Just had my first oil change (Mobil 1 10W-50, with Wynn's Engine Flush on the old oil) since owning MY97 Turbo. I told the mechanic (non-Subaru dealer) the oil capacity is 4.5 litre, but he had to put in another litre to bring it up to the mark. Upon checking it after driving home and allowing time to drain down, it was way over the "hot" level, so had to make another trip to the shop and drain some of it out. Either the oil expand that much when warmed up, i.e. beyond the expansion notch, or the oil takes a long time to drain down to the sump at filling, leading to over-fill. My inclination is towards the latter, since the expansion notch is already calibrated for this in the first place. IMHO, follow the instruction manual, not your eyes, or wait at least 5 minutes before reading the dip stick.

There have been various threads,and info on the FAQ about oil level.It's recommended that you fill about half way between the two cold markers(about 4.25/4.5lts)or the oil blows back through the solenoid(pain to clean out).Don't know why yours took so long to settle,mine took about 1min after it had been filled,and run for 1min to circulate,and then rechecked.

Mark.

The general guide is that you should fill the oil filter up before putting on the car once this has been done then the car takes almost exactly 4 litres of oil to bring it up to a reasonable level on the dipstick.

Darren

Thanks for the info, guys. How complicated can a routine oil change be to warrant booking an appointment with to the Subaru dealer? Will going about 20 miles on an overfilled engine do sufficient harm to the solenoid already (no signs so far, touch wood)? If so, can anyone enlighten me where is this valve located? Is it the cylindrical gadget just in front of the turbo? The FAQ suggests cleaning with aerosol brake cleaner, can carburettor cleaner be used instead. This sounds like a DIY job, if only I can find the thing.

p.s. Figured out where the solenoid is, and so far, the car can still pull above 5,000 rpm without problem, so maybe the damage is not there yet.

[This message has been edited by lokokkee (edited 20-07-99).]