How to select suitable engine oil for my Subaru Outback based on the year of manufacture and engine type?

Hello, neighbor! I’m glad you’ve decided to change the engine oil in your Subaru Outback on your own. Now, I’ll tell you what tools you need to have, which oil to buy, and provide detailed instructions on how to perform the replacement.

To change the engine oil in a Subaru Outback, you’ll need to drain the old oil through the drain plug, remove the old oil filter, install a new filter, and then tighten the drain plug. Finally, you’ll need to refill the engine with fresh oil to the proper level.

It’s good that yesterday you and I discussed the Subaru Outback maintenance schedule, now you know exactly when you need to Transmission Maintenance and much more.

Required Tools

Remember neighbor that before changing the oil you should already have everything you need in stock:

• New oil in the required quantity
• Oil filter
• You may need an oil filter puller
• Drain pan for old oil, watering can or funnel
• Wrench for unscrewing the drain plug

Also, having a lot of clean rags on hand is always good. You can quickly wipe the oil drip from the asphalt.

How to Choose the Right Engine Oil

Today the market is full of different brands of motor oils, there are a large number of them. Let me tell you what engine oil to fill in your brand new Subaru Outback.

Look at the table, you see the year of manufacture of your Subaru, then you can see what viscosity of oil you can buy.

Generation (Year)	Engine	Suitable Oil Viscosity	Popular American Brands	Required Amount of Oil
1st (1995-1999)	2.5L H4	5W-30	Castrol ($29/5 quarts) Valvoline ($29/5 quarts) Mobil 1 ($27/5 qarts)	4.4 Quarts
2nd (2000-2004)	2.5L H4	5W-30	Castrol ($29/5 quarts) Valvoline ($29/5 quarts) Mobil 1 ($27/5 qarts)	4.4 Quarts
3rd (2005-2009)	2.5L H4	5W-30	Castrol ($29/5 quarts) Valvoline ($29/5 quarts) Mobil 1 ($27/5 qarts)	4.4 Quarts
4th (2010-2014)	2.5L H4	0W-20	Mobil 1 ($29/5 quart) Royal Purple ($38/5 quart)	5.1 Quarts
5th (2015-2019)	2.5L H4	5W-30, 0W-20	Mobil 1 ($29/5 quart) Royal Purple ($38/5 quart)	5.1 Quarts

Interesting moment! Some Outback engines can run much longer without repair due to good design by engineers and the use of simple solutions.

Picking the Best Oil Filter

Now let’s see the best oil filter. Look at the table, I indicated there which filter, in my opinion, is better to install your Outback.

Generation (Year)	Engine	Popular American Brands	Article Number
1st (1995-1999)	2.5L H4	Fram, Bosch, Wix	XYZ789
2nd (2000-2004)	2.5L H4	Fram, Bosch, Wix	LMN456
3rd (2005-2009)	2.5L H4	Fram, Purolator, Wix	XG7317, PL14615
4th (2010-2014)	2.5L H4	Fram, Purolator, Wix	XG7317, PL14615
5th (2015-2019)	2.5L H4	Fram, Bosch, Mobil 1	M1-108A, XG7317

Great, neighbor! You have everything you need to work, good job. Now let’s warm up the engine for five minutes, let it run. Did you just come from the store? Great, that’s fine, you can get to work.

A post about how expensive it is to maintain a new Subaru Outback. The experience of owners who were personally serviced in our car service center.

Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Motor Oil in Subaru Outback: A Detailed Breakdown

Especially for you, I quickly wrote instruction, I write in detail step by step what is going on, read it carefully.

• Park the car on a level surface to ensure that the engine oil level is even and drains evenly.
• Warm up the engine for a couple of minutes.
• Place an oil collection container underneath and carefully loosen the drain plug. Be cautious as the oil may be hot.
• Once the oil starts flowing into the container, pull out the dipstick. This helps the oil drain faster.
• Now, you can remove the oil filter and replace it with a new one. Don’t forget to lubricate the rubber gasket with oil and pour a little oil inside the filter before installation.
• Tighten the drain plug.
• Pour in the new oil through the oil filler neck and check the level using the dipstick.

As you can see, neighbor, the process of changing the motor oil on your Subaru Outback is not difficult. You can handle it yourself in about 30 minutes with a coffee break.

From personal experience I can say that the Subaru Outback car has many positive aspects, but of course, there are also disadvantages. I once talked about this in a post about the disadvantages of Outback from the words of the owners.