Legacy Wagon Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Heck, I could walk you through the steps easy Run your car for about 3 minutes to heat up the oil. Put it up on jackstands unless you can lay down and fit under the front end ok. See that bolt in the first picture on the bottom of the black tank? That's your oil pan. You take a oil drip pan and put it under there. Go under your hood and open the oil cap. You'll recognize it lol Then go underneath the car and loosen the oil drain plug. It's a 17mm so you can use a socket wrench or a regular wrench. Let all of the oil drain out and put the plug back in. Put the plug back in for sure. THIS OIL WILL BE HOT!!!!!!!!! Then you move the oil pan underneath the filter. You'll see it cause it's pretty close to the oil pan. You can actually see the bottom of it in that picture. Unscrew that slowly and let it drain oil a little at time. Then you pull that off of there and dump the rest of the oil from it into a pan. Take your new filter and take a little bit of the used oil on your finger and run it around the black rubber seal til it's coated with a light layer of oil. Now put that back where the old one went and tighten it til it starts feeling like it's getting tighter and then tighten it one more turn around. Then you check and make sure the oil plug is tight and the filter is all the way on. Then you just fill it up with 5 quarts of oil and make sure to tighten the cap all the way down The only tool you really need is a 17mm wrench...and maybe a hammer if the bolt's stuck on there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty10 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 That's definitely step-by-step. thank you Okay, two questions - why would you put a layer of used oil on the rubber seal and not clean oil? Is it possible to over-tighten the oil filter? Maybe I'll try this tomorrow when my son is here. Before I make breakfast, so he'll be nicer .. lol I'll probably end up looking like a coal miner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I always end up running the used oil around the seal. You can use clean if you want. Either way wash your hands after you're done. Yeah, it's possible. Just start turning it until it feels like it's up against the block, then turn it about 3/4 to 1 full turn around. Some people just tighten it as tight as they can with their hands, but I never do. They can get stuck. It's not too bad. Just bring some rags and expect a little to get on your driveway the first few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty10 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 So much for my great plans. Worked on a resume for my impatient son while the summer monsoons descended upon us again. That killed the oil change and the corvette show that was happening in the city - would've been able to see 80+ of 'em.. how awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Man...you guys get a lot of rain. Find a friend with a garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty10 Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Hi LW, Normally we don't get a lot of rain.. it'd only be a few days a month, if that. But this year has been a nightmare - think Waterworld, but without Kevin Costner. We finally had a beautiful day yesterday so of course I got a sunburn.. At least we know the sun still exists. Finally got my oil changed I only was able to "help", which was more like getting to see how it's done and where everything is, but that was very helpful. The friend that suggested that he'd go through it with me just seemed to disappear, after I'd already bought the oil and filter so didn't wanna bring it to a quick lube place at that point. The used oil certainly does come out of there in a torrent, doesn't it? The Subaru shop gave me a free metal oil pan gasket - the guy said he didn't want to bother writing out an invoice. I definitely could do my own oil change now so that's cool. Now I just have to pay attention for when the next oil change is due. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Awesome movie. Sucky concept if you're not half fish though and I take it you're not haha Oh that's good. So you have a pretty good concept of where the filter is and stuff now And yeah...loosen that bolt and the floodgates open up. Awesome! It's really not complicated. Just a matter of remembering the steps. And usually every 3,000 miles is good. I remember the Legacy needs and oil change at 130,000 miles and the RS needs one at 153,000 miles. You get used to putting it in the back of your head after a while, but you could always put a piece of tape on your windshield and write the mileage down if you needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty10 Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Yep, that's my plan. Actually putting a label above the odometer.. lol I gotta do what I know works, for my non-mermaid brain! Before I had help I was almost ready to try the job by myself until I read some random 'how-to' article that mentioned something about being careful not to accidentally drain the transmission oil instead.. Omg.. lol.. That did me in and then I was back to "hurry up and wait" mode. I'm so happy to know how to do this now. Makes me wanna stalk people with beater Subarus, and hit 'em up.. "Need any help with your oil change?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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