the car in 6 months or so. I just swapped in some synthetic, and am hoping that will hold up a little better than dino while it sits around. I plan on changing at 3000 mi. If anyone has any other input on this let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnAWD Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Ask Bob The Oil Guy - http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismoz Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 I was thinking that maybe the property of oil changes after 6 months or sth since almost every OCI informations I read on the web said change oil at least every 6 months. I woud say that if your only doing 1300 miles in 6 months I see no harm in going longer then the recomended service interval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baruGT Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 geez people..do you work from home?!!? I do about 300/week just to work and back. I always thought it was 3k or 3 months whichever came first??? Not that I go 1.5 months before i hit 3k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 I'll give the BITOG answer here: Your engine accumulates moisture and other byproducts by being run infrequently. This will collect in the oil and breakdown the oil much faster than if it was in regular use. A good timeframe for a DINO (non-synthetic oil) is 6 months...it just won't hold up much longer. A good timeframe for a quality synthetic oil is 1 year. Do some go longer? Sure. But it's cheap insurance to get it changed at that point. Joe P.s. Essentially, moisture and fuel will accumulate in your oil. The fuel will breakdown the oil, the moisture will turn acidic and breakdown your oil. Both of these contaminants are removed by regular driving at operating temperature...but if it's not getting that, your oil will break down even without mileage accumulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismoz Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 I have always used the German Castrol (0W30 synthetic oil) so it should be fine up to 9 months according to the answer from BITOG. It also said that water and fuel are removed by driving at operating temprature.. Is driving once or twice per week enough to maintain the oil at somewhat clean condition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Nismoz - That was my answer from my extensive experience at BITOG (I'm no expert but I've done alot of reading and posting over there). You should be fine for 9 months. As long as those once or twice a week drives are 20+ minutes long....you need to get the car nice and hot and operate it at that temperature for a little while to help clean the oil. Exposing the whole oil to nice hot temperatures to burn off fuel and water. If you are doing that, your oil should be fine. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismoz Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 Thanks for the response and sharing your knowledge Joe! Now the only thing I am wondering is if any powertrain defect occurs within this 9 month period, will the dealer void the warranty since I passed the 6 month period written in the maintenence booklet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalyst Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 ^ probably best to call up the service dept just to make sure you're in the clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilh Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 It doesn't matter what the dealer says. The warranty is with SOA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenchan Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 synthetic in mine (Mobil1 gold cap), changed once a year or 10k miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Any particular theory as to why that regimen is appropriate in your vehicle? Do you only do long-trips to accumulate those 10k miles? Or is it short-trips/city work? Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismoz Posted October 30, 2008 Author Share Posted October 30, 2008 He probably did oil analysis and it was fine upto 10k miles. Is you Legacy wagon, GT or not? I am not sure if turbocharged motor or not matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 It does matter. Turbocharged motors are much harder on oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismoz Posted November 2, 2008 Author Share Posted November 2, 2008 BTW, how often does the Transmission and Differential oil needs to be changed? On the maintanence booklet Subaru provided, it stated to change 4yr/48000km which ever comes first. Is it safe to change them after 4 years? I want to keep LGT for long period so I want to make sure I change all fluids correctly to improve long term reliablilty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilh Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Service Manual says 3 years or 30,000 miles for "inspection", but that pretty much means replacement. For me that is about every 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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