Fumoto Oil Drain Valve
Time for the first oil change, so it was the perfect opportunity to install a quick-drain valve in place of the drain plug to make oil changes much easier and cleaner from now on.
Fumoto valves are great. They are well-made out of brass with a ball-valve mechanism, and they lock closed with a spring & notch in the valve body. If you do your own oil changes I can only think of ONE reason not to use one, and that would be if your drain plug was vertical into the bottom of the oil pan, which would make the Fumoto valve stick down too low under the car. Fortunately, the Subaru drain plug is angled, and on the Forester it is high enough that there are no clearance issues.
The Fumoto valves come in two styles - one has a flat end where the oil drains, the other has a nipple where you could optionally stick a hose. I only use the latter style so I can use a piece of tubing to prevent spillage of oil.
The valve with the correct threads for Subaru engines and the nipple on the end is the F105N.
Valve lever in the closed position:
Valve lever in the open position:
A 19mm spanner fits the valve body for installation. Be careful to not overtighten! See the instructions on their website before installing.
To open the valve, you lift the lever out of the notch and rotate it forward:
Installation is trivial - Remove your drain plug to change your oil using a 17mm wrench, let all of the oil drain, wipe the threads on the oil pan clean, and install the spacer & valve as if they were your drain plug. Finger-tighten, then 1/4-turn with the 19mm wrench. You NEVER have to remove it, and it's completely painless to drop and replace the oil just by flipping the valve lever.
Oil Change Notes:Remove the oil filler cap and the dipstick before draining the oil:
Draining the oil by removing the drain plug is very messy - be sure you have a pan or bucket with a wide enough area to catch a BIG gush of oil when the plug is removed.
See this video for an example (not mine). Obviously, this problem doesn't exist once you install the Fumoto quick drain valve!
The new filter:
The original filter, easily reached from below with a filter wrench (be prepared for another messy gush of oil from the filter as it's removed):
Refilling took 5 quarts of Castrol GTX 5w30:
Labels: HowTo, Maintenance, Upgrades
Front Bumper Plugs
If you live in a state that does not require a front plate, this is a very easy and cheap solution for the holes in the front bumper that would be used for a plate bracket.
I found these at Lowes, in the hardware section. They have drawers with various specialty fasteners, etc., and they happen to carry these black plastic plugs:
You can use the part number on the bag to look them up at your local Lowes. There are 2 plugs per packet, and they cost about $0.22. Just snap them into the holes:
They look perfect on the dark grey, and of course on black, too. On the other colors it may be a toss-up whether to put in the black plugs or just leave the holes open. You could always use some touch-up paint on the plugs to try and match them to the bumper if you have a lighter-color Forester.
Labels: HowTo, Upgrades
