SANTI

Planning to do an oil change/filters etc and being a newbie thought I would do my homework first.

I am indebted to GreaseMonkey who has probably saved my engine. I have never heard of filling the oil filter before fitting and have never taken the plugs out to bring up the oil pressure on other cars.

I understand the logic of disconnecting the crank sensor but I am a little confused by a comment added by somebody near the end of the thread. Basically they confirmed that doing so would cause the CEL to come on in MY99 and onwards. My problem is I do not understand the significance of this. Will the CEL just go off again once the sensor is reconnected or will I be stuck with the light on? If the latter, is there a DIY way of getting it to go out?

I have also been sizing up the job generally. Is working on an Impreza (MY99 if that makes a difference) a realistic proposition for most people with basic tools/ facilities? I am not even sure I am going to be able to get the spark plugs out! Are there certain special tools or do just need to get stuck in?

Thanks in advance for any advice forthcoming & best wishes for the new year.

greasemonkey

In fairness Santi, other people have been advising pre-filling the oil filter and dry-cranking a long time before I arrived - it's good sense for all engines, not just Subaru ones. All I really did was crystallise the wisdom of a number of people into a simple list type thing!

I've little direct experience of what happens with the MY01< cars, but in my experience, disconnecting the crank position sensor on the MY99-00 cars doesn't cause a CEL (I've never had one changing the oil on an STi5, STi6 or MY00 (later with MY99 ECU) UK Turbo).

However, if you do get one on an MY00 or earlier car, if it doesn't go off by itself, all you need to do is follow the ECU reset procedure that's documented pretty well here and elsewhere to get rid of it.

In answer to your general maintenance question, these cars aren't that much harder to work on than any other. If you're used to working on FWD, normally aspirated transverse engined cars, obviously you've got to get used to the rearranged geography, and slight increase in complexity caused by the turbo, intercooler and four wheel drive system, but in general terms they're easy cars to work on once you've worked out the lie of the land.

Changing the plugs isn't a particularly difficult job once you know how to do it, and doesn't need anything more specialised than a 14mm plug socket with a 3" extension, and maybe a universal joint. The important thing is to take the airbox, battery and ideally the washer bottle off first. With those out of the way, you're still close to the chassis leg on 2 and 4, but there's no big problem getting to the plugs.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 1/1/2004 9:33:21 PM]

SANTI

Thanks again Greasemonkey. I will give it a go.

I have read the views on oils and there seem to be clear steers in that direction but are all oil filters much the same or do I need to get a Subaru branded one?