Hi all,

Just a very quick one, wantin to give my car an oil/filter change this week after just buyin the car two weeks ago and wantin to make sure it's been done. Just changed the brake pads today an those brembo's are the best calipers my mate an I have ever worked on. Can you tell me what grade of oil you's are usin an which types/brands you are favouring? Very first scooby so dont be too harsh with such a noob question. Oh an also I replaced the panel filter with a K&N one today but the old one was caked in oil, is this the norm or has the previous owner not done it in a while or is this the sign of somthin bad?

Thanks in advance

Duane

 

As long as the car is over the 10k miles mark you can switch from semi-synthetic to fully synths. I prefer Silkolene (Pro S/R), Fuchs (Titan Supersyn) or Motul (300V), but Millers is OK too. If it's mainly a road car, occasionally driven hard then a 5W40 will be fine. If you have over 330bhp then 5W50 or 10W50 may be better, and if you track regularly or are over 400bhp then consider 10W60.

When changing the oil, you MUST prime the filter (fill to the brim with oil, 2-3 times to ensure it's full) before fitting. Apart from that, change just as any normal car. Some people recommend removing the crank sensor and turning the engine over without firing for 30s after the drop and before running the engine, but I believe it does more harm than good. Make sure you fit a fresh compression washer to the sump nut too.

The K&N may have been over-oiled by the previous owner during cleaning. You could clean it off with some solvent, but it might be better to replace it with another, or a Green one. It could however be engine oil getting into the intake through a breather, and if you suspect it could be this then have a Subaru knowledgeable mechanic take a look at it ASAP.

 

Ive just changed to Silkolene pro r 5/40 bought from Opie Oils and i am very impressed with it.Noticed higher oil pressure on tickover as well

 

Cheers mate thats great info, thanks for takin the time. I'd have replied sooner but couldn't find my post again! Been searchin for ages, is there anyway to find your own posts like a search or somethin?

I was looking at you scooby mate, very nice, where did you get the LED indicators and where would I find your Goodridge stainless steel braided brake lines?

Mines running 305bhp would you use 5w40?

 

Guys, regarding oil specification, here's a really good post written by oilman (Simon?), from Opie oils I think. Well worth a read.

Slim

=========================
Why is it that in some Subaru manuals warn against the use of 5w-30?
This is because the use of sae 30 is not recommended and in fact has nothing to do with the "w" number which is 5.
This leads to comments like:
"You must not use 5w oils"
"5w oils are too thin"
"Use 10w-40 but not 5w-40"
Some facts need to be straightened out here and hopefully I can do this without losing those that are interested.
Others will undoubtably pick parts of the post, quote them and then pick a fight with me turning this into a
ridiculously confusing thread - Let's hope not.
So, given that sae 30 is not recommended what are the reasons?
SAE 30 must be in Subaru's opinion too thin at higher temperatures (100degC) for the engine to give the adequate
metal to metal contact protection that the engine requires over a period of time as all oils shear (lose viscosity) with use.
I do not often recommended to use of sae 30 oils for any scoobies new or old although it does appear that some of the newer
models do not exclude the use of 5w-30 or 10w-30 and some technical databases list these grades.
I usually tend to recommend the use of sae 40 and sae 50 as the best options depending on the age and specification of the car.
So what is the difference between a 5w-40 and a 10w-40 @100degC?
Basically NONE!
SAE determines the viscosity (+/-) that the oil needs to be at 100 degC and these need to be met in tests to give the oil
it's API rating (xw-xx or xxw-xx).
They are as follows: (within a margin)
SAE 30 = 11.00cst
SAE 40 = 14.00cst
SAE 50 = 18.50cst
SAE 60 = 24.00cst
Compare these SAE 40 oils at 100degC (0w, 5w, 10w, 15w)
Motul 300V 5w-40.................Viscosity = 13.80cst
Motul 300V 10w-40................Viscosity = 14.00cst
Silkolene PRO S 5w-40............Viscosity = 14.89cst
Motul 8100 X-cess 5w-40........Viscosity = 14.00cst
Fuchs Titan Supersyn 5w-40....Viscosity = 13.60cst
Castrol Performance 10w-40.....Viscosity = 14.50cst
Silkolene XTR 10w-40 (semi).....Viscosity = 14.70cst
Mobil 1 0w-40........................Viscosity = 14.30cst
Motul 8100 0w-40...................Viscosity = 13.30cst
Silkolene Turbolene D 15w-40....Viscosity = 14.40cst
Total Quartz 15w-40...............Viscosity = 14.50cst
These figures are not by chance and include synthetics, semi-synthetics and mineral oils they are all in the range to be labelled
a Xw or XXw-40 multigrade oil.
So, what's the "W" number all about then?
It stands for "winter" not "weight" as often confused and called on many U.S. articles on oil!
This number is the "cold crank" viscosity and nothing to do with the oil viscosity when the engine is up to temperture.
These numbers are related to the oils ability to operate in cold temperatures. 0w oils were originally designed to operate in arctic
climates that's why they operate at ferrous monkey endangering temperatures of -35degC and below!
The benefits of the lower viscosity oils (0w and 5w) is that they flow more easily and quickly when cold and therefore protect the
engine better on cold start when 80% of the engine wear occurs.
So, yes it's true an sae 40 is an sae 40 when hot whether its a 0w, 5w, 10w, 15w or whatever and that's a fact.
The same goes for 20's, 30's, 50's, 60's and so on.

 

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UltraLED's, but they no longer stock them
IIRC they were from Scott Lowe.
Yes.