Best synthetic oil brand? Driving a Subaru Impreza

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jaycenornin

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So since I bought my car in 07 I've been getting my oil changed at Jiffy Lube, getting Pennzoil 10w-30 synthetic, and I'm very not satisfied. I'm still going in every 3000 miles for a change and my oil isn't lasting that long (rough starts, poor performance, lost oil). One time between changes I ran completely dry with no signs of an oil leak.

Yes, I'm due for my 90k mile tuneup but barring that, I'm looking for a better oil to put in my car. I've found a lot of comparisons showing Amsoil as a good choice, but half of them sport the Amsoil logo at the top of the page. My grease-monkey friend recomends Royal Purple or Mobil 1.

My car is a 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 2.5 liter 5 speed with 92k miles. It's not turbo but I drive it like it is. I live in Colorado Springs and from the homework I've done already I think 10w-30 is a good weight to stick with. I'm presently unemployed so budget is a factor, but I also want to take good care of my car.

I appreciate any responses, and I definitely appreciate some help with obscure car geek vocab whenever it's used.
 
"One time between changes I ran completely dry with no signs of an oil leak."
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I would first try to find out why you ran dry in less than 3K miles?
 
Ouch, the engine was not broken in properly, and you have glazed cylinders. When the engine is brand new, the first 30 minutes are crucial, it needs to be pushed hard. If driven too lightly and idled excessively, the hone marks are glazed, and the engine will always be sluggish, will not perform, and will drink oil. The only answer is to tear it apart, rehone the cylinders, put in new rings, and have ur mechanic break it in properly. I bought my Impreza as a used rental, which means guaranteed driven hard and broken in properly. It uses NO oil, at 15,000 miles, is powerful as all get out, (this is the 2.5 NA flat four), and I run 50:50 5w20 synthetic, 5w30 synthetic, that means 5w25.
Engine starts great, sounds great, runs great. Unfortunately ur engine has been ruined by improper break in. I feel so sorry for you, and the soul of the engineer that designed the engine is in mourning. The other possibility, since you mention it is stick, that previous owner lugged the engine, and so the hydrodynamic wedge was ruined, meaning the bearing is shot, and it is losing oil that way. Also, if it was lugged during the break in, that would also cause a very poorly performing engine. Sounds like engine problem to me. Also, you're driving it as if it has a turbo, doesn't help. Try selling it, and buy another one in better condition.
 
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There's no need for 10w-30 when you're dealing with good synthetics. A 0w-30 or 5w-30 will protect just as well when hot, and better when cold.

Here's my shortlist of stuff available locally, in no particular order:

- Mobil 1 5w-30
- Castrol Syntec 0w-30
- Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30
- Amsoil ASL 5w-30
- BMW High Performance Synthetic 5w-30

Those are all excellent oils that should do very well for you. Most of them will run at least 7k miles between changes in your Subaru, which should save you some money. The Amsoil and the BMW stuff should run well over 10k miles if your engine is in good shape.

I'd stay away from Royal Purple. A lot of people swear by it, but I've seen too many less-than-favorable stories about it to have confidence in it.
 
It's jiffy lube, are you sure they didn't use Vim recycled motor oil instead of penzoil. They do not have a good reputation in MN. Also I think the spec'd oil for that engine is 5w30 and with 3k change intervals any dino will do.
 
You say you want the best, you are on a budget, you drive it like a turbo, and it burns oil.

Amsoil is probably not for you. You don't like PP. M1 and RP won't do anything miraculous.

I know! RLI. Just kidding.

Stick with PP.
Slow down, conserve fuel, save the fuel.
Then most important thing is to find out why the [censored] your car uses over a quart of oil in 3000 miles, has rough starts and has "poor performance" (news flash: it's not the choice of oil)
 
Hey, welcome to the forum. I'm personally a fan of Subarus, don't know why just really enjoy them. Had a Forester for almost a decade and recently replaced it with a new Forester. Anyways, here are my thoughts on the matter, but please keep in mind I'm FAR from being an expert so please wait for the opinions of those more knowledgeable then myself.

The non-turbo Subaru engines are considered to be rather easy on oil, in my opinion using synthetic oil with 3k mile OCI (oil change interval) is wasteful. If it gives you confidence and lets you sleep better then obviously it's worth it, but to me I'd push my OCI out longer. For example, in my Forester I'm using dino oil and a 4k mile OCI to maintain the warranty. If you're going to stick to a 3k mile OCI then I think you should consider saving some cash and using a dino oil.

Check out this forum and read as much as possible, you'll quickly see Pennzoil Platinum (PP, Pennzoil's synthetic oil) is very highly regarded on here. Yes you could move "up" to oils such as Amsoil or Redline, but I personally think that's very wasteful for a 3k mile OCI. But I don't think the oil is at fault here.

You mentioned "I'm still going in every 3000 miles for a change and my oil isn't lasting that long (rough starts, poor performance, lost oil). One time between changes I ran completely dry with no signs of an oil leak." Honestly, any decent dino oil should be able to go 3k miles in a normal car engine, so if you're consistently having problems with a quality synthetic like PP, then you need to consider that it might not be the oil.

Now when you say you ran the car dry, I assume you mean it was just really low, maybe not showing up on the dip stick, but I doubt it went dry-dry. I've heard mix things, but generally a car does not last long after that, usually stories of this involve the car completely dying. But even if it was just getting really low, that's excessive oil consumption unless it takes you a very long time to rack up 3k miles.

I think you need to address this issue, I personally think it's more important than finding a new oil. If it was my car, the very first thing I would while waiting for other people to post their recommendations is I'd pick up a quart of oil and leave it in my car. Then every time (or every other time) I filled up with gas I'd also check my oil level to make sure it's not getting too low, and I'd top it up as needed.

Also, you might want to look to see if you're losing any coolant, and similarly look in the coolant reservor to see if there's any oil mixing in there. Subaru's in the late '90s and early '00 had some headgasket problems. While this was supposedly fixed by the time the '04s came around, it doesn't mean it isn't possible.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to help you diagnose the issue more then that, so please wait for people more experienced then myself to chime in. Though I will make 2 other quick points. First, I know people who have had great results using high mileage (HM) oils, helped address burning oil and other issues they were having. I personally have never used HM oil, so I personally don't feel that I could comment on it; but I wanted to pass that info long.

Also, on here there are a lot of people who love Auto-RX, I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about it other then saying that they personally don't believe its necessary. I decided to give it a shot and put some in an old beater SUV that I have, however it's way too soon for me to make any personal comments on this product.

Anyways, best of luck getting this issue addressed, honestly I don't believe it's the type of oil you're using (PP is really good stuff), and so I don't think switching oils to something "better" is going to solve your problems. Well, good luck
 
Originally Posted By: scoobie
Ouch, the engine was not broken in properly, and you have glazed cylinders. When the engine is brand new, the first 30 minutes are crucial, it needs to be pushed hard. If driven too lightly and idled excessively, the hone marks are glazed, and the engine will always be sluggish, will not perform, and will drink oil.


That is not true.
with my 07 civic it never say past 3k rpms until 4k miles and it doesn't use any oil. And im using M1 5-20.
I think it just depends on how the engine was made in the first place. After that nothing will help.

I bought my car with 4 miles on it, and that is including the 1-2 mile test drive i had with it.. So i doubt someone redlined it when it had under 1-2 miles on it...
 
I would buy regular Pennzoil 10w-30 and a good filter such as Wix and have it changed at another garage. Also, check your oil level from time to time.
 
I learned quite a bit from the internet about engine break in. Fortunately, the dealership mechanic takes the vehicle out for a 30 minute run before anyone else gets a chance to touch the vehicle. During this time, the best mechanics will properly break the engine in, by pushing it fairly hard.

Yeah - But ...
the owner's manual says to break it in easy ...

Notice that this technique isn't "beating" on the engine, but rather taking a purposeful, methodical approach to sealing the rings. The logic to this method is sound. However, some will have a hard time with this approach, since it seems to "go against the grain".

The argument for an easy break-in is usually: "that's what the manual says" ....

Or more specifically: "there are tight parts in the engine and you might do damage or even seize it if you run it hard."

Consider this:
Due to the vastly improved metal casting and machining technologies which are now used, tight parts in new engines are not normal. A manufacturing mistake causing a tight clearance is an extremely rare occurrence these days. But, if there is something wrong with the engine clearances from the factory, no amount of gentle running will fix the problem.

The real reason ???
So why do all the owner's manuals say to take it easy for the first
thousand miles ???

This is a good question ...

Q: What is the most common cause of engine problems ???
A: Failure to:
Warm the engine up completely before running it hard !!!

Q: What is the second most common cause of engine problems ???
A: An easy break in !!!

Because, when the rings don't seal well, the blow-by gasses contaminate the oil with acids and other harmful combustion by-products !!

Ironically, an "easy break in" is not at all what it seems. By trying to "protect" the engine, the exact opposite happens, as leaky rings continue to contaminate your engine oil for the rest of the life of your engine !!
 
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I suppose I should have guessed at an engine problem but I was trying to be optimistic - the grease monkey friend I mentioned is constantly telling me how Pennzoil is junk and I was hoping that would be it, easy fix, go home happy.

Anywho, I know the previous owner didn't take good care of her - the transmission and front dif are pretty boogered up and the brakes were glazed when I got her. Still, that Japanese engineering is impressive - I beat an 02 Mustang on an up hill drag one night. I bought an Impreza specifically so I wouldn't be piddling around town like my grandma, but I could still be practical with. Otherwise I'd have gotten a 68 Corvette. I found one thread on here where a guy had bought an STi that he babies and it makes me want to cry.

But as far as the oil consumption goes, no signs of leaks, no discoloration in my coolant, no cloudy exhaust, and I assumed the dealership checked its emissions before selling it to me (according to state law) so if it's burning oil it isn't obvious. The oil consumption is about the only reason I'm getting changed every 3k miles.

In any case, I bought a warranty plan with the car and I've been planning on taking it in to get the tranny rebuilt, I guess I'll have to check on getting the engine done too. Any other ideas on what the cause of my oil black hole might be?
 
Originally Posted By: oilyriser
Have you learned how to accurately use the engine dipstick on a Subaru? Did you check the front and rear gear oil levels?


I'm not a complete idiot TYVM :) Well maybe I am, I did blow up the engine in my first car - 77 Jeep Cherokee with a bad rear main...

I do check my oil regularly but not every time I gas up. Rear dif has shown no problems, front dif is included in the transmission and I've had no problems with fluid level there, but I have had some ugly gear grinding problems (tranny and front dif) since I got it - not too bad at first but getting progressively worse and I know I'm not that hard on it. But I am starting to get the feeling I should start doing my own oil changes again...
 
Yes, it's good to get under the car yourself and look for leaks. The dipstick can be annoying to get a good reading on those cars. There was an oil pump issue on some earlier engines that caused a lot of oil to leak out the main bearings. If it leaks enough oil, you can just change filters every 6000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: jaycenornin
Originally Posted By: oilyriser
Have you learned how to accurately use the engine dipstick on a Subaru? Did you check the front and rear gear oil levels?


I'm not a complete idiot TYVM :) Well maybe I am, I did blow up the engine in my first car - 77 Jeep Cherokee with a bad rear main...

I do check my oil regularly but not every time I gas up. Rear dif has shown no problems, front dif is included in the transmission and I've had no problems with fluid level there, but I have had some ugly gear grinding problems (tranny and front dif) since I got it - not too bad at first but getting progressively worse and I know I'm not that hard on it. But I am starting to get the feeling I should start doing my own oil changes again...


check the darn dipstick weekly. takes 5 seconds on a sunday morning
 
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