Blackstone Report/Good news

Got my first Blackstone labs report back this week.

 

06 Legacy GT, stage 2 for the last 30k miles on a Tuning Alliance tune. 84,000 miles on the motor when the oil was taken. I definitely attribute their tuning as one of the main reasons my motor is wearing well.

 

Rotella T6 5w-40 using OEM Subaru filters. Both banjo bolt filters removed. I use roughly 1 quart every 3k miles.

 

I had read recent things stating that Rotella was no longer any good for these motors, but it seems my car still seems to like it. Also K&N Air filter seems to be working well. I was considering going back to OEM paper, and I still might.

 

Any thoughts or feedback is welcome.

LOL. I'll get that banana in there asap.

 

My invidia catted dp doesn't seem to care about Rotella either. I passed emissions a few months ago. My Grimmspeed UP is catless. I talked with my cat and she said just keep giving her canned food and she dgaf about my car.

 

I think high potassium would indicate coolant leaking into the oil somehow. Thankfully I don't have that going on.

I don't have cats anyway - just one dog.

 

I should send my oil off to them. Never done it before.

I don't have cats anyway - just one dog.

 

I should send my oil off to them. Never done it before.

 

You should!

Yeah, $30 to find out the health of your engine is money well spend IMO.

I ordered the test kit from Blackstone. I'm excited and nervous!!!

Who has been saying Rotella is no good for these engines anymore, I didn't know their taste had changed. I will be speaking to my engine tonight about it. It's never been great for the cats apparently but who cares about them?

 

ZINC is the magic ingredient for the Turbo and you have a lot of zinc left in the oil... looks good on that front, looks good everywhere. Potassium is lower than the universal average, try adding another banana.

 

There is/was a formula change scare for Rotella T6 a couple months back. Pretty sure it was just a change to meet new specs/criteria, and the oil is still just as good.

 

Rotella T6 5w-40 using OEM Subaru filters. Both banjo bolt filters removed. I use roughly 1 quart every 3k miles.

 

Any thoughts or feedback is welcome.

 

I also use T6 and OEM, and use a quart every 3K miles. My Blackstone reports 8 ppm Lead consistently and they say it's OK and still recommend a 8k OCI. The car is stage 3 with 208,000 miles on it.

I was doing 3500 OCIs so I'm glad I get to extend that a bit. I got a new job that involves about 70 miles of highway commuting a day, so I was changing oil pretty frequently.

The 3750 mile recommendation by Subaru for their turbo engines is absurd with modern synthetic oil. Daily driving should be fine to 5,000 miles, minimum. I've never seen an oil analysis that's ever suggested anything lower than that. The only reason I'd follow that 3750 mile OCI is if I had a new car and needed to keep the warranty valid.

What are your thoughts on '08 2.5i engines in terms of change interval? Manual recommends 5,000km (3,000 miles) and I felt mildly guilty last time waiting until 7,000km (4,300 miles). This car definitely darkens up the oil faster than my previous Quad4 GM (which I changed every 10,000km and never had issues). So my quandary is use synth oil and go longer, or use conventional oil and stick to 5k/3k miles and sleep at night.

Do a used oil analysis. Opinions on forums are great and all, but you can't beat definitive information on the quality of your oil, and the health of your engine through chemical analysis.

That's what I have in my car right now, I'll take it to 5500 miles and get another UOA.

Oil change interval is one thing, keeping the oil pan topped off is another.

 

I get a yearly Blackstone UOA done, every May since I bought my wagon 4 years ago, and with 164k miles on the odometer they've all come back looking good using Rotella T6 5w40.

 

My wagon eats about 1 quart of it every 3k miles, I drive about 12k miles a year, and my driving is considered severe - lots of short trips and very little highway cruising, so I go with 3k mile intervals. I check my oil level about every other gas fill-up, and always keep about a quart in the hatch. Check your oil level often!

I believe keeping the proper amount of oil in the motor is vastly more important than the type (conventional or synthetic, and the weight) and the interval.

 

There are guys here on the forum with over 300k miles on the OE turbo motor using only conventional 5w30 dino oil.

I used T6 a few years ago, due to it's thickness I had too much piston slap on cold starts. Switched back to Synpower 5w30 and now it only piston slaps if the car sits for a week or so.

 

I am curious bout how good SynPower is with these engines, maybe I should cough up $30 and send it out after 3k miles.

 

The 3750 mile recommendation by Subaru for their turbo engines is absurd with modern synthetic oil. Daily driving should be fine to 5,000 miles, minimum. I've never seen an oil analysis that's ever suggested anything lower than that. The only reason I'd follow that 3750 mile OCI is if I had a new car and needed to keep the warranty valid.

 

It all depends on your driving style. I rarely let my oil go above 3K OCI on the GT on Valvoline Synpower 5w30. Reason? I do 4 miles per cold start, 8 miles per day. I also drive the car like a turbo car should be driven. My oil is typically pretty dark by 3k miles. Lots of cold starts is not good...

 

I really could benefit from 0w30 oil, but that one is still a rare beast.

My tuner (Tuning Alliance) had recommended Motul X-Clean 5w30 which I have a jug in my garage of now. I'll give that a go just to see how it is. I definitely agree that making sure your oil is always topped off is vastly more important than the type of oil you use. The number of "oil starvation" threads is proof of that.

I'd love to go 10,000km (6,000 miles) between changes using synthetic - and it sounds like I can. That way it makes it easy to remember when to do it also. I will try this on the next change and see just how disgusting the oil looks when it comes out. I always use the thickest oil grade recommended and keep an eye on the level.

I'd love to go 10,000km (6,000 miles) between changes using synthetic - and it sounds like I can. That way it makes it easy to remember when to do it also. I will try this on the next change and see just how disgusting the oil looks when it comes out. I always use the thickest oil grade recommended and keep an eye on the level.

 

Just looking at the oil tells you absolutely nothing. Most of the time, your oil will be pitch black within 2k miles or so, depending on driving conditions, oil type, etc. Just because it's black doesn't mean it's "no good." You really need to do a full analysis to know what condition it's in.

Both banjo bolt filters removed

 

Should be 3 banjo bolt filters

So this formula change... I found a press release for July 2016

http://rotella.shell.com/media/2016/shell-lubricants-announces-shell-rotella-portfolio.html

 

and it says "introducing a Shell ROTELLA T6 Multi-Vehicle 5W-30 which will meet API CK-4 and API SN standards allowing its use in both diesel and gasoline engine"

 

and thus there is a new bottle but I am still getting the original flavor 5W-40 made for diesels and cat killing. I won't be touching the new fangled thing... change is never good.

 

 

 

No doubt they did they since the sales were going up for people using them in cars.. kinda like how Plastic dip started catering more to the DIY stuff.

I believe keeping the proper amount of oil in the motor is vastly more important than the type (conventional or synthetic, and the weight) and the interval.

 

There are guys here on the forum with over 300k miles on the OE turbo motor using only conventional 5w30 dino oil.

Very true.. when my ringland went it was pressurizing the crankcase and popping up the dipstick which would blow out oil all over the underside of the hood..