EU Subaru 2.5 FB engine oil

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I recently sold my wife's.

I ran Castrol 0w30 in the winter and M1 5w40 TDT in the summer. UOA's looked great. Car ran great.
 
Wow Indiana joined the EU?

Haven't had a 2.5 make it past 55K without issue running 0w20 so. Had two of 'em. 1 had multiple tct failure andf the other was an oil burner with a vin in the class action against Subaru. We have a 2.0 crosstrek now. was nice and smooth and quiet on factory oil and horrendous on Subaru Idemitsu with the Fram- a roo filter.

I would run a good 5w30 in there if the VVT works ok for you.

The EJ didn't have VVT but it had like a honda VTEC system. and it surely wanted even better than dino 5w30 ILSAC.
 
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A good question - I tried various 0W-20, 5W-20, and 5W-30 oils (Mobil 1, Syntec, etc.) in my 2012 Forester FB25. They all worked fine but my engine has a bit of the dreaded oil loss.

A few months ago I tried Mobil 1 high mileage 5W-30, and the oil loss seems to be gone. Previously it was about 1 quart/2000 miles. Now it's almost undetectable.

I am using the dreaded orange cans of death filters just because.
 
Just sold my 2001 outback and from 1500Km (1st oil change) I've used Mobil 1 5W30 Synthetic every 5000Km Filter was M1 (synthetic medium) car ran like a champ, did not use any oil even when I stretched my OCIs to 8000Km

Edit: Forgot to enter the oil grade.
 
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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Wow Indiana joined the EU?


You didn't hear?? LOL!!

The car ran great on this Euro oil. Those engines sound and operate like a tractor engine. I was also worried about fuel dilution because my wife short trips it to death.
 
I found that the Purolater filters have correct by-pass pressure. I looked at a few EU oil web sites and they recommend 3p and 40 weight oil
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
We have a 2.0 crosstrek now. was nice and smooth and quiet on factory oil and horrendous on Subaru Idemitsu with the Fram- a roo filter.


That's interesting, given that the factory fill is also 0w20 (cf. the UOA on mine). Incidentally, mine did not get louder after changing the factory fill at 6k and putting in Idemitsu Zepro Advanced Moly.
 
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That probably a better oil. The Subaru in 0w20 has little moly, Their 5w30 Turbo motor oil is LOADED.

Dealer shows on the R.O. they are using SUBARU oil, they may be lying of course.
 
Originally Posted by GravelRoad
5w30 Penzoil Platinum since new. Now at 50,000 miles. No issues.


What is your OCI interval and do you use any oil between your changes?
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Originally Posted by GravelRoad
5w30 Penzoil Platinum since new. Now at 50,000 miles. No issues.


What is your OCI interval and do you use any oil between your changes?


JohnnyJohnson, 5,000 mile (easy fo me to remember) oil and oem oil filter changes.
No noticeable oil usage.
 
Originally Posted by GravelRoad
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Originally Posted by GravelRoad
5w30 Penzoil Platinum since new. Now at 50,000 miles. No issues.


What is your OCI interval and do you use any oil between your changes?


JohnnyJohnson, 5,000 mile (easy fo me to remember) oil and oem oil filter changes.
No noticeable oil usage.


Thanks for that information. I really like the Subaru's but I have heard so many stories of two quarts used between Oil usage and the Stealerships just saying
bohica that is normal.
 
My mom's 18 Forester is around 18.5k now and did first OCI at 3k, then every 6k since per owner manual, with Subaru 0W20 and Subaru filter done at the dealer. It's kind of pricey there ($70 and change) and so I am working on convincing her to let me do her oil changes at the closest mileage interval when I visit (3+ hours away). I will move her to PP 5W30 and Napa 7055 filters (Fram Ultra after warranty is up- I know and trust the Ultra, but if she were to have any warranty issues I don't want her to have any issues because of the bypass rating being lower than recommended). To date, she has not had any oil usage between OCs.

Much better to date than her 2010 Malibu with Ecotec that started using 5W30 at an alarming rate with no other symptoms, and changing the PCV did not correct. Moved her to RT6 5W40 and the consumption went away. I wouldn't recommend a 40wt oil for an FB just yet, but EJs are no problem on them.
smile.gif
 
0W-20 and Fram Ultra Filter.

This ain't rocket surgery, bud! It's an FB25 - put pretty much anything in it and you'll still be dumping it after the head gasket goes at 177k miles! The rest of the vehicle will be fine, including all of the motor-oil-lubricated bits...
 
2000 Outback - 0w-40 Mobil 1. 165,000 miles. ZERO compression loss at 120,000 miles (mechanic REtested it twice and made sure to tell me he'd never seen it that high, before on an older engine). Subaru filter.

2012 Impreza 2.0 - 0w-20 Mobil 1. 65,000 miles when sold, 5,000 mile change interval, ZERO oil burned. Subaru filter.

2012 Outback 2.5. 5w-30 Mobil 1. 60,000 miles so far, 5,000 mile changes, ZERO oil burned. Subaru filter.

All three cars were broken in on the way home from the dealer, with 2 seconds at full throttle at about 3,000 RPM, and 30 seconds at cruise, repeated several dozen times. I have used this technique since at least the early 1980's, and never had an engine burn oil.
 
Originally Posted by bobdoo
2000 Outback - 0w-40 Mobil 1. 165,000 miles. ZERO compression loss at 120,000 miles (mechanic REtested it twice and made sure to tell me he'd never seen it that high, before on an older engine). Subaru filter.

2012 Impreza 2.0 - 0w-20 Mobil 1. 65,000 miles when sold, 5,000 mile change interval, ZERO oil burned. Subaru filter.

2012 Outback 2.5. 5w-30 Mobil 1. 60,000 miles so far, 5,000 mile changes, ZERO oil burned. Subaru filter.

All three cars were broken in on the way home from the dealer, with 2 seconds at full throttle at about 3,000 RPM, and 30 seconds at cruise, repeated several dozen times. I have used this technique since at least the early 1980's, and never had an engine burn oil.



That's neat, but aren't those all EJ engines rather than FA/FBs? The oil consuption issue, which peaked around 2013 from what I can tell, mostly had to do with the FB's shorter piston skirt compared to the EJ.
 
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