oil leak-forester

[frank]

my 98 forester is leaking small amounts of oil thru the drain plug.
admittedly i didn't change the washer when i did an oil change. how tight
do u tighten the plug? have any of you had similar problems?

 

[Rick Courtright]

my 98 forester is leaking small amounts of oil thru the drain plug.
admittedly i didn't change the washer when i did an oil change. how tight
do u tighten the plug? have any of you had similar problems?

Hi,

Do you have a torque wrench handy? The spec for my old Subie's about 34
ft/lb IIRC. Check w/ your Subaru shop to be sure what's right for yours,
but it should be pretty tight. Not 800 lb gorilla tight, but mine's
tight enough it takes a good pull on a 1/2" breaker bar to break loose.

It's best to replace those crushable OEM gaskets every time you change
oil, though they CAN live thru a coupla changes in a pinch. I got copper
gaskets from the auto parts store--for me they last several changes.
Also, inspect the threads on both the plug and pan next time you change
oil. If someone's cross threaded the plug or used an air wrench on it in
the past (I hope not!), there could be thread damage that will allow a
leak no matter how you try to tighten it.

Good luck,

Rick

 

[Jim Stewart]

Hi,

Do you have a torque wrench handy? The spec for my old Subie's about 34
ft/lb IIRC. Check w/ your Subaru shop to be sure what's right for yours,
but it should be pretty tight. Not 800 lb gorilla tight, but mine's
tight enough it takes a good pull on a 1/2" breaker bar to break loose.

It's best to replace those crushable OEM gaskets every time you change
oil, though they CAN live thru a coupla changes in a pinch. I got copper
gaskets from the auto parts store--for me they last several changes.
Also, inspect the threads on both the plug and pan next time you change
oil. If someone's cross threaded the plug or used an air wrench on it in
the past (I hope not!), there could be thread damage that will allow a
leak no matter how you try to tighten it.

Agree with Rick. Should come off without
pulling a muscle with a 1/2" breaker bar.
I suggest buying oem Subaru filters along
with a new crush washer for each one. With
a new crush washer, you can feel it deform
then get hard as you tighten it. That's
plenty tight. A dab of Permatex form-a-gasket
on the top and bottom of a used crush gasket
will help it to seal if you don't have a
new one.