Subaru Oil Change Good Tips To Prevent Oil Leaks

[playstation2bigs]

Will STP oil treatment blue bottle prolong the life of engine??

[redneckrollercoast1]

why do you use fram?

[2damaxmr2]

Remove the filler cap before you loosen the drain plug.

[24745037]

very helpfull, thanks, peter south wales uk

[Magicseven2001]

Very good video, good detail

[AWDfreak]

Nice walkthrough. My Outback is high enough off the ground (yay Outback lift!) to the point that jacking it up is not necessary. And thanks to the boxer engine design, it makes oil changes quite easy :D

[AWDfreak]

Subaru oil filters have a different bypass valve setting (I think), so I stay away from aftermarket oil filters. I personally don't feel safe using a Fram Xtra Guard, however, the Tough Guard is fine (in terms of quality) according to a trustworthy source that specializes in oil and oil filters.

As for oil filter, I ALWAYS get the Subaru OEM oil filters since it's one I KNOW will have the right bypass valve setting for Subaru engines.

[ycformosa]

Hi, do I really need subaru coolant? I have 98 forester and my car need new coolant

[venturahwy76]

@ycformosa you can use whatever coolant is compatible with what you already have. Prestone makes a coolant that is compatible with all types. I would stay away from anythng marked Dexcool. If you get any air in the system with dexcool it forms a sludge like substance. I have had that problem with it. If you are going to change your coolant you can get a kit to do a reverse flush and then fill it with fresh coolant.

[ycformosa]

@venturahwy76

Thank you for replying my mail. I just replaced coolant two days ago using Prestone. It seem like my drain plug has problem, now is leaking coolant, not much just few drops everytime I park the car.

[venturahwy76]

@ycformosa....Sorry to hear about the leak. The first thing I would do is try opening and closing the valve a few times there is probably some dirt on the valve seal. There may be an rubber o-ring on the drain plug valve that could be changed, or you could just clamp a short piece of tubing on the drain nipple and plug it with a bolt if all else fails.

[AWDfreak]

@ycformosa I personally would recommend it. The 1998 Forester has the EJ25D, the EJ25 most plagued with head gasket issues. I would recommend to stay on the safe side and use Genuine Subaru Coolant/Antifreeze. I have an Outback that has the same engine (EJ25D), so I religiously run Subaru Coolant/Antifreeze because I don't want to risk anything going bad.

But like someone responded before, you can use the Prestone coolant, but that's up to you.

[ycformosa]

what grade of oil you use? I have 1500000 miles on my forester

[venturahwy76]

@ycformosa I use 5W30 ...what ever is on sale.

You have 150,000 miles? on your forester. Was 1,500,000 a typo?

I was at the local salvage yard last week to get a torsion bar spring for my legacy trunk lid. The operator gave me a list of car in the yard one of the subaru legacy's had 680,000 miles on it, but most had around 150,000 and major body damage.

[vio919]

Great video, thanks.

[torxMonster]

Fram is cardboard shite!

Wix is a better element..

[l8z8]

Great video! I noticed around the 1:20 minute mark that your FRAM oil filter appears to have been leaking a bit. I've tried FRAM and Purolator on my Subaru and both have leaked (especially in cold temps). Aftermarket filters often use a lathe-cut flat gasket and for whatever reason Subaru's don't always seal well with them. The Subaru OEM oil filter has a rounded p-cut gasket and it prevents this leaking issue.

[venturahwy76]

I loosened the filter a little before starting so I could film with one hand and take the filter with the other that is why the filter has some oil on it.

I have not had any problems with the fram filters, thanks for the tip though

[l8z8]

Ooooh, well now don't I look silly. :)

I'm not trying to say FRAMs are a problem either. I used them for years on my previous car. With my Subaru, I just had an issue when temps dropped below the 20s here in CO.

Also, (just more pointless FYI) FRAM makes the OEM oil filters for Subaru of America; however, there's just a couple differences between the OEM and aftermarket. Mainly just a different gasket, baseplate, and a stiffer relief valve.

[venturahwy76]

Thanks for the info, If I have that problem in the future I'll get some Subaru filters.

The manufactures stuff is usually better than aftermarket, so that makes sense.

[venturahwy76]

I put a anotation in the video about the Subaru filters, I am sure that will help somone out. Thanks again

[rkellyforums]

Thanks. Make a vid on alternator replacement for us novices! ;)

[venturahwy76]

The oil pump is behind the timing belt cover. it is driven by the crankshaft. so once you have the timing cover and crank pulley off it is right there. The crankshaft stub that the crank pulley is bolted to passes though the oil pump.

[crazyplanetx]

can anyone tell me where is the engine oil pump on a subaru ?