Hello everyone,

I recently bought a 2001 wrx and am wondering if i can save myself some money doing a service myself so there is money for the better things in life like more bhp/torque.lol.
What items would i require? obviously oil+ filter, air filter, fuel filter, plugs, what about gear oil/ diff oil etc and anything i may have forgot, and how easy a job is it to do these?
Any advice welcome.

 

We've got a lot of the bits you need

Opie Oils - Products for My Car
Opie Oils - car oil and motorbike oil sales and recommendations

Cheers

Tim

 

Thanks for the reply Tim , but i can get all my servicing items at discounted prices. but what i would like to know is what is the best oil for my 2001 wrx i.e mobil 1 and so on ? what plugs do people recommend. Thanks Carl

 

why don't you just follow the service manual??

 

I have every intention of following the service manual, but would have liked some knowledge as to recommended oils, as different manufacturers recommend different products? this is my first subaru and only want the best for her and where better to ask advice than on a subaru specific forum?

 

I wouldn't put in mobil 1(it's sheeeeiiiiite), I use millers 10-60, maybe not the best for you , others will know but don't use Mobil 1.

Flame suit removed from wardrobe

 

engine oil i'd go with 15w 50 motul 300v

diff and gear oil.. erm.. millers crx 75w90

genuine subaru oil filter and washer..

maybe even a magnetic sump plug?

any coolant will do

same with fuel filter

air filter - k& n panel filter

brake fluid - dot 4 if standardish car used for road

dot 5.1 for track or fast road use, needs to be changed more often though

and erm.. spark plugs.. ngk pfr 7bs?

6bs if its going to stay standard

think thats it..

dont forget to check when timing belt is due..

60 Months 50k Miles - whichever soonest.. yours should have been done once at least being 2001..

 

Thanks for the reply guys, now i know what oils to go for i'll service it next week ready for the RR day at RS Tuning. I'll see you there eggy790

 

no probs, see you there mate

 

I would use a 5w-40 synthetic in the engine. The standard oil for yours is a 5w-30, so unless you are running a massive power increase, the 5w-40 will be the best choice. 15w-50 is only a bit too thick when hot, but it's way too thick when cold, meaning the oil doesn't get around to protece quickly enough. 10w-60 is ok when cold, but far too thick when hot, meaning the oil doesn't flow quickly enough.

5w-40, 5w-40 oil, 5w40, 5w/40

Out of those, the best ones are the Silkolene Pro S, Millers CFS, Motul 300V, Redline and Gulf Competition. The Motul 8100 X-Cess, Gulf Formula G, Fuchs Supersyn and Mobil Synt S are good, cheaper alternatives.

Cheers

Tim

 

the problem being, 99.9% of people on here don't know their ar$e from their elbow when it comes to fixing/servicing subarus me included. too many pub mechanics on here that know nothing about nothing and will bull$hit you because they like the sound of their own voice.

 

this is what i mean. mobil 1 is a multi million pound business so it must be doing something right. To just say it's **** gives no information to the OP at all.

 

This post however. excellent information, with reasoned arguement and a choice of alternatives so YOU can make a choice. the man obviously knows his stuff.

 

Mobil 1 is actually a very good synthetic oil. In truth, it's not great for Subarus, except bog standard newer ones, but if you had a decent BMW/Audi/VW/Merc, that would be one of the ones I'd recommend as it meets many manufacturer specs. When it comes to Subarus, it's a little thin when it's cold and can lead to piston slap. Also with what it costs, you could get some Silkolene, Gulf, Millers etc etc etc, that are much better oils in an Impreza as they are designed for performance use rather than meeting manufacturer specs.

People often say the same about Castrol oils and yes, the Magnatec and GTX are pretty basic and overpriced, but the Edge oils are very similar to the Mobil 1, good quality synthetics that are made to meet manufacturer specs. Again, not ideal oils for Imprezas, but ideal for VW etc.

 

Thanks for that. There's no point in doing anything without a reason

 

Thanks bigsinky and the oilman for your info. i am planning to boost the performance slightly but only to around the 280 hp for the forseable future so i'll go for the 5w/40. spoke to where i get my spares from and they dont stock the peformance oils mentioned. So mr oilman would you be able to give me a price on engine and gear/diff oil please . Regards Carl

 

5w-40 should be ideal, and I'd go for the Silkolene Pro S or Millers CFS at 44.99.

For the gearbox and diff, silkolene Syn 5 or Millers CRX75w-90Nt will do both

75w-90 Gear oil

Cheers

Tim

 

i've another question guys the spark plugs previously suggested to use ngk pfr 6bs can anyone tell me what the s stands for? is it a special plug as the ngk book doesn't show anything for the s just the ngk pfr 6b hope that makes sense. i am tired.

 

me too. NGK Iridium IX spark plugs seem to be favourable ones, but then im sure someone will soon jump on and contradict. Rob

Hope to see you guys at the RR day.

 

Alright Rob,
I've decided to stay with the original ngk's as i don't think i'm gonna be doing any upgrades to my car in the forseable future as the servicing items are gonna cost a small fortune and i needs some more tyres on top, so the plans for a quick upgrade have been put on the backburner. I'll see you on the 30th bud.

 

Just incase anyone is interested, my Subaru dealer used Mobil Synt S in my 06 STI PPP at the last service.

 

COOL

See you there mate.

Rob

 

Well I rang Millers technical and they said the 10W 60 was perfect choice for the impreza if tuned or used on the occasional track day. The guy said he would put it in his as opposed to the 10W 40

 

Tim, please know that i am NOT trying to start an argument below but i am after some more info!

You say the 15w 50 is too thick when cold and i always see you go for the 5w 40 in various posts on here. So, why do the likes of RCM and other top places use the 15w 50 then?
My car is nearly 40% modified power wise, etc so it must be in there for some reason!
Like i say i am not trying to be argumentative but i am intrigued.
the weird thing is, i would like to try some 5w 40 but because RCM put other oil in, and i trust them implicitly i am at a loss at to what is best! LOL.
I would like to know if i could tell the difference though with the change in thickness.

 

Think he just meant NGK PFR6B's, as in plural

 

Roger Clark Motorsport - Subaru Impreza Service Content
Roger Clark Motorsport - Subaru Impreza Service Schedule

 

All makes perfect sense now , well i am blonde ish.

 

There are many cases where 10w-50 or 15w-50 are just fine, if you are running a big power/track car etc. What viscosity oil you use should be defined by your oil temps, the engine is designed to run a viscosity of SAE30 or SAE40 and this is taken at 100degc oil temp. If you have modified the car heavily and are now running much higher oil temps then using an SAE50 is just fine, as at 120degc a SAE50 is like an SAE40 at 100degc (give or take). With these Jap cars we find that when modified the cooling is also very well sorted so unless temps are much higher then standard no need to go thicker, just better

I dont know why RCM choose to use 15w-50, I can understand it in a track/race car but would they use it in a stage 1, 04 place Impreza? I dont know.

If the car is a daily driver then you also need to think about your cold start flow, 80-90% of your engine wear occurs on start up. 15w is ok in the UK but why have ok when you can have better such as a 10w or 5w depending on application. The lower the number the quicker the oil will flow, and warm up from cold.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy

 

Curiously I used mobil Super S 10w-40 semi-synth for my last oil change. The car had been stood for 7-months so it'll get a change again after a few hundred miles so this is more of a flush. Mine is also a 2001 WRX and will soon be at 270-280 BHP. After the oil change a slight top-end rattle (tappety noise) disappeared.

TBH, for the miles I do I may well stick with semi-synth after this. The car only does 1500 miles between oil changes at the most, and that's because it is a weekend toy and not because I'm ****

 

OK to give some more info, i was recommended to use Mobil 1 by the guy I bought my car from(I didnt know any better). 8 weeks later bottom end went, replaced it, 10 week later , bottom end went(this was with NORMAL driving) anyway replaced bottom end again with a non history sti v5 sti jobbie. Millers 10-60 recommend by someone who owns them, works on them and rallies them. 8 track days later and extra 100bhp and heavy all round abuse and all is fine.

coincidence?

Running approx 350bhp