Oil change
05 January 2002, 11:35 AM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,343
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey Matt,
So don't go to the **semi** synthetic at this 1500 kms change ??? Just use regular oil ??
Any others care to voice their opinion.....what does Subaru dealerships recommend ??
Cheers,
Ray
[Edited by Razor2001 - 5/1/2002 2:16:59 PM]
So don't go to the **semi** synthetic at this 1500 kms change ??? Just use regular oil ??
Any others care to voice their opinion.....what does Subaru dealerships recommend ??
Cheers,
Ray
[Edited by Razor2001 - 5/1/2002 2:16:59 PM]
27 April 2002, 07:58 PM
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just did an in-between oil change with Mobil 1 Motorsport (10W50). From a previous query, Bob Rawle recommended disconnecting the crank sensor (under the alternator) and then cranking the engine to get oil pressure before starting engine. I'd followed all the recommendations including filling the new filter before fitting it. However, I cranked engine for about 60 seconds and the oil light didn't go out. So I figured cranking alone didn't give enough pressure and reconnected crank sensor.
Engine fired immediately but there was a horrible couple of seconds before oil light went out.
My question it, is this normal (ie ~60 seconds cranking does not turn oil light out). Also, what do you do - do you try to get oil pressure before starting. And what do main dealers do....
Dave
Engine fired immediately but there was a horrible couple of seconds before oil light went out.
My question it, is this normal (ie ~60 seconds cranking does not turn oil light out). Also, what do you do - do you try to get oil pressure before starting. And what do main dealers do....
Dave
28 April 2002, 08:31 PM
#5
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: West Sussex
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Dave, how are you doing.
I would always fill oil filter. Then just start the engine, not revving until light goes out, OK! This is normal practice, in the time it takes you to drain the sump and change filter, all the essential mechanical components in the engine will still have an adequate coating of oil. So no harm done. If however you have just done an engine rebuild, then disconnect sparks and crank it over first, OK!
Dave
I would always fill oil filter. Then just start the engine, not revving until light goes out, OK! This is normal practice, in the time it takes you to drain the sump and change filter, all the essential mechanical components in the engine will still have an adequate coating of oil. So no harm done. If however you have just done an engine rebuild, then disconnect sparks and crank it over first, OK!
Dave
29 April 2002, 08:54 PM
#7
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 814
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It isn't enough just to fill the oil filter and fit it straight on. Let it sit for a few minutes and keep topping it up as it settles down - you'll find that it takes twice as much that way.
Trending Topics
29 April 2002, 10:04 PM
#9
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: West Sussex
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Valid point Raymondo, 10/10 I'll go with that! Because it's totally true... 
T-uk, well.......with respect, you've obviously NEVER taken S/Plug leads off a Scoob
what are you driving a Nova?????????? 
Dave
[Edited by Scooby-Duke - 4/29/2002 10:10:27 PM]
T-uk, well.......with respect, you've obviously NEVER taken S/Plug leads off a Scoob
what are you driving a Nova?????????? Dave
[Edited by Scooby-Duke - 4/29/2002 10:10:27 PM]
30 April 2002, 09:22 AM
#10
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, if you remove plug leads, the ECU will still inject fuel into cylinders so flooding the engine - this may then make it difficult to start and it wall wash all the oil off the cylinder bores and damage may result...
Unplug the crank sensor and the ECU thinks the engine isn't turning so doesn't inject any fuel.
And yes, I did re- top up the oil filter about 6 times over several minutes as the oil gradually disappeared! - takes a while to soak through the filter material inside the can.
Dave
Unplug the crank sensor and the ECU thinks the engine isn't turning so doesn't inject any fuel.
And yes, I did re- top up the oil filter about 6 times over several minutes as the oil gradually disappeared! - takes a while to soak through the filter material inside the can.
Dave
30 April 2002, 10:57 AM
#11
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: 32 cylinders and many cats
Posts: 18,658
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Right, so when I do my turbo (upgrade there is no problem with the old one) do I replace turbo before dropping the oil, then replace/repeatedly top up oil filter and crank it with crank sensor disconnected? Or is there a better order to do it in?
30 April 2002, 01:45 PM
#12
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can buy an external pump that primes the the engine as you turn
the key ignition on, than wait for oil light to go out before turning the engine over.Also good for track days on cars without baffled sumps you get oil surging,It will always keep the engine primed no matter how hard you take the bends.
the key ignition on, than wait for oil light to go out before turning the engine over.Also good for track days on cars without baffled sumps you get oil surging,It will always keep the engine primed no matter how hard you take the bends.
30 April 2002, 02:04 PM
#13
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Deep asked for sequence for changing oil - here's what I did, but I'm not saying this is necessarily right or the only way!
1) Warm up engine so oil will drain easily
2) Jack up front (I used ramps for ease)
3) remove undertray if fitted (6 bolts - 2 at front, 2 at side and 2 near rear, plus 2 plastic clips at rear which slide off towards rear of car)
4) Remove oil filler cap
5) Loosen sump plug and make sure you have a suitable container underneath - I got caught out here as I had a Halfords drain can underneath, but the oil gushed out so fast that I ended up spending the next half hour wiping oil off myself and the drive
6) Remove sump plug - beware - the oil is quite warm!
7) Once all oil flow has stopped, wipe clean sump plug and mating surface on sump, fit new washer (this is important as it's a crush washer and shouldn't be reused) and replace sump plug and tighten
8) Loosen and remove oil filter - a fair amount more oil will spill out, so have that drain tank handy. I used a chain wrench but it was a bit awkward - a proper "end-on" filter remover would be easier.
9) Fill new filter with oil. Wait a few minutes and top up. Repeat until no more oil can be added - this takes several goes as the oil works its way through the filter material.
10) Smear rubber sealing ring on new filter with fresh oil and fit filter - follow the instructions on filter - tighten until you just feel the mating surfaces touch, then tighten another 3/4 turn.
11) Fill with new engine oil - I put 4.25 litres in initially (this should include what you've already put in the filter) then topped up accurately at end of process.
12) Remove crank position sensor - this is a 2 pin connector under the alternator and has a fiddly catch - squeeze the top of the connector at the LH side and slide to the left. Make sure it's left out of the way of the alternator belt!
13) Crank engine until oil pressure light goes out. Note that this can take up to 2 minutes of cranking - do it in bursts so you don't overheat the starter motor.
14) Reconnect crank position sensor and start engine. Make sure oil pressure light goes out sharpish - provided you cranked for long enough in 13) above it should go out almost immediately the engine fires.
15) With engine running have a quick check that there's no oil leaking from around drain plug or filter.
16) Stop engine and refit undertray.
17) reward yourself with nice cool beer!
In all this should only take about 1 hour - it's all fairly straightforward.
Dave
[Edited to say that 2 minutes cranking needed to get oil pressure - thanks Bob Rawle for that!]
[Edited by DaveMcC - 5/1/2002 2:13:24 PM]
1) Warm up engine so oil will drain easily
2) Jack up front (I used ramps for ease)
3) remove undertray if fitted (6 bolts - 2 at front, 2 at side and 2 near rear, plus 2 plastic clips at rear which slide off towards rear of car)
4) Remove oil filler cap
5) Loosen sump plug and make sure you have a suitable container underneath - I got caught out here as I had a Halfords drain can underneath, but the oil gushed out so fast that I ended up spending the next half hour wiping oil off myself and the drive
6) Remove sump plug - beware - the oil is quite warm!
7) Once all oil flow has stopped, wipe clean sump plug and mating surface on sump, fit new washer (this is important as it's a crush washer and shouldn't be reused) and replace sump plug and tighten
8) Loosen and remove oil filter - a fair amount more oil will spill out, so have that drain tank handy. I used a chain wrench but it was a bit awkward - a proper "end-on" filter remover would be easier.
9) Fill new filter with oil. Wait a few minutes and top up. Repeat until no more oil can be added - this takes several goes as the oil works its way through the filter material.
10) Smear rubber sealing ring on new filter with fresh oil and fit filter - follow the instructions on filter - tighten until you just feel the mating surfaces touch, then tighten another 3/4 turn.
11) Fill with new engine oil - I put 4.25 litres in initially (this should include what you've already put in the filter) then topped up accurately at end of process.
12) Remove crank position sensor - this is a 2 pin connector under the alternator and has a fiddly catch - squeeze the top of the connector at the LH side and slide to the left. Make sure it's left out of the way of the alternator belt!
13) Crank engine until oil pressure light goes out. Note that this can take up to 2 minutes of cranking - do it in bursts so you don't overheat the starter motor.
14) Reconnect crank position sensor and start engine. Make sure oil pressure light goes out sharpish - provided you cranked for long enough in 13) above it should go out almost immediately the engine fires.
15) With engine running have a quick check that there's no oil leaking from around drain plug or filter.
16) Stop engine and refit undertray.
17) reward yourself with nice cool beer!
In all this should only take about 1 hour - it's all fairly straightforward.
Dave
[Edited to say that 2 minutes cranking needed to get oil pressure - thanks Bob Rawle for that!]
[Edited by DaveMcC - 5/1/2002 2:13:24 PM]
30 April 2002, 03:30 PM
#15
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ramps obviously make removing the sump plug easier......
but shouldn't the car be level when refilling with the oil?
another thing is if you've left your car standing a couple of
days/ weeks wouldn't this have the same effect as changing the
oil possibly worse, no protection for piston etc (dry start up?)
A friend of mine had an old Jag V12 used only in summer months
he used to swear by pouring a tablespoon of oil into the pistons
via the spark plug holes before the first start up after winter.
I know this isn't possible in our cars!
Plums.
30 April 2002, 03:48 PM
#16
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Madness
The ramps I used were 2 tonne ramps from Halfords. However, due to the Scooby's low front bumper/spoiler, you need to place something in front of each ramp (I used 3 planks of wood laying around) to get the lip spoiler high enough to clear the top of the ramp - you'll see what I mean when you try it!
Plums
Yes the car does need to be level to get the final oil level accurate - hence I only put 4.25 litres of oil in the car with it on the ramps, then top up accurately on a level surface when I've finished - you could always jack up the back of the car to get it level, but it's more hassle than it's worth.
Re the car standing for a lng time - I think there are 3 things to consider here:
1) The oil will tend to drain out from the heads back to the sump and to some extent bearings will dry out I guess
2) The standard oil filter has (I believe) a non-return valve, so oil won't drain back out of all the oilways in the engine. Cranking the engine after an oil change is effectively to try to get oil around these oilways (which have drained when the filter was removed)
3) Putting a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder if the car is to be laid up is to prevent corrosion of the cylinder bores and has nothing to do with lubrication AFAIK.
Dave
[Edited to say that I wanted the ramps anyway, and the car is much more secure on ramps than on axle stands. Ramps were £28 - though the muppet in Halfords tried to charge me £56 as he said there were 2 ramps - until I pointed out there was only one bar code and one ramp on its own wouldn't be much use!]
[Edited by DaveMcC - 4/30/2002 3:51:05 PM]
The ramps I used were 2 tonne ramps from Halfords. However, due to the Scooby's low front bumper/spoiler, you need to place something in front of each ramp (I used 3 planks of wood laying around) to get the lip spoiler high enough to clear the top of the ramp - you'll see what I mean when you try it!
Plums
Yes the car does need to be level to get the final oil level accurate - hence I only put 4.25 litres of oil in the car with it on the ramps, then top up accurately on a level surface when I've finished - you could always jack up the back of the car to get it level, but it's more hassle than it's worth.
Re the car standing for a lng time - I think there are 3 things to consider here:
1) The oil will tend to drain out from the heads back to the sump and to some extent bearings will dry out I guess
2) The standard oil filter has (I believe) a non-return valve, so oil won't drain back out of all the oilways in the engine. Cranking the engine after an oil change is effectively to try to get oil around these oilways (which have drained when the filter was removed)
3) Putting a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder if the car is to be laid up is to prevent corrosion of the cylinder bores and has nothing to do with lubrication AFAIK.
Dave
[Edited to say that I wanted the ramps anyway, and the car is much more secure on ramps than on axle stands. Ramps were £28 - though the muppet in Halfords tried to charge me £56 as he said there were 2 ramps - until I pointed out there was only one bar code and one ramp on its own wouldn't be much use!]
[Edited by DaveMcC - 4/30/2002 3:51:05 PM]
30 April 2002, 04:48 PM
#17
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,582
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dave McC,thanks for taking so much time to write that.Very clear.I w'ont be changing the oil myself but will make sure whoever does follows this.I wonder how many Scoob yspecialists do this.
30 April 2002, 05:41 PM
#19
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Madness
Glad you like it - proof that I can bodge with the best of them! I guess a lot of cars must now give the same problem with ramps (my wife's Octavia RS' front spoiler is even lower!) - don't know why the manufacturers can't make the ramp a more shallow angle - ok they'd be longer but at least you wouldn't have to bu66er about with bits of wood.
Dave
Glad you like it - proof that I can bodge with the best of them! I guess a lot of cars must now give the same problem with ramps (my wife's Octavia RS' front spoiler is even lower!) - don't know why the manufacturers can't make the ramp a more shallow angle - ok they'd be longer but at least you wouldn't have to bu66er about with bits of wood.
Dave
30 April 2002, 06:03 PM
#20
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Greece, previously Syd Australia
Posts: 2,833
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good one Dave. 
I reckon this thread should be an add to favourites job by clicking on the option at the top of the page before the first post, for future reference and to be able to provide it as a link to people that ask about oil changes in the future.
Cheers,
Wrexy.
I reckon this thread should be an add to favourites job by clicking on the option at the top of the page before the first post, for future reference and to be able to provide it as a link to people that ask about oil changes in the future.
Cheers,
Wrexy.
30 April 2002, 10:52 PM
#22
Dave, to answer your original question it can take up to nearly 2 mins to get the oil light out when cranking. Just keep it going till it gets there. Oil pressure switch is set at 2.5 psi, even so it takes some building up at crank speeds vis the fact that even when you started up it still didn't go out straight off. Oil will run out of a hot engine more quicl=kly than a colder one and also out of the bearings and oil ways, hence the suggestion to crank and pre-pressurise, its what I've always done following a recomendation from a very experienced Subaru mechanic.
Bob
Bob
01 May 2002, 03:26 AM
#23
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,343
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Excellent,
Since I will be performing the oil change myself (STI7 Jap spec, 1500 kms oil change) I will be following this thread
Differences are that I have found out that the new STI7's hold 5 litres. True or false ???
Also, becuase I am in a year round very hot climate I will be putting in 20 - 50 semi synthetic on this change and the one at 5000kms(then change to fully synthetic at 10,000 kms). Sounds good or bad ???
Thanks again....nice post
Cheers,
Ray
Since I will be performing the oil change myself (STI7 Jap spec, 1500 kms oil change) I will be following this thread
Differences are that I have found out that the new STI7's hold 5 litres. True or false ???
Also, becuase I am in a year round very hot climate I will be putting in 20 - 50 semi synthetic on this change and the one at 5000kms(then change to fully synthetic at 10,000 kms). Sounds good or bad ???
Thanks again....nice post
Cheers,
Ray
01 May 2002, 02:09 PM
#25
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bob - thanks for the reply - I've edited the original post for anyone that follows it to do an oil change
Dave - afraid I won't be at pease pottage sunday - going to a friends wedding.
Dave
Dave - afraid I won't be at pease pottage sunday - going to a friends wedding.
Dave
01 May 2002, 07:48 PM
#26
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,887
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am getting an oil change tomorrow -Mobil 1 15w50 m'sport and will find out if it takes 4.5 or 5 ltrs.
Does any one have the URL to the Oil threads froma few months ago or the Big end thread?
Andy
Does any one have the URL to the Oil threads froma few months ago or the Big end thread?
Andy
01 May 2002, 08:47 PM
#27
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Greece, previously Syd Australia
Posts: 2,833
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
01 May 2002, 10:27 PM
#28
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,887
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cheers Wrexy,
I wonder could we get an archive set up for useful threads like that and the thread on Diffs,dawes,exhausts etc. My favourites bar on IE is filled with links to threads like that.
Andy
I wonder could we get an archive set up for useful threads like that and the thread on Diffs,dawes,exhausts etc. My favourites bar on IE is filled with links to threads like that.
Andy
01 May 2002, 11:11 PM
#30
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Greece, previously Syd Australia
Posts: 2,833
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Andy,
I usually click on the address in the address bar, then right click, then click on copy, then I go to my mail section, then new mail, paste the link, then send it to myself, and then I have the links forever. Then you can throw them in your docs or a floppy or wherever.
Cheers,
Wrexy.
I usually click on the address in the address bar, then right click, then click on copy, then I go to my mail section, then new mail, paste the link, then send it to myself, and then I have the links forever. Then you can throw them in your docs or a floppy or wherever.
Cheers,
Wrexy.