When to do first oil change on a new engine

[Mr.Fork]

I recently purchased a new 2.0XT Subaru Forester (Turbo) that is a 250-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine. It's a direct fuel injection and a high compression engine.

I picked it up with 2km on the ODO, and now it has 2300km on the engine.

Question - when do I do my first oil change? Service manual does state first change is at 10'000 km because it runs all Synthetic fluids. Someone over at Subaruforester.org states that there is a Molly break in additive and that I should change the oil out sooner than later.

Thoughts folks?

 

[friendly_jacek]

some people will say should have been done at 1000 miles. some other people will say wait till 10,000 miles. in reality it doesn't matter anymore and 10,000 miles is fine (and this is why they recommend it in the first place). do what feels right to you.

 

[Scum_Frog]

I would refer to your owners manual or call the Subaru dealership you purchased the vehicle from.

 

[440Magnum]

Unless the manual explicitly says NOT to do so, I change the initial fill of oil and filter at about 500 to 1000 miles. Not necessary (rental car fleets never do it), but there's always a little bit of manufacturing debris in the filter, and getting it all out gives me some peace of mind.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I've owned over eight subarus (no turbo though) I would do it between 3000 and 5000 km. Young engines shear the heck out of the oil so don't go over 5000 km.
Do not change it before 3000 KM though; you want the assembly lube moly in there through this period.

BlueSubie is the de facto expert here; Maybe he will chime in and I would defer to his judgment and suggestions.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

If you are worried about junk in the filter - change the filter only at 1000km. Its a top mount, no?

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

When I purchased my 2014 Ram 2500 new I looked first at the build date & how long it was sitting on the dealers lot before landing in my driveway. I performed the first change at 400 miles & time wise the oil was in the engine a bit under one year.

 

[Smokescreen]

You never truly know how the engine (very short tripped, or treated very well, if oil was added...whatever) was treated before you purchase a used vehicle, regardless of mileage.

I change the oil, put fresh good quality OEM approved oil in the sump to create a known starting point, use whatever the owners manual states to maintain warranty if you choose. After that follow the owners recommendation and OCI.

An oil change is fairly inexpensive in creation of a legitimate known OCI regimen as well as bringing clarity to the maintenance minded owner.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: Mr.Fork
Someone over at Subaruforester.org states that there is a Molly break in additive and that I should change the oil out sooner than later.

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 

[btanchors]

There is no question that factory fill is analytically high in metals, silicon, etc. This is an established fact, proven by many UOAs on factory fill, including one I did recently on my 2015 Toyota Tacoma at 1,000 miles.

What cannot be said with high certainty is how significant these high values are in an engine. Some advocates for NOT changing early state that if an early change was needed, it would be dictated by the manufacturer. The problem with that statement is that it assumes maintenance specifications are 100% driven by engineers and best practices. These days, it is equally, if not more driven by marketing considerations. Today's auto maintenance trends are for long oil drain intervals, sealed transmissions with lifetime ATF fill, 100K+ mile antifreeze, 100K+ mile spark plugs, etc. Manufacturers like to be able to advertise low-cost and minimal maintenance. My suspicion is there is some benefit to changing it out early, but not enough to matter over the typical life of a motor vehicle these days.

If you are picky about the best possible maintenance for your vehicles, you might be inclined to change factory fill out early. This is what I do. It makes me "feel" better. But the reality is that it probably doesn't matter that much.

My $0.02.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: btanchors
There is no question that factory fill is analytically high in metals, silicon, etc. This is an established fact, proven by many UOAs on factory fill, including one I did recently on my 2015 Toyota Tacoma at 1,000 miles.


true, but the real wear metals are only slightly (insignificantly) elevated and silicon/copper is just from the sealants, gaskets, greases, etc.

 

[Brian Barnhart]

I like to change mine out early. The pics below illustrate how much additional iron can be present in a new engine. First photo is of the magnetic drain plug at first oil change (less than 1K miles). Second photo is same engine and drain plug years later after a 4K OCI.

 

[bluesubie]

I'm generally a fan of leaving factory fills in Subaru's as long as the normal service interval allows, but would definitely always stick to the severe service interval in a Subaru DIT engine with the way that the fuel is contaminating the oil in these cars. Check the 2.0 DIT uoa sticky at subaruforester.org.

There is definitely no need or requirement to change it before the severe service interval.

 

[Smokescreen]

I like those pics Brian Barnhart, to me that speaks volumes.

 

[Donald]

I did my 2015 Subaru at just under 2500. My goal was between 2000 and 2500.

If your going to keep it a long time, it might matter, if only a few years, then don't bother until its time via the owners manual.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Unless the manual explicitly says NOT to do so, I change the initial fill of oil and filter at about 500 to 1000 miles. Not necessary (rental car fleets never do it), but there's always a little bit of manufacturing debris in the filter, and getting it all out gives me some peace of mind.



Same here. Brian B's pictures just reinforce "my" reason why.

 

[OneEyeJack]

There is one other consideration. After your engine is manufactured it is started and run for a very short time. Then it's sometimes shipped or stored for some period of time. After being installed it may again be started and driven a very short distance and either temporally stored or shipped somewhere. And who know how long these steps take and how many times your vehicle gets run even though the mileage may amount to 1 or 2 miles.

Because of this uncertainly I changed the oil on my then new 03 4Runner after a couple of hundred miles and then at 1,000 miles and 2,500 and then at 5,000 and then onto my planned 5,000 oci. I also changed the diff oil at 5,000 miles and at 10,000 miles I started the first in a series of draining the automatic transmission and replacing the 5 quarts that came out. I plan on doing the transmission partial oil change every 25K miles and the complete oil change of the diff at 50,000 intervals along with the coolant and a complete flush of the brake fluid and p/s fluid.

I'm the one that paid for the 4Runner and I'm the one that has to live with it for a long while.

 

[GM4LIFE]

It really is a personal preference. I do it at 1,500 to 2,000 miles. I like to leave the factory oil in a bit longer than what meticulous vehicle owners recommend in order to get as much break-in material out as possible. If you change the oil out at 500 miles or 1,000 miles, you would have to change it again at 2,500 miles in order to get more break-in material out. My oil filter had some metal in it when I cut open the oil filter at 5K miles, so it's a good idea to do multiple oil changes in the first 10K miles in order to remove whatever you can out of the engine.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: bluesubie
I'm generally a fan of leaving factory fills in Subaru's as long as the normal service interval allows, but would definitely always stick to the severe service interval in a Subaru DIT engine with the way that the fuel is contaminating the oil in these cars. Check the 2.0 DIT uoa sticky at subaruforester.org.

There is definitely no need or requirement to change it before the severe service interval.


This!

 

[JerryBob]

Originally Posted By: Brian Barnhart
I like to change mine out early. The pics below illustrate how much additional iron can be present in a new engine. First photo is of the magnetic drain plug at first oil change (less than 1K miles). Second photo is same engine and drain plug years later after a 4K OCI.



This implies that those iron particles would otherwise be circulating through your engine unless you have a magnetic drain plug, and change the oil early.

I don't think that's really the case, though. Those particles would be caught by the filter.

You can safely rely on the owner's manual.