Oil Leak. Making me crazy.

[rrryyyaaannn]

Hi all,

 

Here goes my first post...

 

I've been trying to talk to other Subaru owners online for a few days now, with not a lot of help. I'm hoping someone here can give me some direction.

 

I just got a 93 Impreza L Wagon (Automatic) for $900. It has 99k miles on it.

 

When I was inspecting it before I bought it, I saw oil kind of smeared all around the underside of the car. All of the cars I've ever owned have been fairly high mileage, and this sort of thing has always been common. However, today I noticed that after driving the car for a few minutes that there is a very slow drip coming down onto the exhaust downpipe - directly beneath where the passenger side axle enters the transmission. Any idea what could be dripping onto the exhaust? I'm assuming it's motor oil, but maybe not. Any thoughts? Thanks so much.

[Fairtax4me]

If it's by the axles it's probably differential oil. Get some non corrosive degreaser (purple power works good) and spray down the area then hit it with a water hose, try not to use too much pressure. Do that a couple times to be sure you get all the grease out of there. Drive the car a mile or so and then look and see if there is a new trail of oil that will lead you to the source of the leak. Probably going to be the axle seal since that's the only thing in that area.

[rrryyyaaannn]

Cool. I'm really hoping it's something like the axle seal, and not a front or rear main seal or head gasket or something.

 

I've heard Subarus are notoriously leaky cars. Is that true? At what point should I be worried about an oil leak? Thanks again for your help…

[Rooster2]

I've heard Subarus are notoriously leaky cars. Is that true? At what point should I be worried about an oil leak? Thanks again for your help…

 

I am on my third high millage Subie, and all leaked a little oil. Not bad, just little drip spots that I could see on my asphalt driveway. I wouldn't worry about the little drips; catastrophic leaks are rare with Subies, so don't worry about a little leak here and there.

[idosubaru]

I'm in a bizarre mood this morning, so class lets boil this down with some good humor.

 

Seals leak due to age and mileage. American cars don't have the *problem* of still being around after 15 or 20 years! How many Dodge Colts are leaking...none! Because they're awesome? No, because none are still around! But if for some reason an American car somehow lasted more than a few years, it's seals too would start leaking.

 

So yes, Subaru's can leak, but it's not because they leak, it's because they actually last longer than the seals. :lol: ROFL!!!!!

 

Also many older Subaru's aren't worth much so they don't get the best maintenance, etc. A 4 runner is more likely to have fewer owners and be better taken care of longer. Of course there's individual differences, i'm saying over thousands of samples. Poor maintenance leads to leaks.

 

In all honesty they do have "twice" the possibility of leaking than many vehicles though because they have two of everything - two head gaskets, two cam carriers, two valve covers, etc. Most cars only have one.

 

And to your vehicle, that's low miles for such and old vehicle, I personally find lower mileage stuff more likely to leak. The seals likely dry out or the car has sat for awhile during some time in it's life, etc.

 

Now - onto your problem. The next step is really simple, like a 6 year old could do it. If it's leaking that bad then the loss of fluid is going to show up. Check your engine oil and front diff oil and let us know which is loosing fluid.

 

It could be a rear main seal or front diff/axle seal.

 

** But, it *could* also be a valve cover or something simple, you said the underneath is all covered in oil? Most leaks end up back there where you looked due to wind/driving blowing it back. So what you've seen so far might not mean much. If the underneath is all covered, sounds like the oil leak may be *starting* up front and ending it's way back.

 

So - next step is to find out where the leak is starting, not where it's ending up. It's the same reason you don't think your driveway is leaking oil when you see oil on it! You know it came from somewhere. Same thing with an oil leak on the car, just because it's dripping from somewhere doesn't mean the leak started there.

[johnceggleston]

or depending on the smell, it could be a cv boot. does it leave a black residue on the exhaust?

[subaru360]

Get a few cans of engine degreaser. Head for the local self serve car wash. Spray everything down with degreaser. Let it soak for 5 mins or so. Hit it with the high pressure hose. This will get everything nice and clean and make the leak easy to spot. Keep all the fluids topped off until you find the leak.

[Fairtax4me]

Hit it with the high pressure hose. This will get everything nice and clean and make the leak easy to spot. Keep all the fluids topped off until you find the leak.

This sounds all good in theory. But high pressure water spraying all over the engine bay can force water, and dirt, past the rubber seals used to keep water and dirt OUT of electronic connectors. Water invites corrosion, not to mention short circuits.

[bgambino]

This sounds all good in theory. But high pressure water spraying all over the engine bay can force water, and dirt, past the rubber seals used to keep water and dirt OUT of electronic connectors. Water invites corrosion, not to mention short circuits.

 

I can't argue with your theory but I have been power washing my subarus for 25 years and never had one bit of problem (oh...when they had distributors and I did not cover it with a plastic bag, it might not start until I dried the underside).....they start up everytime

You have to be balanced about it....you don't want to hit delicate things by holding the nozzle 1/4" away from it

 

And another thing...this is not the first time I have heard guys recommend taking the car to the local car wash and degreasing your engine....what country do you live in??? You could never get away with that in NY state.

[subaru360]

I wash engines at the car wash all the time. The worst that ever happens is sometime you fill the spark plug wells with water and get a miss until you dry it out. Modern subaru engines have all the connectors weather sealed. Just use common sense and don't spray too much water where it doesn't belong.

 

Here in PA it's perfectly acceptable to clean engines at the car wash. They even have engine degreaser that comes out of the sprayers specifically for that. I'm assuming the waste water is dealt with somehow, but really have no clue, the stalls have floor drains.

[crash321]

I have always used a method that is really simple to determine what kind of oil is dripping. I simply put cardboard underneath and pull it out after about an hour. This does tow things. I can tell where the oil leaked and I can smell the fluid that leaked. Diff fluid has a smell very different from motor oil. I think it is easier to do than degreasing and waiting (although degreasing is a good thing especially once the leak is fixed). Just my .02