what oil for a subaru legacy ?

[sopususer]

Been a Subaru guy for close to 15 years and we have owned five of them over that time. In all honesty the 2.5 seems to be easy on oil and anything above Wesson will probably be okay. On a personal note I've used Pennzoil conventional, Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, Pennzoil Ultra or Quaker State Ultimate Durability in this collection of cars. Since Subaru is doing a 7500 oci on their newer models (wife's car is a 2010) we are doing syn on this car. It's had mainly Quaker State Ultimate Durability and Pennzoil Ultra in 5W30. Some Subaru enthusiasts have claimed to have usage issues when using M1, but I've used M1 on a 2001 Outback Sedan with absolutely no issues. Pick any quality oil in 5w30 conventional or syn with a good filter and maintain a reasonable oci, if you don't have head gasket problems, you'll have a hard time wearing out a Subaru motor IMHO.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
Conventional/mineral oil in a Subaru flat four?

...

Subaru flat fours, even without a turbo, are not co.sidered to be easy on oil in UK.

....

Just another viewpoint.


Why would they be hard on oil? Again on the EJ253: 1) NO wet cam chain or gear, (2) NO lifters, tappets or pushrods, (3) Rollerised cam followers, (3) Moly piston skirts, (4) high volume oil pump, (5) Split case with strong bearing webs.

Also note that in the US with ILSAC spec oil NO spec oil is "conventional" for passenger cars anymore - its a dead term except for some HDEO straight weights and 15W/20W-XX. All ILSAC GF-5 are semi-synthetic. If you call GrpIII, XHVI and GTL synthetic so why not grII+? - All Hydrocrack/HydroUni/HydroIsomerise/CatDewax process.

There exist GREAT oil and marginal oil in all types. There are NO are technical synthetic lubes (gr iv/v) from any of the majors available in the US as approved ILSAC GF-5 'resource conserving' AFAIK.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

As squareznboxez said, Rotella T6 is loved by guys who drive older turbocharged Subarus, but it's probably too heavy for a 2009 especially for upstate NY winters. 5w30 is all you need.

That said, I've got a gallon of it I'm going to try in my 2001 RS in the springtime.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: stygz
With those with the 2.5 engine. How often do you replace the drain crush washer? Mine leaves a drop of oil from time to time since the last oil change. I have about 33,000 miles and have not replaced the crush washer ever....unless the dealer did it for me on the 1st or 2nd oil change.


On the 2010+ EJ253 2.5i, you'll want to replace the oil pan drain plug crush washer every other OCI (if you don't have a spare on hand).

On the 2010+, the drain plugs are super stubby. Literally only a few threads hold them on, so you want to make sure they're snug with a good seal.

Not sure why they're so short at about half the length of a typical drain plug threaded area, but you can feel a baffle or the likes just inside the drain hole.

FWIW, if it wasn't for getting Napa Synthetic 5w30 on sale for around $3.69/qt, I'd be using any old low cost 5w30 in mine for the 7500mi OCI it sees.

In regards to the UK Subarus being tough on oil. I think pretty much anything is tough on oil for the 12-20K mile OCI you fellas run.

Joel

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
As squareznboxez said, Rotella T6 is loved by guys who drive older turbocharged Subarus, but it's probably too heavy for a 2009 especially for upstate NY winters. 5w30 is all you need.

That said, I've got a gallon of it I'm going to try in my 2001 RS in the springtime.

^ This.

Let's compare apples to apples please! While there are a few used oil analysis here on n/a Subaru's running RT6, they do really well up to over 7,500 miles on mineral oil. I've had 1-2 n/a Subaru's in my household since 1997. While I have used synthetic in them on occasion, they usually get a blend or regular mineral oil.

Here's a used oil analysis with an 8k mile run on Mobil Clean 5000.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2375274

-Dennis

 

[sopususer]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Everytime - unless I cheap out or it falls out of the filter box on the way home. Them suckers are ridiculously $$$ for a 10c piece. Time for a new one for you. Now, should you put the flat against the pan or the bolt (?)

I forgot to address this in my first post in this thread. Flat side of crush washer goes against the bolt rounded against the pan. For those flipping the crush washer I've only done that once and I had a leak. I know the washer is "expensive" at a dealer for what it is, but I had rather spend a little now or have a much bigger problem later. So, I change mine every time. As stated the 2010+ plugs are so much shorter it just isn't worth the risk for the sake of a <$1 part.

 

[Wheel]

On my ancient outback (97) I didn't change it until I got some freebies from a dealer (8+ years). I never had a leak problem, but when I ran out of them, I got a fiber washer from NAPA that I've had for 5+ years with no drips. Well worth the 50 cents I paid for it.

Aaron

 

[Wheel]

Thanks to everyone, I'll be sticking to the Mobil 1 5w30 or maybe PP in the same grade.

Aaron

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
5 quarts of Mobil 1. Just under five litres for $26.50!

I want to cry.

I just checked my local Walmart - it's actually $25.

 

[Dominic]

I've done 5000 mile OCI's on mine since new (now 100,000 miles) and I have had no oil related issues. My wear was better on Pennzoil Ultra than on Valvoline Synpower. Driven on the highway 7500-10K miles would also be acceptable.

I do think 0W30 or 5W30 is all you need. I would not run a 40wt. Remember the cooling system in these cars is set to a fairly low 172F, which also keeps the engine oil a little cooler. Thicker oils are not needed for street driving in cooler temperatures where the oil doesn't hardly exceed 190F.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: Wheel
Thanks to everyone, I'll be sticking to the Mobil 1 5w30 or maybe PP in the same grade.

Aaron
Wonder if the boxers like M1 these days? I guess its a better oil now its HT-06 (honda dumped the RDX turbo 4 just when EVERYONE is coming out with turbo!) and DEXOS. Internal memos related to me by a 25 year subaru master tech showed the older xom synthetic to have poor lubricity causing specific mechanism accelerated wear, So maybe PP if you are bent on the absolutely uneeded synthetic for this engine. Big whoop, PP and M1 arent synthetic anyhow.