1999 legacy outback 2.5

She leaks oil so I checked it and added a half quart and drove away. A few days later (this morning) i check the oil again and it's two inches up the dip stick! I looked at the quart and might have gotten 2/3 of the quart in the engine. Is this a big deal? I plan on draining it a bit today, might do a whole oil change, but am unsure on turning on the car again to warm up the oil

Subaru dipsticks are flakey.

 

- Check the oil when the engine has sat for a long while , and is COLD (mornings work well for me.

- Take the dipstick out and clean it (don't look at the oil level, it means little).

- Insert the dipstick all the way, and withdraw. Check oil level on front-side and on back side.

- If you can't get a clear reading, clean and repeat.

Thanks for reply

 

So I went out and tried your step by step because I get in a hurry sometimes. It looks much better, only up to the top hole. I think that is much better, does everyone agree?

Best way to check your oil is when your engine is warm and has not sat long. Best place is at the gas station, while your filling up

on my 2006 impreza if you have to much oil it will set off the check engine light for intake valve control solinoid  and won't let the cruise control work simple fix drain a little oil out until it is at the right level

In case you want to drain some oil, easy and without doing a mess:

 

yep....the suby dip sticks are flaky indeed.  You can get different measurements on the front of the stick vs the back.....no matter when or how

you do it....its weird

read the dipstick right. Should be up to the dot on the front side which is marked. On the back side, it will come up to the notch on the side above the full mark.. When

read dip stick when car is on level ground, after it has set a while, with motor turned off.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

Yeah, the dipsticks are flaky. I've seen it not show anything before (resulting in a mechanic doing a courtesy inspection once yelling at me "the engine has no oil in it" when it actually was full and read correctly at home), to showing random heights, to the oddly placed hole on the outer edge of the stick end that constantly snags paper towels and even rags and could be introduced into the engine if not careful. Even more annoying is FRESH oil as it's virtually impossible to see the exact line for some reason.

 

Best luck I've had is either after it's been sitting overnight or about 5-10 minutes after shutting it off and oil has about 100 miles on it (synthetic). I've gotten in the habit of checking frequently at the gas station if it's giving a stubborn reading. And yes, all readings had the car level.

Yeah, the dipsticks are flaky. I've seen it not show anything before (resulting in a mechanic doing a courtesy inspection once yelling at me "the engine has no oil in it" when it actually was full and read correctly at home), to showing random heights, to the oddly placed hole on the outer edge of the stick end that constantly snags paper towels and even rags and could be introduced into the engine if not careful. Even more annoying is FRESH oil as it's virtually impossible to see the exact line for some reason ...

 

Somehow, that is the Exact description of the Thin Dipstick on my Wife's Car,

 

But both my '85 Subaru and my '69 Mercury had wide Dipsticks,

 

And never had such problem with them...

 

Kind Regards.

we are talking about the dipstick on the car right not the dipstick checking the oil? i once drained 4 quarts to much oil out of a ladies car because her husband/boyfriend didn't know how to check the oil and killed a lot of mosquitoes and then refused to pay me because he was embarassed in front of his woman.