The Subaru SVX World Network   SVX Network Forums
Live Chat!
SVX or Subaru Links
Old Lockers
Photo Post
How-To Documents
Message Archive
SVX Shop Search
IRC users:

Go Back   The Subaru SVX World Network > SVX Main Forums > General SVX Babble

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-03-2008, 08:20 PM
Crazy_pilot's Avatar
Crazy_pilot Crazy_pilot is offline
Moar shifty!
Subaru Gold Contributor
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada. Eh?
Posts: 4,560
Send a message via MSN to Crazy_pilot
Registered SVX
Happyness is a car that...

Doesn't burn of leak a drop of oil. I re-sealed and switched to full synthetic AMSOIL back in August. Replaced the oil pan while I was at it. 2 months and 2000 miles on, the oil is still bang on the dot on the dipstick, and still as gold as the day I put it in. I'm serious, it looks like I stuck the dipstick in a container of brand new oil. It's looking to be damn worth the $135 I paid for 16 guarts of it. They guarantee it for 25,000 miles. I don't think I'll push it that far, but possibly 6000 between changes.

Prior to this my car would go through 2 quarts between 3000 miles oil changes, mostly out the valve cover gaskets.
__________________
Chris

92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping
2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos
2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold
2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-03-2008, 11:32 PM
TomsSVX's Avatar
TomsSVX TomsSVX is offline
Maniac modifier
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Branchburg, New Jersey
Posts: 15,489
Registered SVX Classic SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Good on ya!!

Tom
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-04-2008, 07:22 AM
bjandtheband's Avatar
bjandtheband bjandtheband is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: new kensington
Posts: 15
Re: Happyness is a car that...

you said u re sealed and changed to ams full synthetic that sound like something i should do , how much will that set me back
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-04-2008, 09:40 AM
Hop Hop is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Browns Summit, NC
Posts: 228
Classic SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

I changed mine to Amsoil about 8 months ago. I only plan on changing the oil once a year now regardless of the miles driven - I don't drive it all that much. It's only 3 miles to work. It's hard to build up a lot of miles that way. I have no leaks and it looks as clean as when I first put it in. I also put it in the tranny and differentials.

I also put the new rainX winshield wipers on. they're awesome.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-04-2008, 10:19 AM
Mensaf's Avatar
Mensaf Mensaf is offline
What do you mean wrong SVX?
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 514
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Dude, I covered my entire car in rainx. Water glides off like nothing, lol.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-04-2008, 11:07 AM
benebob's Avatar
benebob benebob is offline
Have a poncho I can borrow?
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Lancaster, PA
Posts: 6,561
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Syth oil is nothing more than a waste of money for normal street cars driven in normal conditions. A good modern Japanese engine will far outlast the rest of the cars life span running on the cheapest oil you can buy provided it is changed by the manufacturer's specs. Now if you drive 2 miles each way to work in winter that's a different story but reality is you're just throwing your money at the oil companies!
__________________
British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-04-2008, 01:13 PM
bwb3's Avatar
bwb3 bwb3 is offline
Cruisin' in Gator Country
Alcyone Gold Contributor
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Posts: 1,894
Registered SVX Classic SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Syth oil is nothing more than a waste of money for normal street cars driven in normal conditions. A good modern Japanese engine will far outlast the rest of the cars life span running on the cheapest oil you can buy provided it is changed by the manufacturer's specs. Now if you drive 2 miles each way to work in winter that's a different story but reality is you're just throwing your money at the oil companies!
Always believed that myself. Didn't want to contradict the experts though. I just change it when it starts looking dirty, or every 6 months.
Gene
__________________
Gene and Ben
1992 SVX LS AWD 110K - Liquid Silver
1994 SVX LSi AWD 128K - White Pearl (daily driver)
1994 SVX LSi AWD 95K - Emerald Pearl (sold)
1992 SVX LS-L AWD 115K - Dark Teal 4.44 swap (sold)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-04-2008, 04:30 PM
benebob's Avatar
benebob benebob is offline
Have a poncho I can borrow?
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Lancaster, PA
Posts: 6,561
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by bwb3 View Post
Always believed that myself. Didn't want to contradict the experts though. I just change it when it starts looking dirty, or every 6 months.
Gene

I don't doubt the advantages of syth. Don't fault anybody who can justify the huge dif. in pricing in their budget for using it but I just can't see the added expense of it for normal driving. I do use it in my wife's 03 Legacy which she drives less than 4 miles a day to and from work usually. To date it has less than 33k on the odo. Syth does have a much better flow at cold so it does create less where but when a modern engine that is maintained properly can go upwards of 300k without a rebuild the body and other bits are usually long gone by the time the average owner gets to that point.

Even with her car which I change every 6 months the Mobil 1 Full Synth. looks well used. That's with usually 2k-2.5k on the odo.

Crazy, I'm not knocking ya at all for the switch BTW. Congrats on the leak free engine bay. May it last longer than my reseal did! I have those valve covers.
__________________
British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-04-2008, 04:47 PM
Crazy_pilot's Avatar
Crazy_pilot Crazy_pilot is offline
Moar shifty!
Subaru Gold Contributor
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada. Eh?
Posts: 4,560
Send a message via MSN to Crazy_pilot
Registered SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by bjandtheband View Post
you said u re sealed and changed to ams full synthetic that sound like something i should do , how much will that set me back
I did a pile of work all at once: Valve cover gaskets, cam seals, front main seal, water pump, timing belt, spark plugs, new oil pan, and the oil. All together I probably spent $700+ in parts. ($250 for the reseal kit from subaruparts.com, $250-ish for the timing belt+water pump from Ebay, $100 for the oil pan, $60 for the plugs, and $135 for 16 liters of oil). I did it all myself, so no labour costs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hop View Post
I changed mine to Amsoil about 8 months ago. I only plan on changing the oil once a year now regardless of the miles driven - I don't drive it all that much. It's only 3 miles to work. It's hard to build up a lot of miles that way. I have no leaks and it looks as clean as when I first put it in. I also put it in the tranny and differentials.

I also put the new rainX winshield wipers on. they're awesome.
I thought about putting it in the trans and diff, but I'm not too confident in the state of my front trans seal, and I really don't want the trans leaking into the diff and vice versa. Those RainX wipers are definitely awesome.
__________________
Chris

92 Ebony Mica LS-L "A Rolling Restoration": 223,250 KM - Sleeping
2007 STi 6MT, Stance GR+ coilovers, PWR Rad, JDM hood badge, svxfiles 6000K HIDs, JDM Clear Corners, $15/15 min mod, $20/20 min mod, Energy Swaybar Bushings, Hella Supertones horns, Gold STi BBS rims, Group A lightweight crank pulley, A/C system removed, Custom header-back exhaust, Hybrid carbon/metal rear sway bar, restored headlights with CCFL halos
2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B - Diamond Grey Metallic - Sold
2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn - Red Pearl

Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-04-2008, 05:33 PM
Hop Hop is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Browns Summit, NC
Posts: 228
Classic SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Sorry to say that I disagree Benebob. I use it for the main characteristic that water doesn't bond with synthetic as well as it does with regular oil. That's why you can run it so much longer in your car. And if you drive a lot, you don't have to change it for 25K. I do that with our Honda Accord. It's got 140k on it now and still purring like a kitten (due for an oil change in another 10k). The hardest part is not changing it every 5k. So, going with the amsoil, I skip 4 oil changes saving what, 24 quarts of oil for every 25k that I drive? I think that if you add up all that oil, the filters, and your time under the car you'll find that I'm coming out ahead with the Amsoil. And Hey, I'm not a rep or dealer, I just use the stuff. Also, I'm kind of lazy so I don't want to spend all that time under the car if I can be driving instead.

Quote:
Originally Posted by benebob View Post
Syth oil is nothing more than a waste of money for normal street cars driven in normal conditions. A good modern Japanese engine will far outlast the rest of the cars life span running on the cheapest oil you can buy provided it is changed by the manufacturer's specs. Now if you drive 2 miles each way to work in winter that's a different story but reality is you're just throwing your money at the oil companies!

Last edited by Hop; 10-04-2008 at 05:36 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 10-04-2008, 06:13 PM
benebob's Avatar
benebob benebob is offline
Have a poncho I can borrow?
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Lancaster, PA
Posts: 6,561
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hop View Post
Sorry to say that I disagree Benebob. I use it for the main characteristic that water doesn't bond with synthetic as well as it does with regular oil. That's why you can run it so much longer in your car. And if you drive a lot, you don't have to change it for 25K. I do that with our Honda Accord. It's got 140k on it now and still purring like a kitten (due for an oil change in another 10k). The hardest part is not changing it every 5k. So, going with the amsoil, I skip 4 oil changes saving what, 24 quarts of oil for every 25k that I drive? I think that if you add up all that oil, the filters, and your time under the car you'll find that I'm coming out ahead with the Amsoil. And Hey, I'm not a rep or dealer, I just use the stuff. Also, I'm kind of lazy so I don't want to spend all that time under the car if I can be driving instead.

Hop, Check out my last post. My wifes 03 Legacy gets driven probably similar to your commute. When I change it every 2-2.5k or 6 months it looks as nasty as the 3k regular fluid in my old world F-250, as nasty as the oil in my old world cb175 and much worse than the 6 month change my SVX gets. I wouldn't go a year per change with that commute if I were you! The engine doesn't reach operating temps and thus lots of water is floating around in there.

I'd suspect a well mantained Honda Accord with 140k on the odo would per with a kitten had the owner used recycled oil in it and always ran a quart low to boot. Remember even Quaker State offers a 300k engine warranty if you use it based on the manufactures recommended oil change intervals.

As I said, I'm not knocking anyone for using the stuff, I just don't see the economic sense in keeping an engine going beyond what the rest of the car can safely go. There is something to the frequency of changes but last time I checked Subaru recommends every 6 months or 7.5k on all their vehicles (granted that is 3.75k if you are considered heavy driving but I think they still say 6 months).

I just wish I could come up with a nice cheap reliable source for real good non-detergent oil for my filterless CB175. I hate running suspended metal through it!
__________________
British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 10-04-2008, 09:05 PM
subeman90's Avatar
subeman90 subeman90 is offline
Soobologist
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Akron, PA
Posts: 2,238
Send a message via AIM to subeman90
Registered SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hop View Post
Sorry to say that I disagree Benebob. I use it for the main characteristic that water doesn't bond with synthetic as well as it does with regular oil. That's why you can run it so much longer in your car. And if you drive a lot, you don't have to change it for 25K. I do that with our Honda Accord. It's got 140k on it now and still purring like a kitten (due for an oil change in another 10k). The hardest part is not changing it every 5k. So, going with the amsoil, I skip 4 oil changes saving what, 24 quarts of oil for every 25k that I drive? I think that if you add up all that oil, the filters, and your time under the car you'll find that I'm coming out ahead with the Amsoil. And Hey, I'm not a rep or dealer, I just use the stuff. Also, I'm kind of lazy so I don't want to spend all that time under the car if I can be driving instead.
Thats nice and all but I bet the inside of your filter looks like hell. I would change it a little more frequent and then top off the oil. Something ever happens and you plug the filter your motor is going to be gone before you know it cause you are not maintaining it.

I'm not knocking syn oil at all though.. I use it in the baja and go 5-6k on my changes with genuine subaru filters.
__________________
Matt
15 OBW premium w/eyesight
A picture of an SVX in the garage
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-04-2008, 10:24 PM
subi-crosser's Avatar
subi-crosser subi-crosser is offline
Now with more color
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: cumberland, md
Posts: 2,452
Send a message via Yahoo to subi-crosser
Registered SVX Classic SVX
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by bwb3 View Post
Always believed that myself. Didn't want to contradict the experts though. I just change it when it starts looking dirty, or every 6 months.
Gene
A couple years ago, a guy showed up at out Labor day run with a pontiac. He ran it for an hour at idle with his oil in it. Then he pulled (4) bolts and dropped the oilpan to the ground and ran it at 'idle' for 5 HOURS!! NO oil!!

There could be something to this 'Synthetic' oil thing!!!

Sorry, Ben!! I SAW it!!
__________________
I'm not a REDNECK! I am an Appalachian-AMERICAN!!

"Can't go to work today. The 'voices' said to "Stay home and clean the guns".


Most famous Red-Neck last words...
" Hey Everybody, Watch This!!)


http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn272/subi-crosser/
Jerry
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 10-05-2008, 10:17 AM
benebob's Avatar
benebob benebob is offline
Have a poncho I can borrow?
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Lancaster, PA
Posts: 6,561
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Quote:
Originally Posted by subi-crosser View Post
A couple years ago, a guy showed up at out Labor day run with a pontiac. He ran it for an hour at idle with his oil in it. Then he pulled (4) bolts and dropped the oilpan to the ground and ran it at 'idle' for 5 HOURS!! NO oil!!

There could be something to this 'Synthetic' oil thing!!!

Sorry, Ben!! I SAW it!!
And he could have run 4 hours and 45 had it been non sythetic just like the snake oil Slick 50 boys do. The pressed roller bearings in engines can last for quite some time without oil esp ones that were recently lubed.

Sorry Jerry, reality is engines are made much better today and have a great chance of outliving the rest of the unibody frame around 'em.
__________________
British vehicles are my last ditch attempt to keep the nasty Italian thoughts in my mind at bay. So far its working.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 10-05-2008, 10:56 AM
iizbeastie's Avatar
iizbeastie iizbeastie is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Menasha, WI
Posts: 122
Re: Happyness is a car that...

Very good points.... of all the maintenance and repairs I've done in the last couple of years (besides oil changes) the only part even connected to the engines was the coolant temperature sensor on the VR6. Engines are well engineered and only getting better in the last couple of decades .... body corrosion itself will make it a moot point.

However, I do find that my VR6 especially is more responsive when I use full synthetic. I am mostly in it for the performance gains but budget wise you do come out ahead..... not to mention I have a unique oil filter so the high performance version is no more expensive than the regular one
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:56 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
© 2001-2015 SVX World Network
(208)-906-1122