legacycentral bbs

i'm think'n about doing a oil change on my legacy i just bought and i'm trying to figure out what type of oil i should go with, so whats everyone else running?

Mobil 1 10w-30


My motor has 210k miles on it, and has been on Mobil for about 50k of those, and it shows no signs of wear associated with that many miles.

And it does not get driven easily

castrol GTX 10W-30

Mobil 1 10W-30

hmmm, alot of people seem to like the mobil 1, thats what i was thinkin about going with

what about using 20W-50???


that's what someone told me to use awhile ago cause it's a little thicker.

I use Mobil 1 5W and 10Ws changed every 10k mi. A 250k mi tear down of my abused engine (N/A took a BMW 323 up to an indicated 133mph) showed pristine cams, crank, crosshatching on the cylinders, and main bearings that looked good for another 100k.

i use Penzoil 10W-30 high mileage
30 is the weight right? and 10 in like a tempature or something, cant remember

the left side of the motor ticks a little, i think a oil vein might be clogged, but i dont have the time to throw at it right now, so i threw in some Lucas oil stablizer and it get alot quieter

I was running 20-50w in my Legacy to keep down the leaking. I changed it every 3000 miles and I wasn't exactly babying the car all the time either.

yeah i use Penzoil as well. Its what they recommend in one of the car shops here in NZ

We use penzoil at my shop, and I'm not too fond of it. It just seems to have more impurities than other oils (darker color).

Personally, I use Valvoline 10w30. I have been thinking of switching to a synthetic blend, but not a full-synthetic. Looking through an article in Tribology and Lubrication magazine convinced me that synthetic oils truly do lubricate better, but it doesn't affect the seals in the same way as traditional oil (which slightly swells the rubber and various other things).

Honestly, though, I need to do a bit more research before switching.


Anyone tried Valvoline's racing oil? Looks to be pretty nice stuff, but definitely not for daily driving.....

what about Royal Purple, ive heard people dont really care for it

Stay away from Pennzoil!!!


It has wax in it (meant to quiet lifters and whatnot)...


Stay away!!

right now i use castrol GTX 10w30, but once i get some more miles on this motor (at about 6k right now) i'll switch to castrol syntec 10w30. i would go with a synthetic oil and change it every 3k if you got a turbo car and you abuse it like you should

10W-40 Havoline or Valvoline dino for high milage engines changed around 3-4k. Am I the only one using 10W-40?

Castrol GTX 10W40 this summer. I think I'll do 10W30 in the winter and maybe 10W50 next summer if I can find it (might try 20W50). Also, I'm thinking of switching to semi-synthetic.

I run Castrol GTX 10W-30, I use to be a Pennzoil man but just seems a bit more sludgy.

A few notes on oil that I have picked up over the years by experience or reading…

What the numbers mean, it’s a hot cold rating, ex. 10W-30… acts like a 10 weight oil when its cold and a 30 weight when its hot.

Stay away from the extended range weights (10W-40, 20W-50), the additives required to create them are not so good for you engine. If you really feel you need a heavier oil for hot weather or hard running you are better off to blend in a quart or two of straight 30W. Just watch the pressure on cold start.

Switching to a heavier weight oil to raise oil pressure dose not lubricate the engine better. Thicker oil is harder to push through the system so you get more pressure but less flow… less oil to the bearings and heads.

Synthetics are good, but not required. Older engine designs (like the EJ22) that were intended to run conventional oils will do just fine on them.

Just my 2 cents
Gary

Hmm, after hearing that I'm thinking of running semi-synthetic 5W30 in the winter and semi-synthetic 10W30 in the summer. Maybe full synthetic if I get a job.

Whatever oil you're using now, keep using it. Don't switch brands of oils.

My car automatically has more problems than other Legacies of this vintage, simply because it belongs to me, therefore I leak/use oil more than the average 1st-gen Legacy. 1 quart for every 1k miles.

When I change my oil, I first add about 3.5 quarts of regular Valvoline 10W40 dino, and then add another quart of Valvoline 20W50 dino. This seems to be the best mix between not leaking as much oil and getting good gas mileage.

Castrol GTX Hi-Mi 10W-30 in an effort to reduce leaking, which is currently very slow. *knocks on wood*

castrol syntec 10w30

I hear the "high mileage" formulas are more or less snake oil.

Could be, I've never had a lab do a comparison test or anything. But if I switch back to regular, it'll probably leak more just to spite me.