I'm not informed enough to answer that question. The only one that could answer that with good confidence would be Motul. I have no idea on what constitutes "a lot of sulfur". All I know is that it is an oil product that interferes with copper/lead & can cause spikes in UOA.
2021 WRX STi - Switched from OEM oil to Motul X-clean EFE 5w30 - 19,685 miles
- Thread starter JVILLA
- Start date
Here is my most recent UOA with Motul 5w30. Copper is down but silver is up. I’m currently on Amsoil SS 5w30 and will have that tested soon.
Around 10 years ago, Blackstone was flagging EJ25x uoa's with very slightly elevated silver. You can find some of the discussions by doing a google search. Most of the time, this is considered noise but it may or may not be.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/13-subaru-wrx-rt6-3-412mi-elevated-silver.226493/
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...084mi-subaru-forester-xt.210244/#post-3242061
There are some old ones on nasioc as well.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/13-subaru-wrx-rt6-3-412mi-elevated-silver.226493/
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...084mi-subaru-forester-xt.210244/#post-3242061
There are some old ones on nasioc as well.
I’d go back to your Subaru 5w-30 and forget about it. Wear was good and the viscosity drop didn’t hurt a thing. What’s a quart used every OCI?
This is my second car ever (drove a Honda for 15 years) so I’m not used to the oil consumption. I know it’s normal but it still gives me anxiety. But believe me, a part if me wants to go back. The numbers were all good except for viscosity. Everyone always says the OEM oil is terrible too. Maybe I’ll go back to it and just do 1.5k-2k OCIs. I still want to try a 5w40 eventually, though. Ideally, I’d like a 5w30 with good numbers and a high HTHS.
The Subaru OEM oil is not terrible. It performs similarly to any other ILSAC GF6 oil in an STI.
Oil is being changed too often.
Enjoy the car.
Enjoy the car.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2024
- Messages
- 262
ZDDP looks very low. I would definitely ditch the Motul and go with an American made oil. PP, Amsoil, Valvoline or HPL.
I bet this next sample will prove much better on Amsoil
I bet this next sample will prove much better on Amsoil
And yet it has Mercedes-Benz 229.52 and BMW Longlife-04 approval. How can it be?
Oh wait I know - those are European approvals and requirements. You prefer a questionable $30 spectrographic analysis and your ability to predict future performance over those approvals.
Yes. it would be below API SN+/SP min for phos. I have not followed ACEA.
But it is a UOA not VOA and it was blackstoned.
Also, again, the OP is overchanging the oil. Agree that they may be a better fit for this car.
Are there any API SN+ 5w30 oils with a decent HTHS?
When was your vehicle first placed in service? You’re likely already out of B-2-B unless you bought it new and it was left on the lot…
Here’s what your manual has.
Note that the diagram for oil viscosity shows that 5w30 and 5w40 (and all 0w30 or 40 by default) are completely interchangeable at all engine temps. I’ll tell you from experience, and many others on here likely will as well, that using an “API SN Resource Conserving” or an “API SN+ Resource Conserving” oil is a good way on a hard-driven turbo vehicle to have turbo, timing chain, or timing chain guide issues not long after your warranty expires and the dealer says you’re on your own…
You’ve had some experienced folks give you some good advice. I’ll just say that the dealer will be more than happy to take your ~$7k for a new engine without one flinch of their conscience even if all you had ever used was Subaru-branded oil.
Considering you’ve got an EJ25, I’d personally be running a quality ACEA A3/B4 0w40 or 5w40, and sample it at 4k miles. That’s a 20+ year old engine design that’s known to need higher viscosity under duress.
Page 12-5 in the manual shows the oil recommendations:
https://cdn.subarunet.com/stis/doc/ownerManual/MSA5M2105A_STIS-Opt.pdf
I bought it new in October of 2021 so I still have about 3 months on the bumper to bumper and a little over 2 years on the powertrain warranty. Yes, I’ve seen that part of the manual. It also says 5w40 can be used for replenishment but should be changed back to 5w30 at the next oil change. Either way, I will be switching to a 5w40 in a few more OCIs. Any recommendations on a good 5w40?
Any of the Euro 0W-40 or 5W-40 at Walmart are good. Don’t worry about the winter rating.
It’s also not really about grade it’s about HT/HS. There are Euro XW-30 also at Walmart with approvals. Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30 is an excellent oil with a minimum 3.5 HT/HS.
If you want a high hths and #s go with PP Euro L 5w30. May help with your consumption as it did when my kid ran it in his C30.
QSFS Euro 5w40, probably best bang for buck at wallymarts
Euro L is a lower-SAPS oil. Unless you have a wear problem and there is significant blowby then either one is fine.
It seems that the Xclean EFE is a mid SAPS oils so a full SAPS would have even more sulfur, right? Maybe going with a low SAPS 5w40 would cause less copper reactions.
