DIY : Subaru Oil Change

**John** · 12-09-2011

Oil Change

In this guide I photographed a 2011 Subaru Outback. There are minor differences between it and our cars when you change the oil, but its generally the same. The biggest difference is where the exhaust sits around the oil filter...but as soon as you get under your car, you will see what you need to do.

Time Required :

20 minutes

Tools Needed :

This varies on how you like to do it or what tools you have available to use.

Drain pan

Funnel

Your drain plug is a 17mm. You can use either a socket or wrench.

You can use either filter pliers or a filter claw on the oil filter if you're not able to get it off by hand. If you use a filter claw like pictured below, I highly recommend you put an extension on it to avoid busted knuckles

Step One :

Jack up BOTH SIDES of the front of your car and secure them on jack stands. If you have drive up ramps, you can use them and it would be a little bit less work.

Step Two :

Pop your hood and take off the oil cap. If your car is still hot from running, let it cool off for a little while before you proceed to avoid getting burned by the exhaust or hot oil.

Step Three :

Now get under the car with your 17mm wrench / ratchet. Look for the oil pan. Its right on the bottom of the engine. Its a big black pan...you can't miss it. The picture below shows the drain plug on the bottom of the pan. Yours will be on the bottom / side of the pan. Use your 17mm and remove it to drain the oil into your drain pan. You will probably get some oil on your hand...this is why I had said to let the car cool. Hot oil sucks. Let the oil drain all the way out until its just trickling out, then put the dain plug back in and get it tight. You don't need to get it super tight, just nice and snug. Thread it in by hand first by several threads, then use your wrench to finish the job.

Step Four :

Now you need to locate your oil filter. Its close to the front passanger side of the engine. Its going to look like a black/blue/white/orange or other various color can. The filter on this car was white. On your second gen Legacy, your exhaust manifold is different from the one pictured below, but the filter is going to be in the same spot. It spins on and off. Remove it and put the new one one. There is a gasket that sometimes gets stuck to the car, so take a look and make sure the gasket came off with the filter because your new oil filter has a gasket already on it. Take a bit of engine oil that you just drained and dip your finger in it, then run your finger along the gasket on the new filter. Screw on the new filter and only get it hand tight. DO NOT use a tool to tighten it.

Tip - don't take the filter off all the way at first. Unscrew it a little bit and some oil will drain out of it. After the oil is done spilling, then you can take it all the way off.

Step Five :

Now that you have your new filter on and your oil drain plug back in, you can get out from under the car and fill up your engine oil. 2.2L engines take 4.5 quarts. 2.5L engines take 4.7 quarts. After your finished filling up the oil, put the cap back on.

Step Six :

Now you need to start your car and let it run for 10-15 seconds. You may notice a little bit of valve train noise when you do this if you have a high mileage car. This is normal and should go away within a few seconds. As well, when you first crank up the car, you will see your oil pressure light (teapot looking light in the pic below) stay on for a few seconds. This as well is normal because your engine is just building up its oil pressure. It should as well go away within a few seconds. After your car runs for 15-20 seconds, shut it off. Now get out of it and lower the car onto the ground and check the oil level to make sure its OK. Clean up your mess and you're all done!