Extended OCI for my 2008 Forester XT

[Razorsharpe]

Greetings from a long time lurker, first time poster,

I am the second owner of a very well maintained EJ227 Forester with the turbo 2.5L engine.

Subaru has a TSB out that shortened the recommended OCI down to 3750 miles due to clogging of the screen in the turbo's oiling system I believe.

Previous owner had all service done on time by a Subaru dealer. I purchased the car from him at 77K. Now has 130K.

I have used full synthetic since I purchased it. Started with 3,750 mile OCI's, then with analysis, went to 5K. Analysis says I can go further still.

I do 10k OCI's on my Mazda 3 which it does with ease. Anyone doing 10K OCI's on a turbo Subaru in spite of the TSB?

Appreciate any input, especially from fellow Subaru owners of this vintage.

 

[cptbarkey]

Keeping your OCI at 5k is much cheaper vs a new turbo and/or block because it puked its guts.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Analysis says you can go further than 5K. Why jump all the way to 10k? A little extreme.

 

[Andrew1972]

I have similar motor in 2005 Legacy GT wagon(EJ255). We have stuck to 4k interval since new with conventional and no oil related issues in 11yrs/192k miles with turbo or engine. Everything else though

recently.

10k is a rather extreme change over 5k. The original suggestion on my car was 7500 miles in normal usage. You could try and do a sample and work from there.

If the turbo grenades it can take out the entire motor dumping metal bits into the sump potentially.

 

[Phishin]

Have you had the screens removed from turbo lines yet? That would be the first thing I'd do. And take a look at the screens....see if they are partially plugged or just varnished. That will give you a good idea of how things are going.

 

[zzyzzx]

I think what everyone is trying to tell you is that extended oil changes on a turbo is probably inadvisable. It might actually be OK, but why take the chance?

 

[Rand]

Those engines are not tolerant of bad oil.
They wont just get a "little dirty". They self destruct.
5000$ for new engine vs extra 50$ a year in oil.

I would do 4000-5000mile OCI with m1 0w40 or Rotella T6 5w40.

 

[AirgunSavant]

I would think your good maintenance got you to a 130k and
extending your OCI. at this point is not going to enhance longevity and it can only detract from it. I'd keep doing what you have been as your reward will not be a positive one if you don't.

 

[aircooled]

I would look elsewhere to save a few dollars other than the life blood of your engine.

 

[bluesubie]

The only oil that I would run beyond 3,750 miles, is something like RT6, M1 0W40, Euro Castrol 0W30/0W40, Pennzoil 5W40, etc. And since you still have the screens (there are 3; 2 AVCS and 1 turbo IIRC), I would not go beyond 6,000 miles no matter what anyone or any uoa tells you unless they are prepared to reimburse you for a turbo replacement [said the guy that had turbo failure on good uoa's].

The only real extended OCI that I've seen on these engines is someone at legacygt.com running 15k intervals on Amsoil with the screens removed and with a bypass filter set up. Even Amsoil themselves advise not going beyond Subaru of America's OCI on any model year turbo.

I now have nearly 90k after my turbo replacement and I usually run one of the oils above (or Motul from a local Subie shop), went Cobb Stage I at 110k, and still have all of my screens. My dealer convinced me to keep the screens in because he felt the benefit of the screens (blocking potential debris) outweighed the benefits of removing them.

Also, do a google search on Subaru Forester turbo burnt exhaust valve. Been there, done that too.

Another search to do is Subaru '08/'09 turbo stop sale. As recently as 2015, there were still '08/'09 Foresters having bearing failures. Not to scare you, but you definitely shouldn't be doing OCI's much past 6k miles, IMO.

Run girly man GF5 oil, and I would change it at ~3,500 miles.

I would also be sticking with short intervals on the '15 WRX running Subaru synthetic due to the fuel dilution seen on these engines.

 

[Razorsharpe]

Thanks for all the replies. OK, you all convinced me to keep doing what I am doing now. Full Synthetic at 5K.

Changed the oil today at just under 6K with German Castrol 0W-40 and a Subaru filter. No sense tempting fate.

PS: it was never a $$ issue, but one of saving some time. That said, changed it in the driveway today in 30 minutes. Gotta love San Antonio winters--72 degrees today!

 

[SR5]

Good post bluesubie, lots of solid advice.

Originally Posted By: bluesubie

Run girly man GF5 oil, and I would change it at ~3,500 miles.


Laugh !!

 

[dgunay]

I wouldn't extend the OCI, if we're talking about a turbocharged Subie.

Subaru shortened the recommended OCI and there must be a reason behind that. No offense, but turbo EJ engines (2006+) are piece of [censored]. They are not easy on oil at all. Turbo is probably the most "reliable" part of the engine, which isn't made by Subaru. Ringland failure, spun rod bearings, excessive oil consumption, head gasket leak are some typical EJ failures and they're very common. Due to the reliability issues, now many people choose the new WRX over the STI. Turbocharged FA engines are way better/more reliable than the 30 year-old EJ25.

So, if I were you, I wouldn't take risk.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: dgunay
I wouldn't extend the OCI, if we're talking about a turbocharged Subie.

Subaru shortened the recommended OCI and there must be a reason behind that. No offense, but turbo EJ engines (2006+) are piece of [censored]. They are not easy on oil at all. Turbo is probably the most "reliable" part of the engine, which isn't made by Subaru. Ringland failure, spun rod bearings, excessive oil consumption, head gasket leak are some typical EJ failures and they're very common. Due to the reliability issues, now many people choose the new WRX over the STI. Turbocharged FA engines are way better/more reliable than the 30 year-old EJ25.

So, if I were you, I wouldn't take risk.


"excessive oil consumption, head gasket leak"

Got some numbers and links on this? The latest EJ's don't seem to suffer from this, IMHO.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: dgunay
Ringland failure, spun rod bearings, excessive oil consumption, head gasket leak are some typical EJ failures and they're very common. Due to the reliability issues, now many people choose the new WRX over the STI. Turbocharged FA engines are way better/more reliable than the 30 year-old EJ25.


I think the real reason folks go for the 2.0 over the STI is the price.

However, in your review of the older EJ227 you toss in EJ25 and FB concerns.

Also, you have to take a lot of the problems with any Turbo Subie is that a lot of folks attempt to out engineer the Pleiades engineers and blame the manufacturer when they screw up. Your higher ringland/bearing failure example is most definitely linked to a high number of modifications (frequency of owners modding the vehicle, not the number of mods on a vehicle) . So to say they are "common" from the factory is incorrect.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: FutureDoc

Also, you have to take a lot of the problems with any Turbo Subie is that a lot of folks attempt to out engineer the Pleiades engineers and blame the manufacturer when they screw up. Your higher ringland/bearing failure example is most definitely linked to a high number of modifications (frequency of owners modding the vehicle, not the number of mods on a vehicle) . So to say they are "common" from the factory is incorrect.

Some good points, but there were definitely some bearing problems from the factory. More details on the 08/09 stop sale that I mentioned in my above post (from scoobymods.com):

Quote:

Turbo Engine Stop Sale checking Procedure
On April 7, 2008 we informed you of a stop sale order on 2008 Impreza, STi and Legacy vehicles and 2009 Forester vehicles equipped with 2.5L Turbo Engines and produced with the beginning chassis number/production dates and later as shown below:

Model Body Type Chassis Number Production Date
Forester Wagon 701045 or later 2008/01/08 or later
Legacy 2.5GT-LTD 222825 or later 2008/02/04 or later
2.5GT-B 222958 or later
OBK 2.5XT-LTD 353835 or later 2008/02/01 or later
Impreza Sedan 523363 or later 2008/01/08 or later
Wagon 825183 or later

We took this action as a “Customer First” preventive action as we had confirmed, in other markets, that there was a small possibility of an “Engine Knocking Noise” caused by a contamination in the area of the connecting rod big end journal at very low mileage/time in service.

The action was successful in preventing the potential of failures for our customers.

Subaru has defined a screening process that you must perform to all of the affected vehicles in your inventory before delivery to a customer or putting in demonstrator service.

The screening process consists of several steps to inspect the condition of the engine oil to determine if the engine is not affected by the contamination, is already damaged, or has a potential for damage.

Both a flow chart and detailed instruction sheet of the process are included in this document. Each step must be followed exactly, no short cuts.

As soon as the engine is determined to be in proper working condition, it can be sold or put into demo service. ...


On later model EJ turbo's ('13-'15), Blackstone will flag silver if it is as low as 4-6 ppm's due to failures that some of their customer's have had. There were also several bearing failures on stock 2015 STI's that were covered under warranty (posted at iwsti.com).

Yes, some were modified with a reflash and you may never really know the full story by what's posted on a forum and some will go "back to stock" before taking their car in for warranty work. I know there were some recent used Forester XT owner's posting about bearing failures on 08/09's, claiming to be stock, and they were not covered under warranty due to mileage/time.