charm Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 2000 outback wagon limited, auto tranny. 180,000 miles. Headgaskets replaced by shop at about 125,000 miles. I noticed a burning oil smell after an oil change that ended up being a little, well, special. I ended up not putting on the crush washer and the replaced the entire plug with one with a fiber washer. I assumed the burning oil smell had something to do with that. I got nude the car yesterday to check things out and the area right along the head gasket towards the front half of the head appears moist. Could hay be coming from somewhere else? Would switching oil, I use mobil 1 5w/30, do anything to slow this down if it is the head gasket? I will call my mechanic and double check this, but I'm pretty sure I'm out of warranty on this repair since I think it was around April of 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Just "moist"? Don't freak out - just clean the area and monitor it. Oil leaks around the head gaskets are pretty common on your engine and as long as it's not making a big difference in the oil level between changes - don't worry about it. Keep using the mobile-1 its good stuff. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charm Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Moist enough to burn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 If it's that big of an issue to you then by all means have them replaced. Generally oil leaks from the HG's are not that big of a deal - even when they are dripping down the x-member, etc. Most of us ignore it. The real issue with the 251/253 head gaskets is the external coolant leak - which can get quite bad. Though it is often solved with the stop-leak additive that Subaru sells for this problem. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 make sure that's where it's coming from. no torn axle boots in that time that could have left some residual grease there to burn off? sounds like you got it narrowed to the heads but valve covers do tend to drift "inward" towards the center of the motor, it's not that is it? how much oil are you using per 1,000 miles? safe to say it's out of warranty. do you know if subaru gaskets were used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Cam seal leaks can flow back that direction as well - though I haven't seen as many failures on the 251/253's than in the past engines. Perhaps Subaru wised up and changed the seals to silicone or viton instead of buna-n. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charm Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 The axle boots look great. The passenger side axle only has maybe 20k miles on it anyway. There was a hint of oil staining, looked old to me, on the driver's side power steering boot. I don't think that's it. The valve cover gaskets looked dry as a bone on both sides. I suppose the oil could be coming from the cam seal and finding the grove between the block and the head, aka the head gasket, and travelling along that. It's really not using any oil. Granted, I think I've only gone 500 miles since the last oil change. This just popped into my head too. While checking to make sure that everything felt nice and tight, the oil filter took a couple turns of the wrist. I don't know if that would be enough play for enough leakage to make it look like the head gasket was leaking and cause that lovely order of burning oil. Thoughts on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Oil filter leak would likely be dripping off the bottom of the filter. That's been my experience. How much oil are we talking about here? Pictures? GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) ooops wrong section. could be your cam seals. you could pull off the plastic timing belt covers and look in at the cams and i hope the Tbelt is not oil soaked. Edited January 12, 2011 by bheinen74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charm Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Oil filter leak would likely be dripping off the bottom of the filter. That's been my experience. How much oil are we talking about here? Pictures? GD It's moist, moist enough to produce a burning smell but dry enough that I don't think a photo would look wet. What's odd is, it must be burning off the block because I don't see how, with where it's moist, it could be touching the exhaust. I'd buy the cam seal, if it makes sense for the oil to be dribbling, ever so slowly, along the seam between the block and the head. If I need to replace my timing belt and everything else in there early, so be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I got nude the car yesterday to check things out Woah woah... just a little TMI there... I mean whatever floats your boat, but we don't need to know about it too. Jk, I know what you meant to type. :-p Sure it's not leaking further back under the bellhousing? A separator plate or rear main seal leak will drip right on the Y pipe under the bellhousing and won't show up very easily. You have to crawl way back there and look close to see it well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charm Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Woah woah... just a little TMI there... I mean whatever floats your boat, but we don't need to know about it too. Jk, I know what you meant to type. :-p Sure it's not leaking further back under the bellhousing? A separator plate or rear main seal leak will drip right on the Y pipe under the bellhousing and won't show up very easily. You have to crawl way back there and look close to see it well. My iPad has a mind of its own sometimes! It appears to be moist no further back then the front cylinder. The area under the rear cylinder looks dry. If it's coming from a vertical surface and running along that seam, it would have to come from the cam seal and not the rear main...thankfully. If I gotta fix this, I'd rather leave the engine in the car. Although, I'm told the Subie engines come out pretty darn easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It really sounds like you are over-reacting and this is a very minor leak. Machines sometimes do that. And going nuts on it with new seals and gaskets is uneccesary, expensive, and generally a huge waste of time. Cam seals do often leak but it will not contaminate the timing belt on the EJ engines. It will drip down and out under the belt cover. It is my experienced opinion that you should wait to address this at the next timing belt change. Clean the area with brake cleaner and monitor it. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charm Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'm not worried about it. I just don't like the smell if burning oil. I say terrible things about the people in other cars that smell of burning oil too. It's not leaking enough that I'm worried about the engine. It's not even threatening to overheat...it just stinks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.