Oil change 2010 Legacy 2.5GT

2010 Legacy 2.5GT oil change.

Disclaimer: Any repair can be dangerous. Be careful! I cannot assume any responsibility for accidents, injuries or damage.

This job is somewhat different from the earlier Legacy years. It is not difficult but slightly tedious. My first change took about 1 hour. I had never changed oil on a Leggy before and had no idea what I would find. I can probably do everything in 40 minutes. It was similar to the G35 I had.

1) Get supplies. 4.2 liters oil, new filter, new drain plug crush washer.

2) Tools: 14mm socket and ratchet or wrench, 10 mm socket or wrench, 12 mm socket or wrench, breaker bar (may not be needed), oil filter wrench, oil drain pan(s), rags or towels. Small flat blade screwdriver. Ramps or jack stands are helpful. Wheel chocks.

3) Start up car and warm up engine. It does not need to be hot. Carefully drive up on ramps. Stop engine.

4) Open hood (lever under dash on drivers side lower left).

5) Loosen oil filler cap and place near hood lock (so you won't forget it). Loosen dipstick.

6) While on ramps, put in reverse, set parking brake. Chocks behind rear wheels.

7) You must remove the shroud under the engine. It is about 2' by 1.5' in size. It has 5 bolts and 2 plastic fasteners. There are 2 bolts on each side, in the front and the middle (red). They are 10 mm. The plastic fasteners are on the right and left sides (yellow), toward the front. Use the flat blade screwdriver to lift the center plastic disc about 1/4". Pull it 1/2 way out and then you can remove the plastic fastener (pull too far out and it will not come out). Remove the final bolt from the rear (12 mm). The shroud is now held on by 2 clips adjacent to this bolt. Push the ears outward on each of these clips and they should release.

8) Gently remove the shroud, it must be worked back and forth from under another shroud. Set it and the bolts and fasteners aside.

9) The drain plug is very near where the back of the shroud was, just ahead of the sway bar. The crankcase is black color partly under a silver cover. Put drain pan under drain plug and remove drain plug. 14 mm I believe. It came out much easier than what other posts said. The plug has a crush washer painted to it. It is hard to see, but is there. Remove the washer with a knife or thin screwdriver. Clean the plug and set it aside. Allow the crankcase to drain as much as possible.

10) The oil filter is near the drain plug, slightly forward and toward the passenger side, near 2 intake pipes. Remove the oil filter with a filter wrench. Again this was not as difficult as was said in other posts. It is NOT surrounded by exhaust so it is not super hot. I used a conventional endcap type filter wrench and had no problem with removal. Clean the filter seat and the screw that holds the filter. Fill the new filter with fresh oil. Spread oil on the rubber seal on the filter base. Gently screw the new filter on the threaded post, making sure that is threaded correctly. Tighten it until it stops turning then tighten filter 3/4 -7/8 turn more. You can do this by hand.

11) Clean drain plug hole. Put new crush washer on plug bolt. The flat side goes against the bolt head, the curved side against the oilpan. Hand tighten the bolt, be sure not to crossthread. Tighten with wrench, I believe about 20-25 lbs with torquewrench.

12) Fill with clean oil into oil filler tube. Check level with dipstick (before you start it). Start car and run a minute or two. Look under for leaks. Stop engine, wait a few minutes and check oil level again. It will need a little more oil, about 1/2 quart (the filter and other places filled with some oil, so it needs more). Add a little more oil and check level again. Look under for leaks again.

13) Replace shroud. In the front on the sides the "wings" must go under the other shroud, otherwise it will not fit. I used antiseize on the bolts. The plastic fasteners can be reused. Push them in with the center post 1/4" out, push the whole thing in the hole, and they will close and lock.

14) Carefully come off ramps and clean up.

Notes:

Use a NEW crush washer. Never the old one.

I decided on Synthetic oil (Rotella 5-40 turbo-diesel, Shell). I used Mobil 1 in my G35 and drove it for 73,000 miles. It was as fast then as at 2000 miles!

I decided to use the OEM filter (yes I know it is Fram but...). It was made to Suby specs, they do not want to replace engines under warranty! The relief valve is 23 lbs. No other filter I saw was more than 18 lbs.