Rotella T6, 5782 oci, 103959mi, Subaru 2.5L NA

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
32
Location
Southeastern WI
Background: I inherited this car (2003 Impreza Outback) from my wife after I sold my LGT due to a series of poor UOAs and she got her new Forester. I genuinely don't like this car and have been hoping for its demise so I can buy a WRX. As a result, I drive this car pretty hard and this is our "short trip" car for when we need groceries or something. I also drive it to work 52 miles to work and back every day.

Here is my latest UOA. Keep in mind that not too long after my first UOA, I had the car in the shop to replace a thermostat and timing belt where the dealer also found a leaky headgasket (apparently the 3rd HG replacement in this car! 2 HG replacements were by the previous owner, after calling the dealership who my wife bought the car from). Blackstone thinks the engine looks great and has a lot of miles left on it, but things like Copper and Magnesium are pretty high. Ultimately I'm asking you guys- how much longer do you think I have to live with this insufferable car?

Code:
M1 Rotella Unit Averages Universal Averages

Calcium 1131 1075 1103 2177

Zinc 872 1106 989 858

Phosphorus 670 942 806 719

Magnesium 1299 968 1134 162

Boron 30 15 23 48

Molybdenum 73 59 66 71

Iron 13 9 11 8

Copper 9 11 9 4

Sodium 39 17 28 42

Silicon 25 19 22 12

Aluminum 13 5 9 3

Chromium 2 2 2 1

Potassium 3 0 2 2

Nickel 0 1 1 0

Lead 18 5 12 3

Tin 0 2 1 1

Manganese 0 0 0 2

Silver 0 0 0 0

Titanium 1 0 1 0

Barium 0 0 0 0



SUS @210F 71.9 58.3

cST @ 100C 13.45 9.72

Flashpoint 375 380

Mi on Oil 5782 4914

Mi on Unit 103959 89500
 
Originally Posted By: SCHM1AN
...how much longer do you think I have to live with this insufferable car?...

Another150K Grasshopper.

But Master 95busa...

Grasshopper, Love is harmony, even in discord.

But Master 95busa...

Love your bu Grasshopper. Love your bu.
 
Have you got your column headers backwards?
The M1 looks realy thick while the T6 looks really thin.
 
Lead is definitely high. Silicon is slightly high.

T6 and M1 are both great oils, why go only around 5K?

Good for another 50K.

If you push the OCI to 100K, you should not need to drive the vehicle that much longer.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Have you got your column headers backwards?
The M1 looks realy thick while the T6 looks really thin.


Yes, you're absolutely correct! I didn't even notice that- good eye
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Lead is definitely high. Silicon is slightly high.

T6 and M1 are both great oils, why go only around 5K?


Only 5k because I've owned 2 turbo 2.5L Subarus and 5k seemed to be a good OCI. While I know the NAs are much easier oils, it's just been engrained to me that 5k is a good time to change.

Maybe I'll be wild and go to 10k on this current OCI
 
In that case, if you really don't like this car, go back to M1.
I have to ask, though, how can you not like a Subie, especially in a place that sees real snow?
 
Judging by the unspeakable mistreatment one friend gave his Subaru Brat, your cold heart may stop beating first.
Wait for a foot of snow then sell it for top dollar. The WRX's wont exactly be jumping off the lot then.
Waiting for Subaru's to die is like waiting for taxes to go down.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
In that case, if you really don't like this car, go back to M1.
I have to ask, though, how can you not like a Subie, especially in a place that sees real snow?


Don't get me wrong. I love Subies. I would much rather drive this than any plain-jane Honda or Toyota, but it's just kind of bland. Its only redeeming qualities are AWD, low maintenance, and the fact that it's a wagon. There's no clutch pedal, no turbo, soft suspension, and it's just a huge step down from what I had before, but I took one for the team and gave my wife the new car. I'd rather her be in something safer in the case of an accident.
 
if you just put money into it on thermostat, gasket etc why not just trade in or sell and get something you like better, or triple oci to kill it quicker
 
My wife says that we should get our money out of the repairs which we stuck into it. There's no arguing that. At the time when we repaired this, I still had my LGT and was content with that- in fact I loved that car and never wanted to part with it, but facing an engine rebuild immediately after paying the stealership to fix this car, I didn't have the cash laying around so I sold it. And since the Impreza was just fixed, we decided to keep it
 
Originally Posted By: Subdued
If you hate it so much why bother putting oil in it at all?


We're looking at buying a house this summer, so I need it to run. I just want to know of how much longer so we can plan ahead so that we're not in a situation where it needs to be replaced and all we can afford at the time is a 97 Taurus or something to that extent.
 
IMO you can kill two birds with one stone here.

Keep it until you get into the new house; that way a new vehicle won't impact your credit when you're applying for your home loan.

You'll also keep the wife happy by getting your $$ out of the repairs this winter.

Then you're looking at a shiny new WRX late next summer.
 
IF it needs a motor, Scooby motors are stupid cheap, even new longblocks. The JDM ej257 is ~1800 for a NEW shortblock at the stealer's parts counter. Why wouldn't you just put another motor in it and keep going? Or, if/when it DOES pop - just do a WRX/6 speed swap if the chassis is in good shape?
 
That's a good idea- I have a buddy who has been nagging me to do a manual swap on the car, but I'm a little reluctant to as it's my DD and if anything happened during the swap, I still need a car to get me to work. However, by the time this thing calls it quits, I'm hoping to have a Miata/S2k as my AutoX/summer car. Getting parts in the mean time shouldn't be tough to do
 
This post makes no sense.

Unless an engine is on death's door, a UOA won't tell you how long an engine is going to last. It could be 10,000 miles away from a major failure or 110,000 and the UOA would look the same.

Also, if you hate the car so much, either sell it and buy a more acceptable one (doesn't have to be a new WRX), or quit whining. You're not doing anyone any good (least of all your wife) by passive-aggressively hoping death for a perfectly good car.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top