PP5W30 4915mi, 05 WRX (high lead)

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Here's the latest UOA from Blackstone for my '05 Subie WRX. It's totally stock (no high boost). It appears that there is some excessive wear. Blackstone's comments and numbers are below.
I'm obviously concerned about the wear. Any input would be greatly appreciated.


Lead, from bearings, increased so we can rule out a temporary particle streak as the reason for
lead. Lead's wear rate (ppm/mile) also increased, so it appears there is excessive wear occurring. We don't
know if you are running higher than normal turbo boost, which can affect bearing wear, but let us know if
you are. To try and bring lead down, you can a short oil change (~2,500 miles). That can reduce the
accumulation of bearing metals in the oil. Other wear was okay. The trace of gas isn't an issue, and no
antifreeze or moisture was found.


PP 5W30
4915 miles on oil
82,369 total miles
5/31/09 sample date

Aluminum 2
Chromium 1
Iron 8
Copper 2
Lead 13
Tin 0
Molybdenum 56
Nickel 0
Manganese 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 2
Boron 32
Silicon 5
Sodium 2
Calcium 3638
Magnesium 17
Phosphorus 790
Zinc 963
Barium 0
 
I thought Subaru suggested/recommended a 3,750 OCI for all their turbo engines. 13 is not too bad really but, would like to see it somewhat lower. Maybe consider a stout 5w40 for your particular driving style?
 
How did previous UOA's look and what oils? If its a stick it could be related to the driver. You may also want to look for a bit higher HTHS around 3.5 HTHS PP 5w-30 is 3.1 according to PDS.
 
There was one previous UOA, also with Pennzoil Platinum and with very similar numbers to this one (Lead at 11 in the prior UOA). The car belongs to my wife, it has an auto trans. It sees mainly highway miles to and from work
 
Rotella T 5W-40 seems to work well in these engines. It's also cheap enough that short OCI's aren't a drain.
 
3.1 HTHS seems way too low for a turbo four pot. Why not try an oil with better HTHS?

I'm running 4.6 cP oil in my vw turbo and Fe levels are one of the lowest of the 40+ UOAs for that engine (but UOA is only one piece of the puzzle as an indicator of wear)

ppmgraphcopy.jpg


ppmironcopy.jpg
 
That's a pretty minor lead spike man....I wouldn't sweat it.

As others have said, try something with a bit more HTHS/film strength.

Rotella T 5w40 is the most commonly recommended. I'm about to drop some 15w50 M1 in my turbo legacy and see how she runs.
 
I agree that the automatic tends to rule out the driver a good bit. The numbers on Pb aren't alarming ..but above preferred noise levels.

I tend to test on a gross overboard way to get my bearings on cause and effect. It sets my direction better from which I can refine.

I'd be tempted to step up (as others have suggested) to a 5w-40 and see how much the condition retreats. If it shows remarkable reductions, I'd (over future sensible OCI's to get my money's worth out of both the oils and the learning) retreat incrementally toward the current visc/HTHS (usually married, somewhat) and find where it starts to up tick again.

If I had the means (knowledge), I'd be yanking that screen from in front of the turbo to liberate me from being a slave to it with Subaru's formula for keeping it clear over the full span of consumer usage profiles. That 3750 limit is ridiculous.
 
Gary,

The 3750 mile limit is there not for the screen, but because these turbo engines torch most dinos by 4000 miles.

They'll shear a 5w30 to a 20 SAE within 1000 miles. Some oils hold up (i.e. GTX, rotella 10w30) the whole time, but most are ready to come out by then.

So Subaru lowered the limit to allow for dinos to be run consistently, in almost any condition. My .02

Joe
 
That works. I just heard about too many turbo failures due to oil starvation being the cause of the reduced spec. I didn't hear of engine failures.

..but that's just from what I've heard here. I'm not intimately acquainted with the product
55.gif
 
Hehe, I think the turbos fail first due to their design, and that engines can take far more abuse given substandard lubrication and still run (i.e. toyota sludge engines)
 
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