Dealership Service Chat re : engine oil

[HowAboutThat]

I watched a MrSubaru1827 video in which he lamented how thin Subaru zero weight oil is, and suggested doing an oil change mix of half zero and half five weight.
I’m going in for an oil change tomorrow, my 3000 mile oil change, which is coming out of my own pocket, but I wanted to know what the dealership advised about changing viscosities.
I called Huffines Subaru of Corinth, where I bought my car, and asked the service technician for advice.
He agreed that even though I’m getting 6000 mile oil changes from the dealership gratis until 24,000 miles, it’s a good idea to change the oil every 3000 miles, which I am doing.
When I asked about mixing weights, he said that it was OK, and suggested I use 20 weight oil.
Tomorrow, I’m going to use Subaru 05- weight oil and I’m happy that not only is it OK, but the technician agrees with me that it’s a good idea.
Just thought I’d share.

 

[piste]

I watched a MrSubaru1827 video in which he lamented how thin Subaru zero weight oil is, and suggested doing an oil change mix of half zero and half five weight.
I’m going in for an oil change tomorrow, my 3000 mile oil change, which is coming out of my own pocket, but I wanted to know what the dealership advised about changing viscosities.
I called Huffines Subaru of Corinth, where I bought my car, and asked the service technician for advice.
He agreed that even though I’m getting 6000 mile oil changes from the dealership gratis until 24,000 miles, it’s a good idea to change the oil every 3000 miles, which I am doing.
When I asked about mixing weights, he said that it was OK, and suggested I use 20 weight oil.
Tomorrow, I’m going to use Subaru 05- weight oil and I’m happy that not only is it OK, but the technician agrees with me that it’s a good idea.
Just thought I’d share.

So that tech is advising to stick with 0W20 and not go to 5W30 nor a mix of the two???

 

[HowAboutThat]

So that tech is advising to stick with 0W20 and not go to 5W30 nor a mix of the two???

He said it was OK to use all 20 weight, though we didn’t go into any detail.
I was happy to get the news.
When I return to the dealer for my 12,000 mile oil change(the one tomorrow is 9,000) I’ll get specific feedback from the tech.
But it’s clear that the tech I spoke to today agrees with more frequent oil changes and thicker oil.

 

[piste]

He said it was OK to use all 20 weight, though we didn’t go into any detail.
I was happy to get the news.
When I return to the dealer for my 12,000 mile oil change(the one tomorrow is 9,000) I’ll get specific feedback from the tech.
But it’s clear that the tech I spoke to today agrees with more frequent oil changes and thicker oil.

thicker? Than what? 0W20 is not thicker than OEM spec. It IS the oem spec.

 

[HowAboutThat]

For my car spec is 0w-16 if I recall correctly

 

[bmart]

0W is generally about gas mileage/efficiency...and not so great for engines, especially in warm climates.

 

[bmart]

3k intervals is very old school thinking unless you're doing track time, towing a lot, etc.

FYI, mixing 0W 50/50 w/5w doesn't product 2.5W. That isn't how viscosity mixing works, FYI. That isn't to say mixing is bad. I'm about to do it on two of my cars on their next changes. You can also look at Euro oil, as the additive packages will be different.

https://www.mobil.com/lubricants/-/media/project/wep/mobil/mobil-row-us-1/pdf/mobil-1-engine-oils-product-guide-sheet--may-2022.pdf

 

[piste]

For my car spec is 0w-16 if I recall correctly

your car is....?

 

[HowAboutThat]

I have a ‘24 Crosstrek and as soon as I get home and can verify, I will share the oil specified.
And i’m not doing any strenuous driving, far from it, I just have always been a freak about frequent oil changes, and I would much rather do it too often than too rarely

 

[HowAboutThat]

Ok my spec oil is 0w-16, and the YouTube recommendation was a 50/50 mix with 5w-30.
I asked the tech about whether mixing it was OK, and he said yes and suggested I just use twenty weight.

 

[piste]

Ok my spec oil is 0w-16, and the YouTube recommendation was a 50/50 mix with 5w-30.
I asked the tech about whether mixing it was OK, and he said yes and suggested I just use twenty weight.

Interesting. Mr aubaru rec 5w30 or blend that with 0w20....either of which thicker than ur tech recommended. Who knows.

 

[HowAboutThat]

Interesting. Mr aubaru rec 5w30 or blend that with 0w20....either of which thicker than ur tech recommended. Who knows.

Mr. Subaru said that 0W oil was for the purpose of fuel economy and he said that thicker oil would be better for the engine, but would decrease fuel economy slightly. He was the one who made the suggestion to go 50-50, with half being the five weight.
Im in my 60s and I don’t anticipate buying another new car so I want to take extra care of this one. Also, the redesign is making everything look more like Toyota, and I question how much much longer a Subaru is going to uniquely look like a Subaru.
So I’m very happy with mine. My wife has pointed out that my last couple of items of clothing have been the same color as my car, which was completely unintentional.

 

[HIGHTIDE]

I took my (new to me) 2021Crosstrek to the dealer for an oil change. I've always done all of the general Maintenance on my cars myself, but 77 years old with back issues it's difficult to crawl under the car. I purchased Mobil 1, 10W 30, and a K&N oil filter. The dealer made me sign a release because I provided an oil viscosity that was not what Subaru recommends. I used to build race engines and my thinking is, a cold engine needs more viscosity at startup when the running tolerances have not yet been achieved.

 

[bmart]

If you can find the lil inbetween with the right additives, I'd do that before I started mixing oils and not knowing the viscosity.

 

[Dick Foster]

My mechanic car enthusiast says the car nuts all say to go with 5W 20 I think. Ths 0 weight is for supposed fuel economy and CAFE. Next time I get mine changed, its going to 5W20 or 5W30 stuff.

 

[HowAboutThat]

I am getting the change now and I asked the mechanic to explain the numbers. And he says it is a multi weight oil. Both numbers refer to viscosity. The higher number is the viscosity when the oil is cold and the lower number is the viscosity when the oil is hot.

 

[piste]

I am getting the change now and I asked the mechanic to explain the numbers. And he says it is a multi weight oil. Both numbers refer to viscosity. The higher number is the viscosity when the oil is cold and the lower number is the viscosity when the oil is hot.

Find a new mechanic ASAP!!!

 

[HowAboutThat]

Find a new mechanic ASAP!!!

Why?
I’ve been going to this guy for years, he worked on my Mercedes and his own Toyota has 300,000 miles on it and looks glorious.

 

[bmart]

He's wrong. That's why. 0W is for car start up. the other # is for running at temp, but temp isn't steady either.

 

[HowAboutThat]

Maybe I understood him backwards