PUP 5w-30 - 4,100 miles - 2017 WRX STI

[Tiir]

Originally Posted By: Trav
AFAIK most are bronze, ball or ceramic not pure copper. If it were bronze the tin would be higher as while bronze is mostly copper it has 12% tin. Copper from a cooler can leech a long while.


I recall now that I've seen a handful of UOA on STI's with high cooper even after several oil changes the oil cooler was mentioned in all of them. For now I'll hope for that and see how it trends.



Originally Posted By: SR5
OK, I'll say it, run a 40 grade oil, like M1 or Edge 0W40.

Mate in Australia races these with the boost turned up to 21 or 22 psi, and runs a high zinc 15W40 HDEO.

I can see the concern about warranty, but doesn't the drag strip already void this ?



I just don't want to take that chance unfortunately in regards with warranty. If it were modded along with track time then I would most likely consider switching to a thicker oil.


As far as the drag strip, well there would have to be some sort of proof of abuse (burnt clutch, broken axle) which wasn't the case for me; I pretty much babied it on those two runs.










Out of curiosity, if you guys had the ability to use Castrol GTX 5w-30 conv free of charge would it be a oil you would use for a few short OCI ?

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
The VOAs on record here are out of date. Companies change formulations all the time. Nobody can go by a 2013 analysis for today's oil....


Besides the 2013 VOA there's also a March 2015 VOA listed above, as well as the very current UOA. Huge differences between the first 2 and this UOA.

 

[sxg6]

Originally Posted By: Izb
1) A lot of silicone.
Check air filter and all tubes...

2) Was first (previous) oil Idemitsu 0W-20 with 1000ppm of Moly? On EJ255 turbo? Wrong choice. You cannot use SAE20 on TURBO especially on EJ turbo.


Highly doubt the factory fill in the STI is a 0w-20. Chances are it was a 5w-30 that sheared down to a 5w-20, and the moly is just your normal extra moly from assembly lubricant or something.

High silicon doesn't worry me one bit, it's a new engine, it's leeching out from RTV still. Silicon dropped significantly from the 1st oci to the 2nd, I'm sure it will continue to drop.

At this point I wouldn't be worried at all, it's too early in the engines life to draw any conclusions.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: sxg6

1)

At this point I wouldn't be worried at all, it's too early in the engines life to draw any conclusions.


Exactly.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: Tiir
Originally Posted By: Trav
AFAIK most are bronze, ball or ceramic not pure copper. If it were bronze the tin would be higher as while bronze is mostly copper it has 12% tin. Copper from a cooler can leech a long while.


I recall now that I've seen a handful of UOA on STI's with high cooper even after several oil changes the oil cooler was mentioned in all of them. For now I'll hope for that and see how it trends.



Originally Posted By: SR5
OK, I'll say it, run a 40 grade oil, like M1 or Edge 0W40.

Mate in Australia races these with the boost turned up to 21 or 22 psi, and runs a high zinc 15W40 HDEO.

I can see the concern about warranty, but doesn't the drag strip already void this ?



I just don't want to take that chance unfortunately in regards with warranty. If it were modded along with track time then I would most likely consider switching to a thicker oil.


As far as the drag strip, well there would have to be some sort of proof of abuse (burnt clutch, broken axle) which wasn't the case for me; I pretty much babied it on those two runs.










Out of curiosity, if you guys had the ability to use Castrol GTX 5w-30 conv free of charge would it be a oil you would use for a few short OCI ?

Isn't babied at the drag strip an oxymoron? A dealer and SoA have picture libraries that are loaded with examples of abuse. They have been known not to honor a Powertrain Warranty claim based on excessive tire wear on a low mileage car (it was tracked).

If you want to stick to the recommendations in the owner's manual I would not be using a "conventional" oil like GTX. Personally the last oil that I would use in an EJ is a GF5 oil. They're great if you want a low friction 20 grade for the strip though!

As to the factory fill, the additive levels have been all over the place lately. At around two years ago, WRX's started showing reduced moly and ZDDP. During this time however, the levels in the STI remained the same so the low ZDDP levels (for STI FF) in this uoa are unusual. Maybe they're constantly tweaking the FF. OTOH, maybe it's just the uoa readings and not a change in the formulation.

My vote in regards to copper is also oil cooler leaching.

Good luck with the car!

P.S. Also note that your owner's manual has language that a higher viscosity oil is required in hot temps.

 

[Tiir]

Quote:
Isn't babied at the drag strip an oxymoron? A dealer and SoA have picture libraries that are loaded with examples of abuse. They have been known not to honor a Powertrain Warranty claim based on excessive tire wear on a low mileage car (it was tracked).

If you want to stick to the recommendations in the owner's manual I would not be using a "conventional" oil like GTX. Personally the last oil that I would use in an EJ is a GF5 oil. They're great if you want a low friction 20 grade for the strip though!

As to the factory fill, the additive levels have been all over the place lately. At around two years ago, WRX's started showing reduced moly and ZDDP. During this time however, the levels in the STI remained the same so the low ZDDP levels (for STI FF) in this uoa are unusual. Maybe they're constantly tweaking the FF. OTOH, maybe it's just the uoa readings and not a change in the formulation. shrug

My vote in regards to copper is also oil cooler leaching.

Good luck with the car!

P.S. Also note that your owner's manual has language that a higher viscosity oil is required in hot temps.



Yeah, it could be considered a oxymoron. Just depends on ones point of view; at least for me; compared to someone that dumped the clutch several times @ 6k rpm to get that 1.5 60 foot time then yeah I would say it was babied (my times were embarrassing)



As far as warranty claim due to tire wear that's a bummer for whoever had to deal with that. Which leads me to share a similar story but with a happy ending in regards to warranty work. Customer brings in a FJ Cruiser with the transmission shot; the claim was denied due to apparent abuse (the guy brought it in covered in mud with some things done to it) in the end the customer said well this vehicle is marketed as a adventure ready, rugged 4x4 vehicle and they ended up covering the repair.



Anyway, yeah the owners manual does have language for that but it's not very clear. It says in hot weather a oil of higher viscosity is required. But then only a 5w-30 SYNTHETIC oil is required and if not available a CONVENTIONAL 5w-40 oil may be used but should be changed at the next oil change. It's really all over the place. I'm just going to come to terms and stop worrying about it and run a 40w oil in it.






I think I may just skip the next 1 or 2 UOA's and wait for it to get more miles before I get it done again.



Thanks for the replies.

 

[sxg6]

I've noticed that in newer subaru owners manuals, and it has me a little confused.

I wonder why Subaru specifically states conventional 5w-40? Does conventional 5w-40 even exist?

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: sxg6
I've noticed that in newer subaru owners manuals, and it has me a little confused.

I wonder why Subaru specifically states conventional 5w-40? Does conventional 5w-40 even exist?

My guess is that they do not have a lubrication expert on staff or that there are so many different departments that have a say on what goes into the manual the details get twisted. It's always funny when people say to use what Subaru engineers say to use because we don't know what they say to use.

Borrowing edhackett's signature:
Quote:
Never attribute to engineers that into which politicians, lawyers, accountants, and marketeers have poked their fingers.

From what I understand from reading here, I believe that using language that thicker oil can only be used for replenishment or in hot temps enables SoA to gain CAFE credits. Unfortunately, this confuses the heck out of owners, dealers, and even SoA customer service reps.

And let me know if you can find an oil with the API donut containing the words Resource Conserving OR the Starburst.