2017 WRX STI FF 3,200 mile UOA

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
48
Location
Florida
This is my first UOA on any car I have owned, so figured I would share. Disregard the oil type at the top if the notes are any indication. It is a factory fill analysis;oil was topped off with roughly 1/2 quart of PUP 5w-30. I now have PUP 5w-30 in, and will do another UOA at a undetermined mileage;I haven't decided at this time when that will be though.



 
Thanks for the replies

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Not an unusual UOA on a new engine. I would not hazard any guesses until you have broken-in the engine.


As far as the results, I am not alarmed. I was aware that a UOA at such low mileage would yield high numbers and also may be considered a waste of money due to the engine still breaking in; I was just curious as to what the numbers would be in addition to having a baseline for future UOA's.


Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Looks fine. I'd use a more robust, non-energy conserving oil in that EJ engine.


More robust oils were considered, however, I was not willing to risk it on the warranty side of things; I did not want a grey area when the need for warranty was needed.
 
Last edited:
Has Subaru gotten stricter for the new STI or are they stilly ONLY requiring a 5W-30 oil with the latest API spec?
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Has Subaru gotten stricter for the new STI or are they stilly ONLY requiring a 5W-30 oil with the latest API spec?



API SN/ILSAC(starburst mark) GF-5 with the words "RESOURCE CONSERVING". If a 5w-30 synthetic oil is not available, 5w-40 conventional oil may be used if replenishment is needed but should be changed to 5w-30 synthetic oil at the next oil change.
 
Yes, same nonsense about "5W40 conventional" being allowed for replenishment. OTOH, 5W40 is still on the temp chart as well as the blurb elsewhere in the manual about thicker viscosity oils being required in high temps. IMO, the owners manual itself has been a grey area since it was updated around 2010.

On a GF5 oil, I would stick with the severe service oci of 3,000 miles. And if you ever do any engine mods (even a reflash), I would not be running a GF5 oil.

Congrats on the car!

19.gif
 
Last edited:
Buy your 5 quarts of 5/30 so you have you receipt for warranty then sub a quart or so with Pennzoil 5/40 or 0/40 it may help to keep it in the 30 weight range between your intervals and boost the HT/HS viscosity a bit. Most resource conserving 30 weight oils in "that" motor are going to end up as a 20 weight rather quickly.
 
Originally Posted By: Swifty
Buy your 5 quarts of 5/30 so you have you receipt for warranty then sub a quart or so with Pennzoil 5/40 or 0/40 it may help to keep it in the 30 weight range between your intervals and boost the HT/HS viscosity a bit. Most resource conserving 30 weight oils in "that" motor are going to end up as a 20 weight rather quickly.

But if a dealer decides to have the oil analyzed (probably unlikely) they'll know an xW40 was used if the viscosity does not come back as a 20 grade.
56.gif
grin2.gif


I would really get to know the dealership and the techs there, especially the Service Manager and lead tech. It helps if they ever have to go to bat for you for a warranty claim. I had a la carte services done at the dealer for this reason and it definitely helped me on a turbo failure claim (the first failure, not the second one).

People say that using the recommended oil means no warranty hassles but this is not the case. In more than one example, I've seen people run into warranty problems that have had their oil changes performed by the dealer. The dealer(s) tried to blame the owner for failing to check the oil level as recommended by the manual (every fuel stop, IIRC). One guy actually did get "goodwill" coverage through SoA after several painful weeks of going back and forth with the dealer.

Another note that I didn't mention is the STI appears to be the only Subaru still getting boosted levels of moly and ZDDP in the factory fill. For the past couple of years, other Subaru factory fill metallic add packs have been much lower. Even the WRX.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Swifty said:
Buy your 5 quarts of 5/30 so you have you receipt for warranty then sub a quart or so with Pennzoil 5/40 or 0/40 it may help to keep it in the 30 weight range between your intervals and boost the HT/HS viscosity a bit. Most resource conserving 30 weight oils in "that" motor are going to end up as a 20 weight rather quickly.


But if a dealer decides to have the oil analyzed (probably unlikely) they'll know an xW40 was used if the viscosity does not come back as a 20 grade.
56.gif
grin2.gif



Lol...Yeah your probably correct on that.

Well if you did add a quart or so of a 40wt as long as it ended up as a 30 weight, if there was ever an issue, they would have a pretty tough time with that argument. If you have been there and done that it wouldn't be a fun experience regardless of the oil used. It would be painful either way to deal with.
 
Keep a receipt for the approved oil. No dealer is going to be willing to go to court on the strength of a uoa. Run what you feel is best.
 
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
Yes, same nonsense about "5W40 conventional" being allowed for replenishment. OTOH, 5W40 is still on the temp chart as well as the blurb elsewhere in the manual about thicker viscosity oils being required in high temps. IMO, the owners manual itself has been a grey area since it was updated around 2010.

On a GF5 oil, I would stick with the severe service oci of 3,000 miles. And if you ever do any engine mods (even a reflash), I would not be running a GF5 oil.

Congrats on the car!

19.gif



Thanks!

Yes, the owners manual is very vague especially the conventional portion of it not a synthetic. As far as OCI's 3,000 mile intervals sound somewhat short to me; I guess maybe at 3,000 mile I could extract oil out and send it in to Blackstone to see what a report says. Cost also comes to mind the car is my daily driver; I have a 55 mile round trip a day and have already racked up 4,100 mile on it in less than 3 months. I did get 3 5QT jugs of PUP 5w-30 for $27 bucks a jug which I submitted a rebate for on two jugs, and got $20 back, so two of the jugs turned out to only cost me around $17. If they had cost more I probably wouldn't consider 3,000 mile OCI's with PUP. Also besides the axle-back I have installed, I will not be doing any other engines modifications to it.


Originally Posted By: Swifty
Buy your 5 quarts of 5/30 so you have you receipt for warranty then sub a quart or so with Pennzoil 5/40 or 0/40 it may help to keep it in the 30 weight range between your intervals and boost the HT/HS viscosity a bit. Most resource conserving 30 weight oils in "that" motor are going to end up as a 20 weight rather quickly.



You know doing that did come to mind;even for the full 5 QTS of oil.
 
Hi OP,
Congratulations on the new car, very nice.
And thanks for the UOA on the FF, very interesting high Zinc & Moly.

I know it doesn't meet warranty, but this car is crying out for Castrol Edge 5W30 A3/B5. It's a Euro high HTHS oil (3.6 cP) with high Zinc (1000 ppm, so SL, but same level as FF) and a KV100 of 12.0 cSt. Given they will fight you on warranty anyway, I would use this, and stuff 'em. However I advise you to follow the owners manual.
 
Originally Posted By: SR5
Hi OP,
Congratulations on the new car, very nice.
And thanks for the UOA on the FF, very interesting high Zinc & Moly.

I know it doesn't meet warranty, but this car is crying out for Castrol Edge 5W30 A3/B5. It's a Euro high HTHS oil (3.6 cP) with high Zinc (1000 ppm, so SL, but same level as FF) and a KV100 of 12.0 cSt. Given they will fight you on warranty anyway, I would use this, and stuff 'em. However I advise you to follow the owners manual.



Thanks!

I did look at the European Formula Castrol offerings in the beginning, but in the end I was just to worried about loosing warranty. Frankly, I have never even thought much or considered using Pennzoil before I started researching oils. In the past I just knew Mobile 1, Castrol, and I even used Royal Purple once or twice. After much deliberation, I decided to go with PUP 5w-30 met all requirements with got good marks and UOA's plus I also got a good price on it.



Off topic, but even on my girlfriends car at her last oil change I used Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 on her 2005 Lexus RX330 with 160,000 miles (drives it 110 miles a day round trip) and when I was checking the car over checked the oil level and with 3,000 miles on the oil it didn't burn any oil; this was comparing to the Castrol GTX 5w-30 that was used before for pretty much the life of the car. Although with the GTX when it burned 1/2 qt of oil it was at like 6,500-7,000 miles so I am excited to find out what the outcome is.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top