Should I change oil and filter on 2004 Subaru Outback

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Aug 13, 2009
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148
Location
nj
I have a 2004 Subaru outback with 200,000 miles wondering if I should change the oil or never change the oil ever again?

Slowly leaks oil out of the head gaskets that all the Subarus have issues with Lukaz about a quart every thousand I just change the oil and filter has about 6000 miles on it. But since I added a new quart every thousand some of that oil was a lot newer.

Wondering if I should change it or maybe never change it again because it’s self changing.
this is my daily driver beater car so it gets whatever oil I have left over that’s on sale some times Synthetic some times regular some semi synthetic. Little of everything
 
What shape is the car in? If it is at the end of its life just add oil and change the oil filter every once in a blue moon . If you can get a few years of use out of the car don't spend any more than the minimum. I didn't know Subies made it past 60,000 miles with out and engine rebuild.
 
i don’t know about your 2004 but i can change the oil in my wife’s 2014 outback faster than i can ask the internet whether i should do it or not.
 
It’s getting close to end of life got it for 1000 bucks dumped about 400-500 into her all new fluids and small things Just made it 6k.



yea it doesn’t take long to change but I’m trying to put the least amount of money into the car. Kids getting drivers permit if the car makes it passes that 6 month I might do the timing belt .
 
If oil is leaking between the block and the cylinder area, you have a head gasket issue which is all too common with Subaru. It will eventually erode the head gasket so coolant will leak into the oil, then it's too late. Use Felpro gaskets to fix the head gasket problem.
 
With the price of vehicles, I'd probably fix or pay to fix the issue and restore the engine. Leaking gasket wouldn't be that expensive of a fix. And better than a total loss of the car and possibly getting stranded or having it fail on the road or in an emergency. Let's say you have a serious emergency, and the car fails.

I'd get it fixed, probably a few hundred dollars. And yes, stay on top of oil changes.
 
What a great experiment! I think you are right. An extra quart so often I’d simply change the filter every 5k and just add. If it’s got HG issues you should deal with that first.
 
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