Mobil1 5w30, 4518 miles, 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX

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First UOA on my 2002 WRX wagon acquired in April. Wanted an idea on the health of my engine.

No major modifications (just turbo-back 3" stainless Vishnu exhaust). K&N KN-1015 oil filter. Wix paper air filter. Comments welcome, thanks all!

Code:


MILES ON OIL 4,518

MILES ON UNIT 211,535

SAMPLE TAKEN 09/16/12

MAKE UP OIL ADDED 0



ALUMINUM 2

CHROMIUM 2

IRON 9

COPPER 5

LEAD 3

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 63

NICKEL 1

MANGANESE 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 3

BORON 43

SILICON 5

SODIUM 6

CALCIUM 1209

MAGNESIUM 706

PHOSPHORUS 699

ZINC 746

BARIUM 0



SUS VISCOSITY @ 210 F 57.2

CST VISCOSITY @ 100 C 9.41

FLASHPOINT IN F 425

FUEL %
ANTIFREEZE % 0.0

WATER % 0.0

INSOLUBLES % 0.4

TBN 3.5


COMMENTS:

AARON: Your WRX is average. Now, in most cases in life, that's not necessarily a complimentary statement, but from an oil analysis standpoint, average is a great thing! The far right column on this page shows average wear for a Subaru EJ205 turbo engine after ~4,500 miles of oil use. You ran just as long as our average oil change, and metals are right in line with averages, just as they should be. That tells us that this is a well-maintained engine with no problems developing at 211,535 miles. The TBN is good at 3.5, so leave this oil in place another 2,000 miles. Nice report!
 
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Thanks for posting this!

Wow, look at that, M1 5w30 actually stayed in grade in a turbo Subaru. Apparently the SN formulation is a bit more robust than the SM formulation. What's your driving like? Lots of highway miles? Much time spent at full throttle?

Do the Subaru community a favor and go post this on NASIOC as well.

I'll disagree with MinusPrevious, though, I wouldn't run Resource Conserving 5w30 in a tuned turbo Subaru. Go to something with an ACEA A3 rating in a tuned engine. That said, M1 5w30 SN held up quite well in this application.
 
I have a short trek into work each day... 3.5 miles (8 to 9 minutes) of 40 to 55 mph two lane back roads, but I do travel 20 miles to Milwaukee on a 65 mph freeway at least once a week, sometimes twice.

The car over its life is mostly highway miles, always had Mobil1 as its blood from what I was told and I rarely hit redline. I do occasionally rev to 5000, 5500, 6000 rpm on on-ramps, and usually keep the cruise control on around 72 to 75 (3000, 3100 rpm) in 65 zones.

So, yeah, quite happy with the report. I do plan to run this oil to ~6,500 miles and start using Mobil1 High Mileage 5w30 from here on out. I notice some burning oil smell near the turbo after shutdown, so likely the turbo seals from what Ive read is common, but I have not consumed or leaked any oil.... always at the top mark on the dipstick! Maybe the extra seal conditioners in M1HM can help those seals. Lastly, I really like its thicker HTHS (3.3 vs. standard M1s 3.1) and still provide cold weather start protection.
 
The turbo seals are actually metal so the M1 HM probably won't help if oil is getting past them. You'll start seeing smoke coming from the scoop/turbo area if that's the case. Nice uoa but probably a good idea to switch to the HM, IMO.

-Dennis
 
Good info on the metal turbo seals, thank you! I haven't done research on them yet, just heard with time that they do leak.

Also, future oil changes will be with the Wix 57712 oil filter with proper 23 psi bypass.
 
Excellent report. Maybe rethink the oil filter choice. There's simply not enough media surface area for my linking on that 57712.

Purolator 14612 are a great choice (higher bypass 14-16psi), as are the Subaru OEM filters if you want the spec'd bypass psi.

however, I suspect that engine had many filters over it's years, and with 200k+ miles, it hasn't hurt anything
grin.gif
 
The factory airbox is a CAI, and according to testing by either Crawford or Vishnu (I forgot which) it's good to at least 400hp.

Turbo Subies hate aftermarket CAIs, most of them are actually HAIs and cause the ECU to constantly throw codes. Subaru has basically stated that their own "SPT" branded CAI just makes more noise (not power) than the factory airbox.
 
Originally Posted By: BrewCityR
I have a short trek into work each day... 3.5 miles (8 to 9 minutes) of 40 to 55 mph two lane back roads, but I do travel 20 miles to Milwaukee on a 65 mph freeway at least once a week, sometimes twice.

The car over its life is mostly highway miles, always had Mobil1 as its blood from what I was told and I rarely hit redline. I do occasionally rev to 5000, 5500, 6000 rpm on on-ramps, and usually keep the cruise control on around 72 to 75 (3000, 3100 rpm) in 65 zones.

So, yeah, quite happy with the report. I do plan to run this oil to ~6,500 miles and start using Mobil1 High Mileage 5w30 from here on out. I notice some burning oil smell near the turbo after shutdown, so likely the turbo seals from what Ive read is common, but I have not consumed or leaked any oil.... always at the top mark on the dipstick! Maybe the extra seal conditioners in M1HM can help those seals. Lastly, I really like its thicker HTHS (3.3 vs. standard M1s 3.1) and still provide cold weather start protection.


Good choice on the Mobil 1 HM. The added seal conditioners may help and the chemistry is the same as regular M1 so the performance should remain the same.
 
Originally Posted By: gpshumway
The factory airbox is a CAI, and according to testing by either Crawford or Vishnu (I forgot which) it's good to at least 400hp.

Turbo Subies hate aftermarket CAIs, most of them are actually HAIs and cause the ECU to constantly throw codes. Subaru has basically stated that their own "SPT" branded CAI just makes more noise (not power) than the factory airbox.

I don't disagree and that's why I specifically recommend cp-e which is on my MS3. The air intake is actually outside the engine bay and they pay a lot of attention to the engineering of the MAF area. I've had mine on for 25,000 miles without a blip.
 
That one is probably good, I won't claim encyclopedic knowledge of the available intakes.

The larger point is the factory airbox does not pose a restriction until you're making power levels which require a built engine any way, which puts it way down the list of upgrade priorities.

In other words, the OP should save his money for an upgraded turbo. Presuming of course he/she prefers fury to sound.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
BrewCityR said:
Still factory original turbo......../quote]

Wow! Over 200K on the OE turbo.

No head gasket coolant leaks?


No physical leaks and I'm sure the Blackstone report would reflect if there was coolant in the oil. I had the car on a rack back in August and my mechanic did say I will need valve cover gaskets sometime soon, but not urgently.

Lastly, no additional mods for this car and me. It's plenty quick and my hobbies/priorities are elsewhere. I intend to stick with 6000-6500 mile OCIs and stay on top of routine maintenance.

Thanks again to all for your input!
smile.gif
 
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