Subaru of America cuts OCI to 6k miles for MY2015

[bluesubie]

I saw it mentioned on cars101.com and checked with SoA. I inquired if it had anything to do with the consumption/oil control ring issue.

Quote:

Dear Mr. bluesubie

Thank you for taking the time to contact Subaru of America, Inc. regarding our recommendations for engine oil.

Yes, for the 2015 models, we will be recommending oil changes every 6,000 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. Information as to why this change is being implemented is not available. Such information would be proprietary within Subaru. ...


I expressed my surprise with this, particulary for the n/a models, and also provided feedback on some other owner's manual points (like allowing "5W-40 conventional" for replenishment) and they advised they'll pass my comments on.

More surprisingly, my dealer contacts and a friend at SoA didn't respond to my emails inquring about it. This appears to be Top Secret.

As other manufacturers are increasing their OCI's based on OLM's, etc, SoA is reducing theirs.

Discuss.

-Dennis

 

[kr_bitog]

It is just a common practice to cover their backside on lowering warranty costs, by generating more income in advance. So probably they can sell car cheaper but in 5 year they earn more on servicing.

 

[rjundi]

Subie had a 7500 OCI with dino normal on my 2005 Legacy GT(turbo). They cut that back likely after replacing a few turbo's to 3750 OCI no matter what the conditions albeit not synthetic. Latter they recommended synthetic which I have not done but always used 4k change interval except first one wife left factory oil in for 5500 miles.

 

[thescreensavers]

Hmm interesting

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: bluesubie
As other manufacturers are increasing their OCI's based on OLM's, etc, SoA is reducing theirs.


Not all manufacturers are necessarily increasing the OCI duration. GM has been reducing it on some of their engines, and I personally believe that Honda needs to do the same for their VCM V-6 engines.

In some cases, it seems that we have found the "breaking point", so to speak, with OCIs using current API oils. Could it be that if vehicles sold for use in North America began requiring ACEA oil specifications (A1, A5, etc), we wouldn't see some of these issues?

 

[rjundi]

Subaru is a heavy scheduled maintenance vehicle anyway compared to other modern stuff. Does not surprise me.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Subaru is a heavy scheduled maintenance vehicle anyway compared to other modern stuff. Does not surprise me.


It is? Care to explain that in more detail? It's a rather bold statement.


Anyway, SoA is not going to reply to your specific questions about why they made the change. Dealer techs and service writers will of course speculate and feed you lots of colorful theories.

Yes, there is a monetary driver there, but it could be the result of internal studies or other confidential information they can't disclose. Likely it is some combination of the two.

 

[i812]

Could it be related to Direct Injection systems? It seems vehicles with this type of fuel system need to lower their OCI. Or have I been reading to many posts about excessive fuel smell while BITOGer's do their own oil changes?

 

[thomasew]

We will be back to 3 months, 3,000 miles at some point in the future. My wife has a two year old Equinox, 2.4 direct inject, and Chevy dealer has already changed the computer to accommodate a shorter OCI than what was programmed in when it was new. All the hoopla regarding longer OCIs, and wasting oil, we'll be back where we started at some point in time. What goes around, comes around.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: i812
Could it be related to Direct Injection systems? It seems vehicles with this type of fuel system need to lower their OCI. Or have I been reading to many posts about excessive fuel smell while BITOGer's do their own oil changes?

The BRZ uoa's seem to be fine, but a couple of DI Forester uoa's that I've seen show very high fuel . PU 5W-30 with a 3k OCI and 2% fuel and KV down to 7.72 (Blackstone).

IIRC, the DI systems are different between the BRZ and Forester and I don't recall if one has port injection or not. I don't believe the Subaru one on the Forester has port injection.

-Dennis

 

[FutureDoc]

I think/thought that only the FRS/BRZ was the vehicle with DI. I would expect the Forester to have MPFI as I doubt Subaru has multiple 2.5 designs beyond the Turbo.

You know, sometimes these recommendations are out their to cover SoA rear-end against idiots. Some people take that 7500mi OCI means you don't check the oil for 7,500 miles. So if it is burning a qt every 1,500, then it will be 5 quarts low before that person services the vehicle. If fuel dilution is an issue, then I am not surprise at the decrease as that is common for a lot of vehicles now. CYA, no biggie.

As for Subaru maintenance, yes, they do have more needs but that is also due to their AWD system. So comparing the Legacy to the Camry, yeah, it will have more thing needing attention but compared to other AWD vehicles, there is nothing really "more" to a Subaru. Save for the spark-plugs, the Subies are still one of the easiest vehicles to "access" and work on IMO.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: FutureDoc
I think/thought that only the FRS/BRZ was the vehicle with DI. I would expect the Forester to have MPFI as I doubt Subaru has multiple 2.5 designs beyond the Turbo.

You know, sometimes these recommendations are out their to cover SoA rear-end against idiots. Some people take that 7500mi OCI means you don't check the oil for 7,500 miles. So if it is burning a qt every 1,500, then it will be 5 quarts low before that person services the vehicle. If fuel dilution is an issue, then I am not surprise at the decrease as that is common for a lot of vehicles now. CYA, no biggie.

As for Subaru maintenance, yes, they do have more needs but that is also due to their AWD system. So comparing the Legacy to the Camry, yeah, it will have more thing needing attention but compared to other AWD vehicles, there is nothing really "more" to a Subaru. Save for the spark-plugs, the Subies are still one of the easiest vehicles to "access" and work on IMO.

I read details somewhere of Subaru's DI, but cannot find anything now. I presume that this is in the new Forester 2.0 DIT (the '14 Forester XT got DI) and the upcoming 2015 WRX:

From Wikipedia:
A version with Subaru's own direct fuel injection and twin-scroll turbocharger was introduced in 2012 to the Japanese market for the Legacy GT DIT (direct injection turbo) sedan, and the Legacy GT DIT Touring Wagon.

This seems to imply that only the BRZ gets direct and port injection (Toyota's system):

The new 2.0-L turbo, rated at 250 hp/258 lb·ft (187 kW/351 N·m), is a healthy replacement for the 2013 model’s 2.5-L turbo that was rated at 224 hp/226 lb·ft. The 2.0-L actually is Subaru’s first direct-injection engine and has relatively high compression for a turbo at 10.6:1. Yes, the naturally aspirated 2.0-L engine in the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ is also direct injected, but although that engine itself is also a Subaru boxer, the fuel injection system is Toyota’s novel “dual” design. That is, it has both direct and port injection.

http://articles.sae.org/11625/

Found more info here, including links to the U.S. patent:

http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/subaru-debuts-a-turbo-version-of-the-fa20-engine/

-Dennis

 

[wemay]

If D.I. is as big an issue as we suggest on BITOG, why do more and more mfgs continue going that route...

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: wemay
If D.I. is as big an issue as we suggest on BITOG, why do more and more mfgs continue going that route...

The last link that I just posted above shows improvements in DI design, although those improvments seem to be more around addressing the problem of carbon build up. I guess it's better to address fuel contamination by reducing the OCI.

Like others have said, I guess this is a CYA and helps address the issue of the nut behind the wheel

-Dennis

 

[i812]

This is what I have found.

BRZ/FRS = Direct and multi-port injection (Subaru's website)

Forester '14MY = 2.5L NA Sequential multi-port (cars101)
2.0L Turbo Direct Injection (Subaru's website)

WRX '15MY = 2.0L Turbo Direct Injection (Subaru's website)

STI '15MY = 2.5L Turbo No info found.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: i812
This is what I have found.

BRZ/FRS = Direct and multi-port injection (Subaru's website)

Forester '14MY = 2.5L NA Sequential multi-port (cars101)
2.0L Turbo Direct Injection (Subaru's website)

WRX '15MY = 2.0L Turbo Direct Injection (Subaru's website)

STI '15MY = 2.5L Turbo No info found.


Yeah, that is what I was thinking. The 2.5 do not have DI, but the 2.0T do. Not surprised.

 

[Lex94]

it might be top secret to those who go by the name "Mr. bluesubie"

they did tweak the valve train for 2015.