2007 Subaru STi 74,000 kms; Penrite 5w-40 4000 kms .... concerns

[curiousoilguy]

I'm hoping someone could shed some light on this being my first UOA on my 2007 Subaru Forester STi with 74000kms on it. There was 4000kms on this particular interval and it also had 2 separate dyno sessions. I'm hoping this isn't the beginning of the end.

Cheers

 

[CarDoc66]

Turbocharger bearing. If I recall thats the EJ255 engine and the turbo oil feed banjo on the block had a screen in it that would plug up and cause the center bearing to fail.
EDIT: Coming back to me now, those engines used an IHI turbo (possibly the VF52) which were terribly unreliable. If I were to change it out I recomend a MHI (mitsubishi) built unit.
Lead and tin levels are nil so I wouldn’t worry about the bottom end.

 

[Thermo1223]

Turbocharger bearing. If I recall thats the EJ255 engine and the turbo oil feed banjo on the block had a screen in it that would plug up and cause the center bearing to fail.
EDIT: Coming back to me now, those engines used an IHI turbo (possibly the VF52) which were terribly unreliable. If I were to change it out I recomend a MHI (mitsubishi) built unit.
Lead and tin levels are nil so I wouldn’t worry about the bottom end.

This^

All screens should be removed per SoA 1 on the turbo feed line and one or possibly 1 feeding the AVCS on each cylinder bank. The screens actually can collapse and cause even more problems than just being plugged up.

 

[Oliveoil2]

ball bearing units? Or is this “center bearing” a copper bushing? Couldn’t the copper be from the oil cooler?

 

[fantastic]

Probably bearings somewhere other than main bearings? Camshaft bearings etc. I'd change the oil & retest in the same kms duration. Is it tuned?

 

[curiousoilguy]

Probably bearings somewhere other than main bearings? Camshaft bearings etc. I'd change the oil & retest in the same kms duration. Is it tuned?

Yeah there's not much I can do in the meantime. It'll be a stressful 6 months till the next change.

 

[curiousoilguy]

Yeah there's not much I can do in the meantime. It'll be a stressful 6 months till the next change.

And yes it's tuned conservatively with no knocking that's apparent.

 

[fantastic]

Yeah there's not much I can do in the meantime. It'll be a stressful 6 months till the next change.

No need to stress out about it. It could go on like this for many thousands of kms. Also, the next sample could tell us more about the direction of the copper. Whether it's going up or down. A tuned engine will put a bit more stress on things & that's just the nature of it & you must anticipate this when stretching the boundaries w/tuning etc. but that's also what makes it fun for some. I've passed all those days myself & just want OEM reliability & longevity. Like I said this car could run for a very long time under those conditions. How many kms total on this car?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

And yes it's tuned conservatively with no knocking that's apparent.

Was this your first run with Penrite? Do you know if it has ANs or esters in it?

Have you added or changed the oil cooler or the cooler adapter recently?

 

[CarDoc66]

Cams ride in the head so that would show up as aluminum. The center bearing in those turbos are the bushing type, I’m almost certain thats where it came from.
If the turbo lets go on that thing, shut it down right away. I saw one engine that the copper went through everything and cause other problems.
If it were my car I’d put a TD05 MHI turbo in it and remove the screen in the banjo. Mitsubishi turbos last, and will take a beating.
I had an 06 Legacy Spec B and that was the turbo I put in it. A 20g TD05 with a front mount intercooler, DW740cc injectors with the tune. The car made 345hp at the wheels on pump gas and ran mid to high 12 second quarter mile times all day. Went thru a couple of clutches until I found one that held up (Clutch Masters FX350 with the upgraded puck disk).
Probably not a bad idead to change out the oil cooler if you do a turbo.

 

[curiousoilguy]

Cams ride in the head so that would show up as aluminum. The center bearing in those turbos are the bushing type, I’m almost certain thats where it came from.
If the turbo lets go on that thing, shut it down right away. I saw one engine that the copper went through everything and cause other problems.
If it were my car I’d put a TD05 MHI turbo in it and remove the screen in the banjo. Mitsubishi turbos last, and will take a beating.
I had an 06 Legacy Spec B and that was the turbo I put in it. A 20g TD05 with a front mount intercooler, DW740cc injectors with the tune. The car made 345hp at the wheels on pump gas and ran mid to high 12 second quarter mile times all day. Went thru a couple of clutches until I found one that held up (Clutch Masters FX350 with the upgraded puck disk).
Probably not a bad idead to change out the oil cooler if you do a turbo.

All duly noted. It spools fine and no funky noises but I'll keep all that in mind. I'll continue with the testing on a 6 month basis and hopefully things improve.

 

[curiousoilguy]

No need to stress out about it. It could go on like this for many thousands of kms. Also, the next sample could tell us more about the direction of the copper. Whether it's going up or down. A tuned engine will put a bit more stress on things & that's just the nature of it & you must anticipate this when stretching the boundaries w/tuning etc. but that's also what makes it fun for some. I've passed all those days myself & just want OEM reliability & longevity. Like I said this car could run for a very long time under those conditions. How many kms total on this car?

74000kms.

 

[curiousoilguy]

Was this your first run with Penrite? Do you know if it has ANs or esters in it?

Have you added or changed the oil cooler or the cooler adapter recently?

Yes, first in this car and first UOA. No cooler or adapter change recently either.

 

[fantastic]

Cams ride in the head so that would show up as aluminum.

Some camshaft bearings use a bronze layer also & figured that could show up as copper. Although, I've seen some with a tin outer layer & then copper below that. This sample doesn't show high tin so it's probably coming from somewhere else? Just a thought.

 

[bluesubie]

What oil was used previously? It's possible that higher zinc can affect the copper leeching from the oil cooler.

Here's my uoa just a few hundred miles before my banjo bolt screens clogged and caused turbo failure. Copper was in the single digits although lead was elevated:

Amsoil SSO 0W-30, 8,471 miles, Subaru Forester XT

UOA by Oil Analyzers Inc. Driving conditions: Oil in use Nov. – June; 7 mile daily commute each way; a couple of days driving on the beach, no mods but spirited driving with a few WOT’s here and there. Oil changed but filter not changed. My last uoa is here . Sodium dropped nicely so it looks...

bobistheoilguy.com

I ended up keeping the banjo bolt screens in after turbo replacement because my tech convinced me that the positives outweighed the negatives. I put another 110,000 miles on the car before selling it, including adding a Cobb AccessPort at around the 110,000 mile mark, and kept my intervals at 5,000 miles.

I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point and see how another 4,000 km OCI looks. Is this a grey market Euro Forester Sti?

 

[Thermo1223]

For more comparison,

I should have seen the writing on the wall with that silver number. #2 rod let go a little over a year later at 62k. After the engine rebuild at right around 100k the turbo was on it's way out too.


.

 

[curiousoilguy]

What oil was used previously? It's possible that higher zinc can affect the copper leeching from the oil cooler.

Here's my uoa just a few hundred miles before my banjo bolt screens clogged and caused turbo failure. Copper was in the single digits although lead was elevated:

Amsoil SSO 0W-30, 8,471 miles, Subaru Forester XT

UOA by Oil Analyzers Inc. Driving conditions: Oil in use Nov. – June; 7 mile daily commute each way; a couple of days driving on the beach, no mods but spirited driving with a few WOT’s here and there. Oil changed but filter not changed. My last uoa is here . Sodium dropped nicely so it looks...

bobistheoilguy.com

I ended up keeping the banjo bolt screens in after turbo replacement because my tech convinced me that the positives outweighed the negatives. I put another 110,000 miles on the car before selling it, including adding a Cobb AccessPort at around the 110,000 mile mark, and kept my intervals at 5,000 miles.

I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point and see how another 4,000 km OCI looks. Is this a grey market Euro Forester Sti?

The previous owner was using Castrol Edge 5w 30 and I switched to Penrite 5w 40 as soon as I got it.

Yeah it's a Japanese import with a full service history.

 

[curiousoilguy]

What oil was used previously? It's possible that higher zinc can affect the copper leeching from the oil cooler.

Here's my uoa just a few hundred miles before my banjo bolt screens clogged and caused turbo failure. Copper was in the single digits although lead was elevated:

Amsoil SSO 0W-30, 8,471 miles, Subaru Forester XT

UOA by Oil Analyzers Inc. Driving conditions: Oil in use Nov. – June; 7 mile daily commute each way; a couple of days driving on the beach, no mods but spirited driving with a few WOT’s here and there. Oil changed but filter not changed. My last uoa is here . Sodium dropped nicely so it looks...

bobistheoilguy.com

I ended up keeping the banjo bolt screens in after turbo replacement because my tech convinced me that the positives outweighed the negatives. I put another 110,000 miles on the car before selling it, including adding a Cobb AccessPort at around the 110,000 mile mark, and kept my intervals at 5,000 miles.

I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point and see how another 4,000 km OCI looks. Is this a grey market Euro Forester Sti?

This is what so conflicting about so many opinions and UOA reports, even to the ones deemed "normal" something sinister was lurking. I think I'm just going to put this to bed and enjoy the car, it's running flawlessly so I may very well be worrying about nothing.

 

[CarDoc66]

This is what so conflicting about so many opinions and UOA reports, even to the ones deemed "normal" something sinister was lurking. I think I'm just going to put this to bed and enjoy the car, it's running flawlessly so I may very well be worrying about nothing.

I agree….. just drive it and enjoy it, stick with the 5w-40. I had really good luck using that in my Spec B.

 

[curiousoilguy]

I agree….. just drive it and enjoy it, stick with the 5w-40. I had really good luck using that in my Spec B.

What's your climate like? I'm in Brisbane, Australia and we've had a very hot and humid summer. After seeing the results my tuner has recommended going up to HPR10 10w -50.