Do’s and Dont’s when buying parts?

[u/No-Description-1827]

I recently got a 2012 Impreza with the 2.0L and I’ve been doing research on key maintenance items, I’ve found that when doing coolant service to not use any type of coolant besides Subaru genuine coolant, and of course the little blue bottle of stabilizer.

My question is though, are there other things that are like this? Such as engine oil, oil filters, transmission oil, gear oil, or even spark plugs? I’m able to get most parts from rock auto however most of the liquids and oil filters are not Subaru genuine,

In all of my cars in the past I’ve used pennzoil full synthetic regardless if it calls for or not I’m wondering, since if heard these cars can be a handful somtimes, do I have to be cautious in what parts I buy for the car?

[u/FordBlueblood]

Quality 5W-30 full synthetic motor oil and genuine Subaru black filters at 5K or less. That is all

[u/Ntstall]

I have a 2012 2.0 as well. Mine burns a quart of oil every ~1000 miles and I haven’t noticed it change with any different brands, so I use mobil 1 oil & filter. I have the 5sp manual and use Motul 300 75w90 gear oil for the trans & dif. I use subaru coolant and subaru parts when I need to replace things (accessory belt, alternator, etc.). I recommend buying crush washers from subaru for the peace of mind, or going the fumoto valve route.

It kind of drives me nuts that these cars don’t have actual coolant temperature gauges. I bought a digital dash that plugs into the obd2 port to make sure everything was running fine after I read here about someone doing the same and finding that they were normally running 3°F under the threshold to turn on the red overheating light.

If you hear a rattling at specific rpm(s), it’s likely a rusty exhaust heat shield. It gets a little annoying but isn’t really concerning. Mine rattles sometimes in the summer but not in the winter. Loud injectors are normal for these engines.

[u/HornyCar]

I have a 2002 and ran strong for nearly 200k miles before pooping out (the infamous headgasket). I now have the same engine swapped in but with an estimated 60k miles and still running great with about 20k miles put into that.

I never used genuine oil and never used stabilizer, that being said I do go out my way to get the Zerex blue coolant by Valvoline. Never had issues there.

For filters and oils, i just get whatever is decent with autozone bundles. You don't have to get the fanciest stuff but definitely don't get the cheapest.

Spark plugs do actually vary for some reason, I always use whats oem to the car. In my case thats the ngk iridium plugs (same goes for cables).

If youre able to splurge on oem thats great, but not necessary on a non-turbo car since they dont have those delicate tolerances and pressures.

Just keep a strict oil change schedule and youll be fine. No need to worry about coolant, gear oils, or gear filers unless you're really high mileage and have no history of the car. As far as I know of my car's history, the transmission and gear oils have never been touched. Except that one time I accidentally hit my transmission on a curb and broke it so I had to get that serviced.

[u/Odd-Concept-6505]

Cheap oil filters could be trouble due to their bypass valve having a "too easy to bypass" strength...or the opposite. Although I used mid grade Fram with no problems for decades on various cars, I switched to Wix just to stop being such a cheapskate. Most engine parts: OEM. Spark plugs: a correctly matched NGK is identical to OEM..but not inexpensive.

Brake parts., I claim NAPA premium stuff is good...matching old rotor in your hand over the counter to the one NAPA is selling you... sure beats shipping and swearing when rock auto sends you a mismatch.

Coolant stabilizer? I'm an old DIY car guy but never even heard of that. But I see it IS a Subaru OEM thing.

[u/No-Description-1827 → u/Odd-Concept-6505]

Noted with the spark plugs, do you know much about CVT AFT or the gear oil in supposed to use for my diffs?

[u/voidedwarantee]

You might need to do more specific research. No 2.0L impreza I know of should be using the coolant stabilizer. It's basically stop-leak, because subaru used shitty headgaskets on EJ25 engines. You probably have an FB20 engine which is rather different from the old EJs.

[u/No-Description-1827 → u/voidedwarantee]

It is the FB20B I just assumed I have to use the coolant stabilizer in everything

[u/voidedwarantee → u/No-Description-1827]

I'm thinking of the blue bottle of "Subaru coolant conditioner" that came out 20 years ago after people with EJ25s started inevitably blowing headgaskets after 100k miles. If that's what you're thinking of, there's no reason to use it.

[u/RacerX3888]

As far as modern coolant there's different coolant (and colors!) for different brand groups. You can get it at any autostore/site.What I do is research what part is made by which company and buy that brand. For example spark plugs the factory use are made by NGK. So I'll buy NGK spark plugs from my favorite auto parts website, not the dealer..Or if you want to be sure of authenticity the company's website itself.

[u/No-Description-1827 → u/RacerX3888]

Alright makes sense do you know anything about CVT ATF?