leaking oil pretty good.

[95 legacy lsi]

when i drove mine home it leaked a little oil and then it sat for about a month. then i got a new batt and drove it around the appt complex a few times and parked it. today i noticed a good saucer sized oil stain under the car and im thinking, great, one more problem in my life. its kinda hard to tell where it could be coming from but with 208k miles theres no telling. am i screwed? im hoping its just the oil pan but i know nothing of these engines and their notorious problems.

[impreza_GC8]

Can you tell what part of the motor is leaking? I'm currently leaking from my front crank seal. You might want to try some Lucas Oil Stop Leak.

[green97gt]

im a big fan of additives etc.

but stop leak is an awful idea.

it just swells the seals, then if you ever stop using it, you get leaks, and is you fix the seal thats leaking, then stop using it, the other seals on the motor will leak cause they have been swollen and are now contracting.

might as well add brake fluid to your oil. that swells rubber too.

[richysteele]

were you getting any smoke? I just had to change the crank shaft seal in my oil pump a rather easy job just hit a snag with the tensioner!

[impreza_GC8]

were you getting any smoke? I just had to change the crank shaft seal in my oil pump a rather easy job just hit a snag with the tensioner!
Thats what I'm looking at having to do. How hard was it? What snag did you run into? Did you put a new timing belt on the car while you were in there?

[richysteele]

oh yes I had to change the timing belt! I had a lil oil on it. also had to change the oil pump gasket. my tensioner located before the pump was jacked up had to straighten out the pin ! overall it was about an hour an 20 minutes.

[nipper]

At 208,000 you have a laundry list of things to reapir, because you skip one the other will leak.

Cam Seals
Main Seal
re-seal the oil pump.

The main seal will dump alot of oil compared to the cam seals.
Also replace the PCV valve, it wil take some stress off the seals.



nipper

[95 legacy lsi]

well that sucks. i know the owner and he has taken pretty good care of it. i have 3 cars, '82 280zx, '95 lumina and the legacy. the z has a pretty bad radiator leak, the lumina is leaking coolant at the intake and needs about 1000 bucks to have that fixed is what a local shop quoted me. i told him no thanks. my wife and i just dont have that kind of cash to come off of right now and of course he wouldnt let us pay payments which he has before since he is friends with my wifes best friends family.to make a long story short, this is the last thing i need. sorry, just needed to rant a little bit.

[zeus]

get some engine degreaser and spray everything down top to bottom so you can see where the leak is coming from.

[1996Battlewagon]

I'm doing this at the moment (engine's currently out of the car). +1 On replacing the cam seals as well. It could be coming from just the front main, but you are going to want to replace all the seals you can get to at this age. If you have the time and resources, you might want to look into doing the job yourself. Shops usually charge alot for this because it's fairly labor intensive.

Good luck man, and don't use stop leak or additives.

[Reason]

First you need to find out if the leak I in the front or rear of the engine. That will cut your options by half. Also what was said before degrease the engine so you can locate the leak. I also think stop leak is a bad idea.

[d1giPhux]

I've done all of these seals.. and at a shop.. its very expensive. Like the guys said, don't use the stop leak.. its junk and could cause other problems for you potentially.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
How to clean your engine bay to find the oil leak:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Have any friends with a power washer?

-Get some engine degreaser (2 cans if you wanna go extra heavy on it).. spray it all over the engine.
Wait 30 minutes.

-If you want to clean the engine bay at this point in time, that's a good idea. You can use an old toothbrush or something.

-Make sure to use a plastic bag over your intake if you have a cold air or short ram intake. If you have the stock air box.. dont worry.

-Cover the alternator with a plastic bag, or tin foil. Spray the engine bay down with the power washer after letting it soak for about 20 minutes or so.. you can also spray the underside of engine.. etc to find where the leak is coming from.

-Pull the plastic bags off.
-Let everything dry for about 15 minutes or so.. then turn the car on and let it run for a little bit.

You can now find where the leak is coming from, as well as have a clean engine bay in the process.
All of this will take you around.. 30 mins or so.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Info about seals on 2.2L Engine (very close to ours):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Cam seals: Located at the front right side of the engine (looking down on the engine from bay).

Sprocket / cam where the seal is behind:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/12/03-1.jpg

Cam housing behind that sprocket:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/12/05-1.jpg

Cam Seal on Cam Housing:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/12/04-1.jpg

-Front main seal (also known as front crankshaft seal): Located Front Middle of engine behind crank shaft pulley.

The Gold Pulley
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/12/26405730011_large-1.jpg

http://beergarage.com/Subaru.aspx


-Rear main seal: Located Where transmission meets engine (see picture below..the round piece in the middle).
http://beergarage.com/subyclutch.aspx

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/12/05-2.jpg


-Oil separator plate: This is behind the flywheel (see above picture: is the part with the K on it):

Install: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=965763

http://beergarage.com/SubySeparator.aspx
http://beergarage.com/subyclutch.aspx




Check here as well for pics of some of these on an ej22 (2.2L Engine):

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/sho ... adid=14975 (http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=14975)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Point:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basically.. this stuff is pretty expensive to get replaced in a shop. However.. if I had a different vehicle to drive for a couple weeks or whatever, i would do it myself at this point. Try to find as much info about this stuff as you can.. check out the links I gave you, and search on google for keywords.

Hopefully this will be helpful, and if any of my info is incorrect.. at least i led you in the right direction for info. I'm always up for gathering more info.


Just figure out where the leak is coming from for now.. but eventually you WILL have to get these things replaced..even if it IS one at a time. I have done it.. and still am.

Replace PCV valve could possible cause less stress on the seals.

Video with some useful info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFP2T0jwsTE

[zeus]

On a quick side note.... does anyone know where to get the CF pulley cover in the above pic?

[Reason]

Please don't make a new thread to update, Update this thread if anything, thanks.

[95 legacy lsi]

sorry bout that king-ding, im used to the Z car forums.

[impreza_GC8]

Thanks for the heads up about the stop leak. I decided not to use it. Just been topping the car off with oil and I'm gonna fix all the leaks over winter break.

[95 legacy lsi]

mine looks like its coming from the oil pan. should i get under there and snug them up? also, whats the special socket used to tighten the valve cover with? and what size? thanks.

[1996Battlewagon]

If you have oil all around your oil pan, it's more than likely coming from your oil pump. Behind the oil pump is a little o-ring that leaks, plus the oil pump itself can leak. Those two alen key bolts that are at the front of the engine are apart of the oil pump and it can look as if oil is coming from those, but it's just coming from the seal of the pump. I bet you money that's what is leaking (I just resealed mine, replaced the o-ring and front main). The fan and pulleys will pick that oil up and throw it every which way.

A local Subaru mastertech told me that the only reason Subaru oil pans leak is if the drain plug gets over tightened or if a hole gets punched through them.

[Roadtrip guy]

Thats good knowledge. I have a leak and I cant tell if its from the oil pan or oil pump. Its dripping from the oil pump alan screws so thats where i was thinking, It dumps out alot of oil.

[ouch1011]

That's pretty common on these engines. The screws holding the 2 halves of the oil pump together loosen up over time and can cause the oil pump to leak. When I pulled my engine to reseal it at about 150k, the screws were barely finger tight.