New Oil Change Interval for 2015s?
 

Noticed that the oil change interval for 2015 BRZs (and I'm assuming FR-Ss too) has changed to every 6,000 miles. 2013-2014 had the interval at every 7,500 miles. I'm not aware of any changes to the engine or the oil type for the 2015 model. Anyone know why the change was implemented, and should owners of 2013/14 twins follow the new intervals?

I say check your own oil and make that decision. Could be they want more money in their service department for oil changes. I would change at that interval for FI. N/A on good full synthetic oil can go 10k depending on how the car is driven.

My 2 cents.

You could start testing your oil like several of us do and use that as a guide as to when to change your oil. Its not unheard of to go 10k+ miles between oil changes. Personally oil and filters is cheap enough its not worth running ultra long drain intervals.

The 7500 scares me. Granddad always said to change it at 3000 no matter what.

They didn't have these synthetic oils at that time, but still I'm a bit concerned about that. The boss races late model's and says to change the filter at 5k and oil at 10k, in the street car, after every race in the race car.

Modern engines and oils are dramatically different from granddad's. You can easily go 10k or more on most modern engines with synthetic oil if the engine is seeing fairly light duty (lots of fully warmed up highway miles). I would tend on the shorter side if you're tracking the car or driving really aggressively (or using it on a lot of short trips), but for many people, the long oil change interval is just fine.

We're in a different era from your granddad. Our engines are fuel injected, not carb, our engines are engineered better and are tested to last longer, and our motoroil is different from your granddad's era as well.

We have the technology !

No changes with the engine or oil. Speculation is that it is because of the oil guzzling engines that are in some of the other Subaru's (the FB engine) so that dealer's can keep a closer eye on oil level. There was a TSB for the oil control rings and folks with major oil consumption are having major engine work done.

The DIT 2.0 turbo in some models (Forester) seems to be pretty harsh on oil with fuel contmination as well.

-Dennis

You do know the FACTORY writes maintenance schedule not the dealers right? and that the factory doesn't get paid to do the oil changes.

I've also been using synthetic oil for years and you're wasting money if you change the oil that early. Goes right back to checking your oil with your own eyes. My last 4 oil changes in my car weren't even real dark at 9000 miles, but that will change soon when I go S/C.

Three best things you can do for your car: Use good gas, use great oil, and check your fluids constantly.

I am not sure exactly what to make of this just yet, but this is significant news. An owner needs to be able to set up a maintenance plan that they can be confident with. Why doesn't every manufacturer just purchase Mazda's high-temperature technology for dealing with GDI-caused intake valve deposits?

Your maintenance schedule was written by Fuji Heavy Industries? Wow! Is it in Japanese or English? ;)

I think Subaru should have used Toyota's DI technology on the WRX/Forester like they did on the BRZ/FR-S. When the oil lab tells you the oil is shot at 1,200 miles due to fuel contamination, you've got a problem. Meanwhile, most manufacturers are extending their intervals on xW-20's.

-Dennis

So is this OCI change retroactive? Not that I do 7.5K mile changes anyway, usually closer to 6K.

Officially, no. Unofficially, it probably depends on the dealer IMO.

I suspect some dealers will adopt 6k across the board to make it easier for themselves to remember. Of course, you're only required to change according to the warranty booklet.

Some more info:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...a_cuts_OCI_to_

-Dennis

Interesting, a poster suggests there was a valvetrain change for 2015. Not sure I've seen any info on that.

The interval on Canadian Scion's has been 8000km's (5000 miles) since the beginning. The Subaru's were 10000km's (6250 miles), but not sure if they've dropped or not.

Bobistheoilguy.com has some AMAZING information on it under the Motor oil 101 (Complete with a final exam if that's your thing) and it will clear up some questions you may have. Now I've not done my own UOA because I don't know where to do so, but I plan on changing my motor oil a couple times to figure out which offers me what I need. I don't do much long trip travel, so I am debating a non-synthetic 0w-20 such as red line for my first trial.

I can also tell you that on track day, I will be running Royal Purple HPS 5w-20 specifically because I have track experience in other cars and am likely to push hard. That oil has some pretty cool UOA reviews amung users who are aggressive daily and so It should do well after warmup

Hope that the RP HPS 5W20 works out for you. Drink the purple kool aid. Synerlec is no joke. The zinc and the esters will serve you well. The only question is grade for track days. I ask this question every day. If zinc is preventing wear, doesn't that keep your cat from being poisoned?

So then your position is that each dealership writes the manual that they hand you when you buy the car?

Also who in the world mentioned FHI? since when does factory not mean the people that built the car? aka Subaru.

Some good info in Motor oil 101 and some old, outdated, and incorrect information there. And that's not just my opinion, but the opinion of some in the oil industry and some engineers. See comments by Shannow, Ed Hackett, and Molakule:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Oil_University

Check out some of the articles linked on the main page, as well as the Technical and White Papers forums, for some good reading.

Phosphorus poisons cats. And if you're not burning a lot of oil, then it isn't getting to your cats. :iono:
The manual is written by Subaru of America or Toyota, and that is based on input from the SoA Technical Department, the Legal Department, and the Publication Department, and "approved" by FHI.

The "factory", i.e. the people that build the car, is Fuji Heavy Industries. Subaru doesn't build cars. :D :cheers:

-Dennis

Very interesting, thanks to OP for bringing this up. Is this for BRZ only or for all Subarus?

All Subarus. Any changes to the FR-S oil change interval ???

Your not actually addressing anything. In this case the 'factory' is anything that is Subaru and not the franchise dealer network. It makes no difference what departments are contributing or who actually owns the production floor, its Subaru's name on the car. Legally speaking Subaru DOES build cars, its their name on the origin document not FHI. I'm well aware of how manuals are written among other things I am involved in helping out with technical publications for defense aircraft.

Phosphorus poisons cats. And if you're not burning a lot of oil, then it isn't getting to your cats. :iono:



-Dennis[/QUOTE]

Got it. I guess I am focused on the oil burning that is caused by wear-related excessive blow by. That is what always does me in, after a few hundred thousand miles.

bluesubie, when does the motor oil ZDDP level get to be too high? It seems to be somewhere between say 1000 and 2000 ppm.

Legally speak Subaru of America DOES NOT build cars.

Founded in 1968, Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is the U.S. Sales and Marketing subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) of Japan and is responsible for the distribution, marketing, sales and service of Subaru vehicles in the United States.

http://www.subaru.com/company.html

That's probably accurate. Even HDEO's like Rotella top out at 1,200 or so ppm's of zinc and just over 1,000 ppm's of phosphorus. Red Line Race oil is about double that and they empasize that it shouldn't be used in street cars.

Looks like the 2015 Scion FR-S is still at 7,500 miles or 7.5 months according to the 2015 maintenance guide on the Scion site.

http://a230.g.akamai.net/7/230/83646...n_FR-S_WMG.pdf

I just changed my oil after 7000 miles and it strongly smells of fuel. I started reading and found some info that hints at DI causing higher percentages of fuel dilution, and am wondering if this may be the cause of the shorter intervals.

t=124547http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=124547

Sounds about right. No oil in the world will protect adequately for 10k miles if it's getting diluted with gasoline.

So here's something kind of funny. Picked up my 2015, yesterday and read all the booklets. The main manual for 2015 states oil changes every 6k. The quick reference booklet (labeled 2015.. so it's definitely new), states oil changes every 7.5k!

Way to proofread your literature, Suby!

Subaru makes cars in America:

http://www.subaru-siatest.com

Oil change intervals are currently in a state of flux and Japan is way behind.

Modern oils are good for two years and 20,000 miles.

DI does not dilute oil with fuel, not possible.

How does possibility of fuel dilution in DI differ vs. standard methods?

No one is denying this. Like Subaru of America, SIA is it's own entity but they do not write the owner's manual.

:bonk:
C'mon! Please know what you are talking about before you make such bold claims. Did you even bother to use google?

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2780756

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3366152/1

http://gf-6.com/sites/default/files/...g%20Hurdle.pdf

http://papers.sae.org/2013-01-2569/

-Dennis

I would've thought fuel directly injected would be completely consumed. However, googling the topic suggests that perhaps DI isn't as clean burn as one would suppose. (and you're right I should have checked the interweb first). I see no cause for concern about this issue on the internet, from sources who might know about this. For example, the SAE article precis was restricted to a phenomenon arising from low rpm pre-ignition win turbocharged DI engines, not fuel contamination per se. Our engines are of course not turbo'd and are also a hybrid injection design.

The old carburetters needed hot spots downstream of the carb venturis to ensure fuel vaporization was complete. Raw fuel droplets frequently found their way into the combustion chambers and fuel burning was incomplete. Port injection under pressure atomized the fuel more thoroughly and the fuel was drawn right into the combustion chamber with little opportunity for droplets to adhere to the intake tracts.

DI has the added advantage of compressing and heating only the air after which the fuel is sprayed directly into the hot compressed air under very high delivery pressure. DI engines are cleaner than older designs for this reason, and much more powerful if the increase in detonation resistance is exploited by raising compression.

However, I see that there is some talk that combustion is still not 100% even with DI so some fuel may make its way from the cylinder walls into the oil. Got to be minimal though. Are people seriously getting significant fuel contamination of their Subaru sumps?

I'd be interested in reading technical papers from the DI manufacturers or engine manufacturers.

Just something worth noting when I was browsing NASIOC (checking out Impreza's as a practical car) there seems to be an ongoing oil consumption issue, many members seem to blame the ring design, since they're still on the FB block I'm thinking (hoping) that with Toyota's oversight and the high CR in the FA20 that we won't have this problem down the road, I haven't seen a rash of people reporting consumption and mine's been rock solid, maybe 1/4 Qt. 3/4 of the way through an interval.

227 page thread inbound:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2357460

Possible solution:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2640770

Am I wrong in thinking that oil consumption and fuel contaminating the oil go hand in hand?

The 86's do not show as high as percentage of fuel contamination, generally speaking, as the turbocharged FA20 engine in the new Foresters (check the long uoa thread in this forum). The Forester example that I linked shows 6% fuel in only 1,200 miles of driving. The Lubrizol pdf does discuss turbo and NA DI engines.

No, oil consumption and fuel contamination do not necessarily go hand in hand. You could have both, but not always. Ring design is blamed on that oil consumption problem because SoA has a TSB about it.

Subaru builds Camry's... Interesting...

Im about to set up an appointment with the dealer for the first oil change. I have a 2015 BRZ and it has about 1500 miles. If i go this upcoming Saturday i will be at around 1750 miles.

The dealers says the first oil change should be at 3500 miles, but that seems to high for the first oil change since it has the factory oil.

Im thinking on doing the first oil change regardless and then going back at the 3500 miles for whatever maintenance they do.

Any advise?

3500 miles? That's pretty early for a dealer change. I thought 2015 brz was revised to 6k?

Yeah he dealer guy told me 3500 miles first maintenance.

Dealer guy is wrong, unless they are going to honor that one for free on top of the other 6k/15k intervals, etc.

Long gone is the need for one to change out the "break-in oil" early. These things are broken in from the factory and that includes an oil change from their first high moly factory break in fluid. I changed mine myself at 3k and the UOA showed it was absolutely unnecessary to do so. I am now going to stick to the recommended dealer interval change.

I have a 100$ credit with the dealer to use for any maintenance and stuff like that. I just checked my oil and it looks clean. I just thought i change it since i drive it for about 60 miles everyday (mostly highway).