pbennett45 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 New to the forum.. have a '98 forester at 200k miles... had great luck with it so far... nothing beyond usual maintanence and expected things wearing out. For about 2 years now (last 30k miles or so) it's been leaking ~1quart of oil per 2000 miles (I top it off once between oil changes, then it's down again at the next oil change). I expected the seperator plate - had heard it was common on subarus - took it to the dealer and they said cam shaft seals and valve cover gasket... their price was way too much to spend on a 10+ year old car (would have gone with the dealer for the seperator plate, but any mechanic can do the other stuff) so I took it to my local guy who I like a lot. He's telling me he thinks it's more the seperator plate than the other stuff! But he' also saying at 1qt/2000 miles don't bother with it because fixing it is likely to just add pressure and burst somethign else. I'd love to get another 50k miles out of it (i.e. 3 more years til I'm done paying off the other car)... but I'm hesitant to just leave things I know are wrong... Any opinions? Is it at the point where if I want to keep it I need to learn to work on it myself and just rebuild the engine to be worth it? Should I just eek the last few years out of it with a few oil leaks? Is it just gonna be a money pit if I start sinking $800 at a time into it now? Thanx for the thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 While the separator plate could be a source for leaks, most common ones are cams seals, valve cover gaskets and the oil pump backing plate "O" rings. If you are due for a timing belt change soon, these are all things that can be done at that time to save labor since the timing belt covers will be off offering easy access. I'd shoot for those first since the cam seals usually last 80-120k miles before they start leak oil. I would only go after the separator plate after all the other seals are done and you still have leak issues. And welcome to the board, you'll fine plenty of Subaru info here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbennett45 Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Thanx for the reply. Probably got another couple years til the timing belt is due. I've read up on the valve cover gasket and I think I could probably do those on my own - yea I know, no kids within an earshot when ya do the passenger side one. I'm a bit of a car repair newb, but I can do oil changes and front brakes and rotors (i.e. disc brakes) without much trouble - I'm not COMPLETELY mechanically uninclined. Worthwhile to maybe do the gaskets on my own and see if the leak slows down enough to hold out until the timing belt is due anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 +1 to what Suzam said. And welcome aboard. Your oil consumption really isn't out of sight. Front end work might take care of a lot of it. Seperator plate on the other hand requires pulling the engine so would be a bit expensive. I don't agree with the might just "add pressure and burst something else" comment. These are pretty sturdy machines. And as far as money pit, I doubt that I put more than a couple of hundred dollars a year on average into my 15 year old EJ22 and it runs like a new engine! Great thing is if you don't mind getting your hands dirty you really can do it all yourself. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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