Changing Oil

[LetItRev]

Greetings Group,

I have finally accumulated 1,000 miles on my WRX. I understand this is a good time to change the oil. Which oil do you all suggest I use? Are the filters from the dealer the one's to use?

Also, is removing the plastic thing under the engine necessary?

Scott mentioned a quick drain plug device. Where can I get one of these.

As usual, I appreciate your advice to a newbie. I enjoy reading all the posts.

I need to change the oil in this thing so I can "really" drive it!

Thanks,

Franz

[sperry]

http://www.fumotovalve.com/ BAM!

If you search on here, someone's prolly posted a 10 or 15% off code to knock the price down a bit.

At 1000 miles I went Synthetic, Mobil 1, 5W30 (and 15W50 in the summer during race season for a little more protection w/ all the heat). Mobile 1's the only thing I regularly buy at Walmart since they have a consistantly decent price on it.

Dealer purchased Purolators are supposedly the best filters for the WRX, tho I've also used the X2 Frams from Walmart... just don't get the cheap Frams, you might as well just toss a dixie cup in there to filter.

There is also the school of thought that says once you go synthetic, your rarely need to change the oil... just swap filters a lot and "freshen" the oil with by changing just 1 quart occationally. I'm trying it on my car now, and it seems to be working well (car hasn't gotten slugish the way it does w/ old oil). Changing the filter is the key. However, I won't necessarily recommend it, since it's not "tried and true" yet.

Definately go Fumoto Valve tho if you plan on doing your own changes... it really makes things easy: slide the bucket under, trip the valve, wait 5 minutes, close the valve, swap the filter, and fill 'er up! 10 minutes!

[Dean]

Often manufacturers use a specific break in oil that should be run until the recomended change, which I beleive is 3K for the WRX.

Changing oil prior to that may cause the piston rings to not seat correctly, or as quickly.

I have always been skeptical about the quick drains. The ones I have seen appear to stick up higher in the pan than the stock hole and end up leaving more old oil in the pan IMHO than the stock bolt. I want as much of the sludge in the bottom of the pan out, and often tilt the car accordingly before changing the oil.

The biggest issue on the WRX is changing the filter without getting totally messy. I swear there is at least a cup of oil upstream of the filter that dumps out during filter removal.

[dknv]

Hi Franz,
I changed (I should say, 'had it changed') at 3,000 with dinosaur oil, then at 6k changed to Mobil1 5/30 synth based on lots of feedback from other Subaru drivers.

here's some seccs discussion on weights:

http://www.seccs.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=267

when r u coming to a meet again? (We're at the Flowing Tide Pub on S Meadows, that's still your part of town right?).

[STIwish]

Dammit Scott, ur contributing to the end of the American way of life buying OIL from WALMART!!

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by sperry

Dealer purchased Purolators are supposedly the best filters for the WRX, tho I've also used the X2 Frams from Walmart... just don't get the cheap Frams, you might as well just toss a dixie cup in there to filter.

Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain... I wouldn't let any Fram filter touch my car. Those things are utter crap, no matter which model.

[Dean]

Actually, the cheapy brand Walmart Filters (Power Flo I think) are actually one of the better ones, and much better than that orange stuff.

If you want info on how these filters are actually constructed, and stuff, check out this link!

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy

Lots of good info...

[drfunk]

3000 miles is the best. lots of times if you change the oil too soon it hasnt had enough time to break in, and will lieave oil resadue in your motor which can create dirty oil sludge. you don't have to remove the skid plate. i took mine comletely off though, i hate thoses things. i use chevron 530 syn. maybe 540 syn in the summer, cause i like it and i work at chevron. in my opinion brands don't make that much of a diference.