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I have a 95 Subaru Legacy L station wagon that just hit 185k. I am wondering if I should put in Castrol 5w-30 high milage. But I don’t want synthetic and cause huge oil leaks. This car has been on conventional oil since day one of it’s use. As far as I know oil changes have been kept up since day one of it’s use, but I did buy it used with not a whole lot of paper work for it. just two jiffy lube sales recipts for basic oil changes and a muffler job. Since I am the car’s final owner and I want to give it the best care possible I am just wondering if I should put in high milage. I want to avoid synthetic at all costs till I do my STi engine swap in two years when I take it off the streets tear it down and re-build it into a track car. But untill that time it’s my daily driver. (younger sister named it Scooby-ru play off the manufactures name) any advice you guys have will be much appreciated.
P.S. I am a tech in training (going to my local community college for automotive service) and I will be doing all the maintnance on this car.
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If you are just going to drive it for two years I would just put in some cheap regular oil and not worry about it.
You shouldn’t have any problems using synthetic if the oil has been changed regularly. But if your going to sale the engine after you take it out then i would keep putting the same oil you’ve been using in it.
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshd7WR-a6I
-Regular Vs. Synthetic: Ericthecarguy
—-I THOUGHT THIS MIGHT HELP
But I don’t want synthetic and cause huge oil leaks.
Synthetic Oil Myth spread by old mechanics, pertoleum oil aficionados and the internet. Synthetic Oil does not cause leaks, POOR SEALS cause leaks.
From the company that introduced synthetics to the automotive market back in 1972..
Will synthetic motor oils cause engines to leak oil?
Answer: No. Synthetic oils do not cause engines to leak oil. In fact, AMSOIL synthetic motor oil is fully compatible with modern seal materials and is properly formulated to condition seals, keeping them pliable to prevent leakage.I have used synthetic oil since 1975 and NEVER had an oil leak.
A synthetic blend is another option. This gave me the benefit of improved cold weather starts in my 1996 ranger. No issues with leaks.
The implication is superior performance at a lower cost by combining a mineral and a synthetic base oil stock. But Synthetic blends are primarily a marketing-driven product that does little more than fill the void in the consumer’s mind between regular petroleum and synthetic.
Memo:
We are preparing to launch a new product line of “Semi-Synthetic” motor oils to appeal to the shifting mass of market becoming educated to and finding value in the performance characteristics of synthetic lubes–but whom, however, avoid the product due to its premium cost. Blend 10% synthetic into bulk petroleum oil for packaging as “High-Performance Premium Semi-Synthetic” at a price point of 220% the cost of regular petroleum oil.
I’m not against synthetics, in fact I use full synthetic in my 05 durango, and in my 03 Odyssey. I just think that you aren’t going to benefit anything from switching to synthetic at this point. especially if you are going to run that engine for only 2 more years. I run conventional in my 94 Buick regal, but the engine has 60k miles on it. however I will never put synthetic in it because it runs just fine with conventional, and it was made to run on conventional. I just keep the oil and filter changed, and it runs great. I think that if I was going to run synthetic in your Subaru I would have done it 80k miles ago, but since it doesn’t have any problems, and you have been running conventional oil this long, I would just stick with it.
I was not referring to you but to the person or persons who educated the OP into believing synthetic oil causes leaks.
That myth was created years ago to discredit synthetic oils by those who refused to accept them and saw it as a infringement on their profits selling mineral oils. Funny today after decades of bad-mouthing synthetics all the major oil makers now have a synthetic oil to sell. Proving all the myths and lies they spread for over the yrs was all designed to make them more money, especially those who promoted and continue to promote a 3,000 mile oil change.
PS – I have been in the oil business since 1978….
Thanks for all the replies, The reason I don’t want synthetic is because I have had personal experiance with synthetic leaking and a big one at that. As I have said before on here I bought this car used with 182k on the clock. I have had to replace the altenator and radiator since I bought it, but thanks to my online teacher Eric I replaced them with realative ease. I ent to my potential new employer for the oil change kit; new spark plugs, and a new airfilter. I did the job yesterday but on attempt to get the oil filter off I realized my oil wrench was way to big. So I did the rest of the service and put in the new chevron 5w-30 oil and it seems like the engine is happier. I had to drive back to the store to get the right size wrench. Ever since I bought my craftsman tool kit; I have realized it’s quite expandable…Anyway Thank you all again; I will be keeping the current engine when I tear the car down and put in the higher performing one, but it will be a back up. Plan to rebuild it and the oil I will be putting in is full synthetic. I don’t have a problem with synthetic. It’s just the last car that I put synthetic into that used conventional all it’s life it started leaking badly. Course it didn’t help that my parents put oil in that was different viscosities…
Well that’s it for me for now…Once again thanks for all the replies, although I never expected to have a big discussion about it…
My personal opinion about extended life oils is that it’s all B.S. I use Synthetic oil in everything including my Lawn Mower cuz i think it is superior to mineral oil in many ways. I don’t care what “Captain Amsoil” Says If you have a tiny leak on conventional oil you will end up with a large leak on synthetics. And it is caused by the fact that synthetics flow much better than mineral oil. It will not cause a leak, however. Wanna make a leaky 3.0Lt Mitsubishi bleed like a slaugtered hogg……….put synthetic in it.
Your Subaru has gone 175 k on who knows what and if it still runs well and doesn’t use oil i would stick with 5w30 or 10w30 conventional oil and change it often. I bet the engine will outlast the car.
Although everyone has pretty much covered everything I would suggest, here are my two cents.
I do believe synthetic is a superior oil when used from day one.
But, In your situation, I would not change a thing. I would continue using the same weight and type of oil that has been working for you so far.
I would also stay away from ‘extended life oil/high mile oil’. I do not believe the claimed benefits outweigh the risk of unwanted leaks.
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