The combustion chamber volume is approximately 4 tablespoons, too much oil can result in bent connecting rods.
Tow the car to a shop. They will start the engine, drive the car into the shop, then ask just what the problem might be?
Starting an engine that has been out of use for one or two years will not result in broken piston rings or broken ring landings in the pistons however too much oil in the chambers can accomplish this.
When I put oil into the cylinders for some purpose like this, I do it through the spark plug holes, and only rotate the engine by hand, and w/the spark plugs still removed. Nevada is correct, best to avoid rotating the engine with spark plugs installed & any significant amount of oil left in the chambers.
Apologies. I goofed up on the title of this thread. It is a 2009 Subaru Forester, not a 2009. I’m going to see if I can contact a moderator to see if I can get the title changed.
The first sentence of the first post accurately stated it was a 2009.
Okay, I got the Sta-bil spray and I’m going to try this afternoon if it doesn’t rain. My plan is to spray the oil in the spark plug holes, (I might have jerry-build a small plastic tube extension to fit), then rotate the crankshaft by hand with a breaker bar and socket for a turn or two. My understanding is the greatest danger is the first micrometerthe piston moves when leaving the spot it was kept in for 18 months.
If taking off the spark plugs turns into too big of a job, I might skip it and just rotate the crankshaft pulley by hand.
Next question: with the breaker bar in the upward, (12 o’clock) position, do I rotate the socket to the left, (counter-clockwise), or to the right, (clockwise)?
Thank you for all the help so far. I’ve worked on my own car before, I’m not a complete novice, but most of the work was on older models, when I was younger.
Removing the spark plugs is not a hard chore as long as you have a couple of short extensions and a universal joint for the socket.
If you remove the plugs, might as well put in new ones. But I’d just turn it over with a wrench (unless new plugs are due).
Back in 1972, I bought a 1950.Chevrolet pickup truck that had sat for a year without being run. When I went to look at the truck, the person selling the truck said, “Let’s see if it will run”. He jumped the six volt battery in the truck from a 12 volt system in his newer truck. I pulled the hand choke out, pumped the accelerator pedal and stepped on the starter. The old stovebolt 6 fired right up, old gasoline in the tank.and everything. The seller said, “I think the truck wants to go home with you”. I bought the truck for $115.
The oil in the crankcase was non detergent oil. When we first started the truck, I didn’t own it. However, I did change the oil right away after getting the truck.home. I never had to replace the battery in the 3 years I owned the truck. I did have to rebuild the carburetor.
Removing the spark plugs is only easy IF you jack up the engine. You only ned to remove one bolt from each of the two or three motor mounts. Some Subaru’s have a front mount, some don’t.
To pre-lube the cylinders properly, you need to rotate the crankshaft until two pistons are at bottom dead center (BDC), then spray those cylinders, then rotate the crank until the other two cylinders are at BDC and spray them. By the time you get the plugs back in and the motor mounts bolted back, it should be ready to start.
But I agree with @ok4450 that you can just start the engine. My son has a 2006 Nissan that sat for three years due to a blown head gasket so it had some coolant in the cylinders. He just cranked it over and it started right up. Put in some of that head gasket sealer and the white smoke soon stopped and it purred like a kitten. Oh he did change the oil first because the radiator had drained completely into the oil, and he filled the cooling system.
I’ve owned a 2006, 2008, and 2009 Outback 4-cylinder, which I assume is the same layout. I’ve never had to jack the engine up to get at the plugs, but that may work for some folks.
I didn’t say it couldn’t be done. I said to do it easy, you have to jack up the engine.
Just curious, when I jacked up the engine to replace the water pump on my Corolla earlier this summer, to get the engine to clear what needed to be cleared the right front wheel came off the ground. Does this happen when you jack up your Subaru’s engine? I’m wondering if I’m doing something incorrectly?
Tape a shop vac hose to the tail pipe.
Get a breaker bar/socket on the crank bolt.
Turn the ignition on and wedge something against the gas pedal to open the throttle body.
Turn on the shop vac, and spray fogging oil into the throttle body while turning the engine by hand to lube the cylinders.
Tester
Personally, I’m of the opinion that you are way overthinking this over a problem that does not exist.
If you had said the car had been sitting for a decade then I might understand a bit of trepidation.
If the engine turns over freely by hand it is not going to break a ring. If it’s bothersome, add a couple of quarts to what is already in the engine and turn it over by hand a few times. The oil level will be at cylinder height so they are going to get lubed just from adding oil and no; it is not going to hydrolock.
Then do the likely needed oil/filter change.
A buddy got a 59 Pontiac that had not turned a wheel in 30 years. The enbine was completely lockedup. It took a few months of soaking in ATF and Marvel Mystery Oil to break it free. The engine ran fine and really didn’t use too mhch oil. It didn’t smoke when it ran. 30 years. With 1970 motor oil.
Ok, slightly off topic, but somewhat related. My dad used to do a weird thing on his truck prior to oil changes. He’d drain all the old oil out, didn’t remove the filter at this point, he’d install the oil pan plug, then fill the oil pan with diesel fuel. Then he’d idle the engine for 5 minutes, then drain everything and proceed with the oil and filter change. His theory was this was good for the piston rings and other engine internals. Seriously, I’m not making this up. I did it on my truck a few times too in my first years of ownership, didn’t seem to help or hurt anything as far as I could tell.
They used to do that back in the old days, like Model T days when oils were pretty crude, no filters and no detergents. I would not do that to anything made after 1930 or anything that uses a modern detergent oil.
No because the engine is disconnected from the frame, it goes up without raising the vehicle. But you only need to go up about an inch to get a good straight shot at the spark plugs.
Ok, I see. The Corolla engine/trans is attached to the frame at 5 points. Front of engine, Rear of trans, one near the front bumper, and two in line behind that one. I removed the bolts attaching those last two, and the one in the front of the engine. Thinking it should then hinge on the two remaining. It did, but not enough to prevent the wheel from leaving the ground. I had to lift it quite a bit higher than you, probably 4-5 inches. It’s the only way to remove the pulley from the water pump.
I don’t think WD40 is what it used to be. Now it behaves like a penetrating oil and when the solvents evaporate, it does leave a lubricating film. Read the small print on the can.