0w-30/5w-30 in a 2024 crosstrek and subaru timing chains

[SubieRubyRoo]

Dumb question: when did Subaru switch from timing belts to chains?

The FA/FB series have chains (along with all the 6-cylinders). The EJs were belts.

 

[Nmr1981]

Funny thing is even with the head gasket years the number of Subie’s that go to 200k with nothing but oil changes is astronomical. Only rivaled by 2006 and earlier Volvos.

My 2003 Outback would probably have made it 200k but I couldn’t see the odometer due to the plume of smoke coming from the oil leaking on the exhaust manifolds. alas 186k is when I traded her in on my 2021 Ascent. Which was just in the shop for…an oil leak… at 50k

 

[Glenda W.]

My 2003 Outback would probably have made it 200k but I couldn’t see the odometer due to the plume of smoke coming from the oil leaking on the exhaust manifolds. alas 186k is when I traded her in on my 2021 Ascent. Which was just in the shop for…an oil leak… at 50k

You almost made it on the 03! Subaru is certainly not void of their fair share of problems. I have an oil burner currently, runs and drives great thankfully. Sorry about your Ascent. What did they find?

 

[Nmr1981]

You almost made it on the 03! Subaru is certainly not void of their fair share of problems. I have an oil burner currently, runs and drives great thankfully. Sorry about your Ascent. What did they find?

Lower oil pan leak, oil level sensor leak. Not enough three bond used at the factory I guess.

 

[jcy]

Here is a 500,000 mile Ford Escape with a logbook of things...
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...ape-hybrid-500k-miles-still-in-patrol-service

This part of the article is interesting. For a security services company for businesses, that was probably nearly all city miles

 

[Jeep_Riot]

For what it’s worth, my ‘15 Crosstrek has only seen 0W-20 since birth. It’s now coming up in 110K miles.

I have yet to see a spot of oil where I park, and I look for it everyday.

Now, I probably should not have said that…

 

[thetricky]

For what it’s worth, my ‘15 Crosstrek has only seen 0W-20 since birth. It’s now coming up in 110K miles.

I have yet to see a spot of oil where I park, and I look for it everyday.

Now, I probably should not have said that…

Same here. 0w-20 or 5w-20 for it’s life, just passed 144k miles and all is well in the 14’ outback. I’m not particularly easy on this car either!

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Same here. 0w-20 or 5w-20 for it’s life, just passed 144k miles and all is well in the 14’ outback. I’m not particularly easy on this car either!

How it's used and how it's maintained, tells the true story-line.

 

[1legguy]

Just wanted to share an interesting story: wife has a 2023 wagon. She takes care of it, including service, but every so often I will check it over for her, particularly if she is going somewhere longer distance. Car looked fine and she had it serviced a few days before. I see that little sticker the dealers put on the windshield and it says the car was filled with 0w30 synthetic. Now the manual and the oil cap both say 0w20. So I call the dealer and talk to the service rep. Tell him that I was curious why they appeared to use 0w30 when Subaru says 0w20. Tell him I am not panicked or thinking the motor will be damaged, just curious. He takes down my info and says he will call me back. Calls me back and tells me to bring the car back so they can drain it and refill with 0w20. I tell him that is not really necessary and likely a waste of my time and their oil. He agrees and we leave off politely. Few minutes later service manager calls me back and tells me he looked into the paperwork on the car and in fact 0w20 was used. I go upstairs to pull the receipt from the maintenance file and it says 0w20. He explains sometimes they make a mistake when making the sticker. I accept the story politely and wasn’t worried because it is a Subaru dealer, the car is under warranty, and I have an invoice saying they used the right oil so if so does unexpectedly go sideways it is their problem.

So no issue here other than I thought it was interesting that these folks called me back multiple times to make sure the Subaru specified viscosity was in the crankcase. Again, I would be really shocked if 0w30 would cause an issue, but my spidey sense and professional experience tells me Subaru likely looks if there is a problem or warranty claim, and the dealer doesn’t want to be on the hook, however small the likelihood. This experience, fwiw, counsels me to follow the Subaru viscosity recommendation during the warranty and any extended warranty because those of us who have experience servicing cars at dealers know how difficult it is to get them to call you so to get multiple callbacks, including one for the service manager, means someone is looking at whether the recommendations were followed. At least that is my hypothesis. Again, simply as a data point or ”fwiw.”

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..Car manufacturers are using any loop hole to get out of fixing anything and make you Pay. They want like 12,000 Grand to fix it. I took him to Toyota and he bought a new corolla and he let the other one be repossessed.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..Car manufacturers are using any loop hole to get out of fixing anything and make you Pay. They want like 12,000 Grand to fix it. I took him to Toyota and he bought a new corolla and he let the other one be repossessed.

$12M for a Kia engine? C’mon, man!

 

[Pablo]

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..Car manufacturers are using any loop hole to get out of fixing anything and make you Pay.

IF you let them walk on you.

If true, he/she should have stood firm. None of that voids any engine warranty.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..

Tell the friend to read his Owners Manual closer and slower.

Most of us Hyunkia owners fall under Severe Service OCIs- which is approx one-half of the number of miles your friend accumulated during the OCIs. I'd bet under the valve cover of your friend's car was sludge - thus just another reason for warranty denial..... among other reasons, like over-extending the mileage.

My Manual says 7.5k OCI. Severe Service is 3.75k OCIs. Some of the mentions that cite reasons for Severe Service puts a majority of Hyunkia Onwers back into Severe Service guidelines / restrictions. Dealerships only enforce Severe Service when they find engines that are either a mess, or can prove the oil volume was constantly driven at minimum / below minimum levels. The Manual also states that owners should be checking their oil when they fuel their vehicles.

 

[kschachn]

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..Car manufacturers are using any loop hole to get out of fixing anything and make you Pay. They want like 12,000 Grand to fix it. I took him to Toyota and he bought a new corolla and he let the other one be repossessed.

Why do I struggle to believe that that is true?

 

[kschachn]

If true, he/she should have stood firm. None of that voids any engine warranty.

Exactly.

 

[Glenda W.]

Be careful with oil and during the warranty make sure you have all your service done at the dealer and on time.My best friend has a 2021 Kia and well the engine blew at 50,000 miles. They refused to replace it because he had his oil done at Jiffy lube and a few times he want over the time to change it by a few hundred miles..Car manufacturers are using any loop hole to get out of fixing anything and make you Pay. They want like 12,000 Grand to fix it. I took him to Toyota and he bought a new corolla and he let the other one be repossessed.

Highly unlikely considering it’s a known Kia problem. Recalls/class action lawsuits for that year.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Yes, engine problems still exist for Hyunkia, beyond the Theta 2 Era. But I had no idea Recalls and Lawsuits are mounting for any 2021 engines. That's interesting and new to me.

 

[oil pan 4]

Can you please provide actual timing chain test data to support your statement?

The cummins tests I read were all about fuel economy and the valve train using I believe it was 5w-20 oil vs 10w-30 vs 15w-40 oils. Since this test was likely run on a test stand engine the winter rating was completely irrelevant so use a 0w oil if that floats your boat.
I'm guessing the timing chain was included in "the valve train".
Cummins said valve train parts wore out first with 20 weight oils but 20 weight oils gave the best fuel economy, no surprise there.

 

[oil pan 4]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...est-for-timing-chain-life.302162/post-4972986

ASTM/STLE papers on evaluating timing chain wear. While they rarely reference outright viscosity increases (can’t have 0w16 for CAFE goals if you openly say durability suffers!) they do make many references to the changing lubrication regimes, which goes back to Cujet’s comment: when there’s insufficient viscosity/MOFT because the oil is too thin, lubricants must rely on chemical assistance to provide protection. Again, Cujet stated it pretty darn simply: clean 30 grade oil is one of the simplest, cheapest ways to support long timing chain life.

https://www.astmtmc.cmu.edu/ftp/doc...ls/Archive/Seq X Draft_ March 5, 2019_TWB.pdf

This MDPI link is on fuel/lubricant interactions and I’m including it because it covers a really wide range of topics and interactions that we don’t normally see all in a single paper:
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/9/9/92

Absolutely fascinating.

 

[TumblrDucks]

Highly unlikely considering it’s a known Kia problem. Recalls/class action lawsuits for that year.

For 2021? I couldn't find anything on google. Could you provide some keywords to looking for?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

For 2021? I couldn't find anything on google. Could you provide some keywords to looking for?

This is the only recall I found at NHSTA other than a tow hitch harness fire

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCONL-21V137-6823.pdf