First oil change on 17 Forester 2.5 w/ 376 miles

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ryanschillinger

ryanschillinger

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2017 Forester 2.5i Premium 6M. Used a 5qt jug of Castrol Edge Titanium Extended Performance 5w20 along with a Fram XG7137 filter.
Specs say 5.1 quarts with filter change. It was a little over the full line on the dipstick since I bought the car, and I got out about 5.4-5.5 quarts with my Topsider extractor. Super easy oil change. Filter is up top, so I didn't even have to get underneath. The old oil didn't look all that bad, but had less than 400 miles on it. I always do an early oil change on anything new with an engine. I plan on changing the trans and diff oils by 10k miles, probably sooner. Previous years with this engine were prone to oil consumption, and apparently moreso with manual transmission. I figure at least 1 early oil change couldn't hurt things during break-in, hopefully prevent any consumption issues.
 
I'm a fan of early first (and second) changes, so

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Originally Posted By: ryanschillinger
2017 Forester 2.5i Premium 6M. Used a 5qt jug of Castrol Edge Titanium Extended Performance 5w20 along with a Fram XG7137 filter.
Specs say 5.1 quarts with filter change. It was a little over the full line on the dipstick since I bought the car, and I got out about 5.4-5.5 quarts with my Topsider extractor. Super easy oil change. Filter is up top, so I didn't even have to get underneath. The old oil didn't look all that bad, but had less than 400 miles on it. I always do an early oil change on anything new with an engine. I plan on changing the trans and diff oils by 10k miles, probably sooner. Previous years with this engine were prone to oil consumption, and apparently moreso with manual transmission. I figure at least 1 early oil change couldn't hurt things during break-in, hopefully prevent any consumption issues.


Probably because of more engine braking. Just make sure you drive it moderate to hard and vary your RPMs during the first 1k miles or so to make sure everything continues to seat well. You could have easily done that with the factory fill too and not dumped the oil right away.

Boxer Subarus are one engine I have no problem bumping up a grade to like a 0w30 for a NA motor or 0w40 for a turbocharged version.

Congrats on the new car!
 
They oil didn't look all that bad? It was new, in a new engine. You hardly drove it around the block.
 
I'm a fan of the early change too, simply to flush stuff out. What do people think they will gain by not changing it?

What do you lose? Only some oil and maybe a filter.
 
Any time you post about dumping the FF early you run the risk of taking some heat. I change mine early too, so do a lot of other people who know a lot more about engines than I do.

This thread was interesting. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4238709/1

This quote backs up why I change it early and will continue to do so.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Branson304
Run the factory fill to 5,000 and change it. Have fun with your perfectly running engine for many years & hundreds of thousands of miles to come while saving money & time.

Changing oil early & at short intervals = useless.


You cant say that with any sort of certainty unless you can explain why Toyota, Honda and other car companies in Germany and maybe other countries still specify a 1K (600 mi) initial service interval that includes new oil and filter.
Granted their OCI after that are pretty long but they could just as easily spec a 5K initial service. IMO it just makes common sense to get any sort of machining junk out ASAP, engine factories are far from clean or sterile and machining metals does leave junk behind its the nature of the process nothing to do with cleanliness.
Newly machined parts do wear together causing particles to wear off even if they were assembled spotlessly clean, its unavoidable. Many say "well the filter will catch it before it sees the bearings" okay but what about parts pre filter like the pump? For my money its worth the cost of a OC or two to prevent possible scoring of the new pump if nothing else.


Enjoy the ride, you're in good company changing the FF early.
wink.gif
 
IIRC correctly, there have been higher than "normal" readings of molybdenum on the factory UOAs from the boxer engines. Now, while the debate has seemed to rage on about factory fills being different from bulk dealer oil, a buddy of mine sent an email asking Honda about this for a new Accord he purchased (yes I know, different make/model). He got a reply that said while there was nothing different about factory fill oil, engine internals were coated with a high moly lubricant, which would register as higher than "normal" in a factory fill UOA. While I have no idea, it's highly possible Subaru has done this as well.

IMO, you flushed out more good than bad. I don't think you should ever do this.

But like demarpaint said above, there are many who know more than I do.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Any time you post about dumping the FF early you run the risk of taking some heat. I change mine early too, so do a lot of other people who know a lot more about engines than I do.

This thread was interesting. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4238709/1

This quote backs up why I change it early and will continue to do so.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Branson304
Run the factory fill to 5,000 and change it. Have fun with your perfectly running engine for many years & hundreds of thousands of miles to come while saving money & time.

Changing oil early & at short intervals = useless.


You cant say that with any sort of certainty unless you can explain why Toyota, Honda and other car companies in Germany and maybe other countries still specify a 1K (600 mi) initial service interval that includes new oil and filter.
Granted their OCI after that are pretty long but they could just as easily spec a 5K initial service. IMO it just makes common sense to get any sort of machining junk out ASAP, engine factories are far from clean or sterile and machining metals does leave junk behind its the nature of the process nothing to do with cleanliness.
Newly machined parts do wear together causing particles to wear off even if they were assembled spotlessly clean, its unavoidable. Many say "well the filter will catch it before it sees the bearings" okay but what about parts pre filter like the pump? For my money its worth the cost of a OC or two to prevent possible scoring of the new pump if nothing else.


Enjoy the ride, you're in good company changing the FF early.
wink.gif



The only thing I would say about the scoring of the pre filter internals is that, if this is true, the first time you start the engine, the damage is done, right?
 
Originally Posted By: KL31
I'm a fan of the early change too, simply to flush stuff out. What do people think they will gain by not changing it?

What do you lose? Only some oil and maybe a filter.


Some engines come with special break-in oil from the factory. The manufacturers want it left in to help with break-in. You lose that break-in oil goodness if you change it out early.
 
Originally Posted By: thunderfog
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Any time you post about dumping the FF early you run the risk of taking some heat. I change mine early too, so do a lot of other people who know a lot more about engines than I do.

This thread was interesting. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4238709/1

This quote backs up why I change it early and will continue to do so.
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Branson304
Run the factory fill to 5,000 and change it. Have fun with your perfectly running engine for many years & hundreds of thousands of miles to come while saving money & time.

Changing oil early & at short intervals = useless.


You cant say that with any sort of certainty unless you can explain why Toyota, Honda and other car companies in Germany and maybe other countries still specify a 1K (600 mi) initial service interval that includes new oil and filter.
Granted their OCI after that are pretty long but they could just as easily spec a 5K initial service. IMO it just makes common sense to get any sort of machining junk out ASAP, engine factories are far from clean or sterile and machining metals does leave junk behind its the nature of the process nothing to do with cleanliness.
Newly machined parts do wear together causing particles to wear off even if they were assembled spotlessly clean, its unavoidable. Many say "well the filter will catch it before it sees the bearings" okay but what about parts pre filter like the pump? For my money its worth the cost of a OC or two to prevent possible scoring of the new pump if nothing else.


Enjoy the ride, you're in good company changing the FF early.
wink.gif



The only thing I would say about the scoring of the pre filter internals is that, if this is true, the first time you start the engine, the damage is done, right?


Stop it! Logic and common sense have no place in a BITOG argument about when to do a first oil change. Whatever you do, don't point out that there are millions of engines on the roadways that did follow the owners manual regarding the first oil change, and they have no issues at all. And please, don't mention that if those handfuls of metal shavings and debris that some believe are still in your brand new engine were an issue, there would be thousands of engines returned in the first few thousand miles for warranty work.

Perhaps the manufacturer's like having to do all of that warranty work on damaged engines, so they require a long initial oil change to help keep their dealerships busy.

Or it could simply be that running the factory fill for the length of time the owners manual suggests isn't the problem that BITOG makes it out to be.
 
Everybody has the secret. I have my own ( go figure)
If you have nothing but great luck with your previous 40 new cars- why change anything.
If this is your first new car I'm sure you're going to start your own trend.......

This is the golden rule........
Logic and sense play no part in your secret break in schedule because we all know we are the stars...... lol
 
In Afghanistan we would have executed him and his family already.........
18.gif


Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I told ya, you'd take heat. LOL

Again, enjoy the ride, and drive it in good health!
 
Big Boys and their toys.

We boys love our toys. We love to use them and work on them. We love to spend money on them. We love to feel them.

He simply has a new toy he loves and is enjoying it. Yea probably did not need to do it. He wanted to though.
He put in some great oil, feels good about it, and got to massage his new toy.

Enjoy her for many years to come. Congratulations.
 
I changed my wifes Outback oil at 781 miles last year. Same engine. From the dealer I immediately drove it up and down a large grade at about 3k rpms to give it a good break in including compression braking. That oil at 781 miles was the dirtiest coal black oil I have ever seen including 10 year old oil from a bulldozer. The engine now burns no oil and it stays golden during its 6k oci. On a side note I believe it took about 8k miles for the engine to fully loosen up. It now pulls that large grade at about 800rpms less than when new at the same speed.
 
I did the first OC on my '17 Forester @ 2,500 for the following reasons:

- Was curious on how easy/difficult it was, (it was very easy).
- Many on the SubaruForester.org forum recommend the first OC at 1,000 mi at which point the engine is considered "broke-in."
- I was watching the dipstick level every 2 tank fulls, (for any consumption indication), and the oil was progressively getting dark brown.
- I reserve the right to over maintain my new car if I so choose.

The 0w-20 Castrol Edge Syntec I put in it has 2,000 miles on it and it looks very good. Clear amber
grin.gif
.
 
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