I have an '04 Baja Turbo. Got tired of paying for high priced oil changes, so I decided to change the oil myself.....maybe this was my first mistake.

Anyway, I drove the Baja up on ramps (just in the front) and drained the old oil and changed the oil filter. While the Baja was still up on the ramp, I put the new oil in. Here's the really dumb part....I didn't read the manual and instead assumed that it took 5 quarts of oil. After I finished putting in the oil, I started up the Baja to back down off the ramps. When I put it into reverse, nothing happened. I reved the engine and slowly the transmission kicked in. After coming down off the ramps, I put it into drive and the car barely moved. When I checked the oil level, it was way to high....I know...DUH!

Here's the really weird part....with the Baja on level ground, I shimmied underneath to drain the excess oil When I pulled the plug, NO OIL DRAINED OUT.

What's going on....I put 5 quarts in, and no oil comes out?

What should I try next? Is it time to call a wrecker?

did you pour the oil in the right hole???

Did you drain the right hole?? Check your dipstick, make sure you didn't just fill up oil that you never drained.

What color was the stuff that came out? Brown? Red?

You may have drained the transmission by mistake instead of the engine. Are you sure what came out was oil and not transmission fluid?

Sounds like you drained the trans fluid, especially if your car is reluctant to go into gear...

Gear Oil smells a lot worse than enginel oil so that is an easy way to tell the difference. But I would bet thats probably what you did

The OP says he "put it in drive" which means it's an automatic. If so, and he drained the transmission, the car will run (though it's WAY overfilled with oil) and yet not move when put into drive. And he even MAY be lucky and cause no real lasting harm once he drains the engine oil, and refills both the transmission and the engine properly.

Thanks everyone for responding so quickly....especially on Xmas.

Here's where I drained it...
http://thumbsnap.com/t/PChh2Z9x.jpg (http://thumbsnap.com/v/PChh2Z9x.jpg)

Here's where I filled it...
http://thumbsnap.com/t/KXHmss3f.jpg (http://thumbsnap.com/v/KXHmss3f.jpg)

I checked my tranny fluid (w/ engine idling). No fluid appears on the stick which might explain why the Baja won't budge. Where do I put more transmission fluid in? The manual doesn't say...

Yep that's the transmission drain (and filter too). I'm not that familiar with the Baja but I'm guessing there is a cover plate under the engine which may hide the oil drain plug and filter and explain why you didn't see them. If so take that cover off and it should be obvious what you did.
Once you find the engine drain plug you need to drain all the oil out, have a good sized pan under there because there will be about 10 quarts of oil assuming the engine was full and you added 5 qts on top of that.
If you still have the original filter you took off the transmission get another one or put that one back on. It may not be the same as the engine filter even though it fits.
Get the necessary quantity of the correct transmission fluid (check your manual for the fluid type) and fill the trans through the dipstick hole. You may need to get a transmission funnel.
You probably didn't do any lasting damage as long as the engine was only run overfilled for a short time and the trans didn't have time to overheat. You'll find out when you drive it.

Looks like you drained the transmission, then added oil to the crankcase - oil went in the right place, but you took oil out of the wrong place. You need to drain the engine oil (it's waaaaay overfilled which will cause the oil to foam, etc.) - the tranmission is very low on fluid, which is why it isn't working properly... as for damage, the engine is fine, and as long as you didn't drive around, the transmission is probably ok as well. You really don't want to drive it until you fix this. (the oil pan is further forward - under the engine, rather than the transmission :) )

Awe...crap! I'm an idiot!

You'd think Subaru would label the drain...making it "idiot" proof.

Well at least now I know what I need to do.

You guys saved me a wrecker trip.

Have a Merry Xmas

Yea, go buy 5 or 6 quarts of trans fluid, fill it through the transmision dipstick that should be straight back from the oil dipstick you pictured, almost at the firewall, you will need a long funel. Drive it back onto ramps and drain some oil or all the oil from engine and top off. :)

If the car came with a manual, READ IT. It`s there to inform people like you where everything is located or else if you try to do anything else in the car you`ll do something else instead. I know that as soon as I got my rex I started reading the manual page by page the maintenance section. Or if you need a hand, just post this in the Midwest Section and someone, including me will come out to give a hand to a fellow subie owner. Again, if you`re not sure, do reaserching before you start wrenching.

Sorry to hear that, but on the bright side, you'll never make a mistake like this again :D.

Keep us posted. I highly doubt that you did any damage, unfortunately, that's a lot of fluid to dispose of now :(

Good luck, let us know how you make out.
FWIW, you are now fully qualified to work at Jiffy Lube. ;)

...do NOT run the vehicle until you have the correct fluids and fluid levels in the appropriate places

wow, thank God u didnt break anything!

Research twice, implement once!

Good luck on getting yourself lined out...

Good luck, let us know how you make out.
FWIW, you are now fully qualified to work at Jiffy Lube. ;)

:lol: :lol: No shiz. (I was actually scared he put oil into the coolant)

A girl a work did that and only made it 2 blocks before the car was engulfed in oil smoke. It was hilarious because he boyfriend did it.

Look on the bright side, now's a good time to switch to synthetic ATF :)

yea d00d you just topped your motor off with 5 guarts buddy.

tehe i did the smae thing when i 1st got the car... LOL


Thanks everyone for responding so quickly....especially on Xmas.

Here's where I drained it...
http://thumbsnap.com/t/PChh2Z9x.jpg (http://thumbsnap.com/v/PChh2Z9x.jpg)

Here's where I filled it...
http://thumbsnap.com/t/KXHmss3f.jpg (http://thumbsnap.com/v/KXHmss3f.jpg)

I checked my tranny fluid (w/ engine idling). No fluid appears on the stick which might explain why the Baja won't budge. Where do I put more transmission fluid in? The manual doesn't say...

Awe...crap! I'm an idiot!

You'd think Subaru would label the drain...making it "idiot" proof.

Well at least now I know what I need to do.

You guys saved me a wrecker trip.

Have a Merry Xmas


they kinda did, the filter says trans on it... its ok

...make sure you changed the correct filter too...

Hey, you should clean up that battery too.

...make sure you changed the correct filter too...

yeah - looking at the filter, it's a Mobil-1 M1-108, which is the correct oil filter for the 04 Baja turbo, but probably not the transmission...

When you drain the transmission fluid, does it drain the whole thing or just like 50 percent of it or so??? I want to change my tranny fluid but after reviewing this post, it looks like you don't have to drop the entire tranny pan to get to the filter so thats a plus. Good thing I didn't change my oil because I crawled under it once and thought that was the filter and the plug to drain it...haha. Also if it only drains 50 percent of the fluid, will it be ok to add synthetic to the old and I'm assuming it to be non-synthetic fluid?

word of warning when you refill the tranny fluid: don't just pour the full specified quantity in. I learned the hard way on a legacy a couple of years ago, didn't realize that a quantity of tranny fluid circulates through the radiator for cooling and stays in the system even when the drain plug is open. As a result I unknowingly drained only about 2/3 of the total volume, refilled the entire volume and about 25 km down the road, the excess is spewing out the top of the fill hole and burning on the exhaust manifold. I thought the car was on fire - idiotic. Anyway, go cautiously when refilling so as not to accidently overfill.

You'd think Subaru would label the drain...making it "idiot" proof.



They didn't label the drain, but they did label the filter!! :D

word of warning when you refill the tranny fluid: don't just pour the full specified quantity in. I learned the hard way on a legacy a couple of years ago, didn't realize that a quantity of tranny fluid circulates through the radiator for cooling and stays in the system even when the drain plug is open. As a result I unknowingly drained only about 2/3 of the total volume, refilled the entire volume and about 25 km down the road, the excess is spewing out the top of the fill hole and burning on the exhaust manifold. I thought the car was on fire - idiotic. Anyway, go cautiously when refilling so as not to accidently overfill.

Since it's an AT, a quite a bit of the fluid will probably still be in the torque converter too.