2017 WRX STi - Motul X-Clean 5w30

[bluesubie]

And notice that you’re allowed to use an oil that has the API donut stating Resource Conserving OR has the Starburst. Does such an oil exist? As far as I’m aware, a Resource Conserving oil will always have the Starburst. The last time I followed oil advice on BITOG from people without turbocharged EJ experience it cost me a blown turbo and lightened my wallet by $2,000.

As long as you have a good relationship with the dealer, and more specifically the Service Manager, they will usually go to bat for you on warranty issues so a pinky swear is not necessary.

My Service Manager went to bat for me with the District Service Operations Manager from Subaru and I didn’t even have to provide receipts on a warranty claim.

Back to the wonky owner’s manual:

Quote:
Engine oil viscosity (thickness) affects fuel economy. Oils of lower viscosity provide better fuel economy. However, in hot weather, oil of higher viscosity is required to properly lubricate the engine.


Page 11-16:
https://stis.subaru.com/proxy/126125/pdf/ownerManual/126125_2017_WRX/MSA5M1705ABSTIS_16.pdf

 

[Swifty]

Another option...Amsoil 5/30 XL HTHS 3.3 VIscosity @100°C 11.1 and 6.80 a quart preferred pricing. Price wise it may be a bit cheaper than the Motul and I believe it checks all the warranty requirements. Should do very well at the intervals you are doing. Just a thought.

 

[1JZ_E46]

Originally Posted By: bluesubie
The last time I followed oil advice on BITOG from people without turbocharged EJ experience it cost me a blown turbo and lightened my wallet by $2,000.


With all do respect, oil did not cause that failure. Your engine being a turbo EJ did. No offense at all, but I have had MANY friends with turbo EJs over the years. Most have had some form of catastrophic engine failure. I can't say the same for my EVO or V8 friends. I'm a BMW guy, so I have my own set of engine problems

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: Swifty
Another option...Amsoil 5/30 XL HTHS 3.3 VIscosity @100°C 11.1 and 6.80 a quart preferred pricing. Price wise it may be a bit cheaper than the Motul and I believe it checks all the warranty requirements. Should do very well at the intervals you are doing. Just a thought.


Probably the highest HTHS of any Resource Conserving oil. The downside to Amsoil is that you have to pay a yearly fee to get that pricing.

Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46
Originally Posted By: bluesubie
The last time I followed oil advice on BITOG from people without turbocharged EJ experience it cost me a blown turbo and lightened my wallet by $2,000.


With all do respect, oil did not cause that failure. Your engine being a turbo EJ did. No offense at all, but I have had MANY friends with turbo EJs over the years. Most have had some form of catastrophic engine failure. I can't say the same for my EVO or V8 friends. I'm a BMW guy, so I have my own set of engine problems

I presume some/most of those failures were bearing failures? I was pushing my intervals too far (6-8k miles) based on "good uoa's" and advice on BITOG, despite the fact that SoA recommended 3,750 mile intervals, and I had turbo failure due to the turbo and AVCS oil screens getting clogged. That turbo had only 20k on it.

Although most people removed their oil screens, I kept mine in at the recommendation of my dealer's lead service tech because he felt that the positives (blocking debris) outweighed the negatives (screens getting blocked by sludge again). I switched away from Resource Conserving oil and have now put nearly 100k miles on that turbo. I still exceed the recommended 3,750 mile OCI for my model year and I'm not really concerned about bearing failure or another turbo failure. Oh, and I've also been running an Off The Shelf Cobb Stage I reflash since 110k miles.

 

[kschachn]

...

 

[Hall]

The car is a lease. Do you plan to buy it at the end of the lease ? If not, why overthink this ?

 

[Tiir]

With a HTHS of 3.6 you are using the X-clean+ I assume.

If you are concerned with TBN, why not use X-clean EFE ? Yeah, you loose .1 HTHS, but is 3.5 to 3.6 really that big of a difference when you gain far more TBN if you plan on running the recommended manufactures oil change intervals.

On a side note and comparison; on my STI my last fill was X-clean 5w-30 FE @ 3,900 miles, I had a TBN of 4.2.


Also, I just sent in a X-clean EFE sample in that I should get by the end of next week that I ran for 5,000 miles, so if you are curious to see how that turns out.

 

[Coogles]

Originally Posted By: hallstevenson
The car is a lease. Do you plan to buy it at the end of the lease ? If not, why overthink this ?


I'd been considering buying out the lease early and keeping the car. We just paid off my wife's car, so if the plan is to keep it I might as well start paying toward the principal now.

 

[Coogles]

Originally Posted By: Tiir
With a HTHS of 3.6 you are using the X-clean+ I assume.

If you are concerned with TBN, why not use X-clean EFE ? Yeah, you loose .1 HTHS, but is 3.5 to 3.6 really that big of a difference when you gain far more TBN if you plan on running the recommended manufactures oil change intervals.

On a side note and comparison; on my STI my last fill was X-clean 5w-30 FE @ 3,900 miles, I had a TBN of 4.2.


Also, I just sent in a X-clean EFE sample in that I should get by the end of next week that I ran for 5,000 miles, so if you are curious to see how that turns out.


I bought that X-Clean before the label updated to X-Clean+. ECS Tuning had them on sale for something like $30 for a 5L jug with free shipping, so I bought 4.

Curious to see what your X-clean EFE sample looks like, but it'd be worth consideration.