Is Mobil 1 bad to run?

My buddy was telling me today that he's seen a lot of threads on other forums stating that mobil 1 is bad to run in subarus and also supposedly causes engine failures... I was just wondering if this is true or just a bunch of crap... I don't see what the difference would be between this and any other synthetic oil... I would just like to know other ppls thoughts as I run Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 (had a cpl cases sitting in the garage, and since its full syn I usually change ever 5k miles, so it's less hassle) and a Mobil 1 filter... The car its in is a 95L 2.2L with bout 86k miles on it.. I notice my car and another friend that uses it seems to knock pretty good when it's started in the cold, but goes away (have heard this is a common problem with subarus), but ricetiva's car that uses just conventional oil doesn't seem to do it as bad.....

 

Rotella 10W-40 is what I found to be recommended by many Sub. people. Supposed to have an addtive that reduces piston knock.
Filter brand is supposed to be even more critical so many recommend OEM Subie brand while someone like Purolator makes them for them.
I have been using higher grade Wix filters without any noticeable issues.

 

The non-turbo engines are a lot less critical on the type of oil. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand of oil as long as it is the proper weight and meets the service rating in the owner's manual. The 10w30 might be a bit heavy for really cold weather.

The complaint I've read about Mobil 1 is that it breaks down or sheers in subaru engines, so after a while it'll be equiv to a 20 weight or worse when hot instead of 30. The best way to tell would be to get a used oil analysis done for yourself though.

Rotella 5w40 Synthetic is what a lot of people recommend.

I run Rotella 5w40 in my wrx now, however the prev owner ran Mobil 1 for the first 90k miles with no issues.

 

i run 5 40 as well very nice stuff. mobile 1 seems to break down alot faster then the rotella

 

I've ran 10-30 Mobil fully synthetic and haven't had any problems. I have an 05 OBXT and drive the snot out of it. 80K so far...

 

91k on my lgt with mobil 1. No problems yet.

 

people HATE on M1, its just that, hate. I run it now in my wrx at 100k and I had it in my overboosted driven like a racecar Mazdaspeed Protege for 115k miles...car ran great when I sold it.

 

While not Mobil1 Synthetic, I just got a UOA from Conventional Mobil oil and it was in very good shape after 3750 miles. They recommended me run it out to 5000 miles next time. Pretty good for a $3/qt conventional oil.

As for a filter, I was running the OEM filter and they said it filtered very well. I would personally recommend the OEM filter based on it's filtration ability and seal design which I was told by one of the parts guys at the dealership is less likely to leak on a Subaru engine. YMMV, but for <$5 I don't plan on running any other filter.

Details here: http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?37052-Used-Oil-Analysis-Results

 

I used to run Mobil 1 in my car as well. With my 18G it did fine but I did notice the oil did seem to break down faster than I thought it would. I ran it in my car for 60k miles. It had the 18G for like 35k of those miles and I just had to check my oil regularly and refill it. I switched to ENEOS at about 60k. I noticed a huge difference in the oil. It didnt disapear as fast and didnt seem to break down. But ENEOS is quite a bit more expensive.

 

how the hell can anyone see or feel this with out analysis of some kind?

50K + on mine since i bought it. Rally X/auto x all summer, DD all the time i'm not racing. i change it between 3-3.5K all the time. 5w30 M1 and napa mid price filter.

 

I ran Mobil 1 in a few highly modded DSMs, a nicely modded supra, modded 1.8t A4 and my current modded 05 LGT. Never any issues with any of the cars. I recently started to notice oil consumption in the lGT and switched to 'German' Castrol Syntec 0w30, which seems to have addressed the oil consumption. As was stated above, a high quality filter is key to longevity.

 

http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?26092-The-Official-Oil-Thread

There is more talk on this subject here.

 

Ive run it in our 03 wrx for the past 100k miles...no issues.

 

My car has never had a problem with M1 or rotella or the german Castrol nor royal purple.

I've seen several cars "burn" mobil 1, but not burn the rotella. I don't know if its an M1 problem, but a person should always check their oil.

 

Agreed. Check it when you fill up the tank and you will avoid most issues that might crop up.

Once again, agreed. Get a UOA if you want to be really sure of the oil's effectiveness... Everything else is hearsay and opinion.

 

I had a problem with my 1.8t VW eating M1, Like a quart every 500 miles noticeable. It got to the point where I was worried my intercooler had a quart of oil in it. Turns out it didn't. Had NO IDEA where the hell it went. I switched to Lubromoly, no issues after that, in fact, I had ZERO loss over the 5000 miles after that.....Confused the hell out of me. :ugh:

I've used Rotella with zero issue, as well as Castrol Syntech....I was kinda pissed about the M1 just based on paying what I did for a "superior" oil, I figured something like that wouldn't happen.

 

5w30 Mobil1 from 307miles - 67,xxx miles been beating the heck out of my car since the day I got it and its still running great.

 

I've only had consumption issues with running thin Mobil 1, like 0w30. If I ran 0w40, loss was minimal. I tried Amsoil SSO 0w30 which is about as "super" an oil as there is, and that had more consumption then Mobil 1 0w30. I've used some other 5w40 oils including Rotella T with varying results. I mainly blame the consumption on sport use with my car as I really only see the loss after events and not really during normal driving. I have 100k miles on my engine and have used it for sport use in auto-x and rally-x for the last few years and have never really used it lightly since I bought it with just 26k miles. It's getting pretty worn out by now. My next step is Eneos 0w50 as sort of the end all solution. Hopefully I won't have to step to BMW spec 10w60. For me, consumption is strictly a hard use event. I can drive the car daily with 0w30 and not even put half a quart in after a couple thousand miles, but I can drive it for a day at a rally-x and suck up a solid quart. I can switch to a 0w40 or 5w40, Mobil 1 or otherwise, and see only about 1/4 to 1/2 qt. loss with the same use and time. The operating temp viscosity seems to be a big issue in terms of how the oil is used up. You really do need to understand how worn your engine is and use the appropriate viscosity for that level of wear. For daily use, I'd use a 0w40 or 5w40. For sport, I see I need to step up to a 0w50 or 5w50 to minimize losses simply for the level of wear and current tolerances of the engine. I could have gotten away with a 0w30 or 5w30 when newer but not now, not without significant consumption during events and a bunch of fouled O2s.

I will also note that a lot of the blame with Mobil 1 is because people simply don't watch their oil levels. You get low and don't notice it, you'll more then likely run dry and sieze your engine. The hate comes from all the horror stories of people wrecking their engines because they don't check oil levels regularly. I have seen a lot of instances where I could have very easily siezed my engine if I was simply a little less vigil with my regular checks. I have seen my dipstick dry a dozen times and on the previous gas fill up, it was fine. That's how fast it can be used up when you're not paying attention.

The problem is it's not just Mobil 1, but a lot of people use it. All you really hear on the internet are the complainers. You'll hear 100 people complaining before you hear that one person praising a product. I don't blame Mobil 1 because it hasn't specifically done anything out of the ordinary.

If you run your car hard, it tends to wear faster. If you mod your car and make more power, it will wear quicker. Out of a modded turbo engine, I really don't expect it to last more then 50k miles before it could use a rebuild, although, you might be able to push 100k miles without any serious damage. An NA might be another 50k on top of that with hard use. These cars may run 200k or 300k with simple daily driving, but with sport use and with modded hardware and power, no, they don't.

 

Closing this thread. We already have an Oil thread, no need to open another one up. Please use this: http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?26092-The-Official-Oil-Thread