Buying 1998 Subaru OBS 2.2L - Help diagnose leak?

[SuperAlloyZetto]

Hi everyone. I've been reading a lot of oil leak threads, seems like a common problem.

 

I'm looking to buy a "new to me" 1998 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 2.2L automatic with about 165k miles. Could you guys help me diagnose a few things?

 

1. The owner says it's leaking oil. I took a few pics from the front of the car and it seems the whole bottom of the engine block is oily. I didn't notice any dripping though or any on the ground. The owner says it's not over heating but is burning oil. I checked the coolant reserve but couldn't see far down enough to see what color it was. It also smells a bit funny under the hood.

 

What can this be? What's the max $$$ I would be paying to fix every possible leak?

 

2. She says she's getting poor gas mileage even highway! About 17 MPG City and 20 MPG Highway! Why?

 

3. The brakes are really soft. Seems like I needed to step on it really hard to come to a stop. Need to change brake fluid?

 

I had to use the bathroom so I wasn't as thorough as I should have been.

 

Here's the 3 pics I took:

 

http://imgur.com/a/d0jGE#0

 

Thanks... I really want this to work out. Free carfax if you can help me!

[WoodsWagon]

The wettest area appears to be the crossmember behind the oil pan. That's the rear oil seperator plate leaking and you have to pull the engine to get at it. The burning oil may be the oil leaking on to the catalytic converter and smoking off. If it is actually burning oil in the engine and blue smoke is coming out the tailpipe, don't bother with the car.

 

Changing brake fluid won't fix weak brakes. Either a caliper is siezed or something else is wrong. If the brakes are dragging that could also account for the poor MPG.

 

Is the body solid and rust free, even in side the rear wheel wells? They like to rust in the rear strut towers, the back end of the rocker panel, and the corner of the wheel arch where it meets the bumper.

 

You're looking at about $500 in parts to fix it if you do the work yourself. Timing belt/waterpump/gaskets for when you pull the engine plus the brake work. If you have someone else do the work add at least $1k onto that. I wouldn't be surprised if it needs struts, another $600.

 

If you can get the car cheap and do the work yourself, it's worth it.

[ocei77]

1.What can this be?

2. She says she's getting poor gas mileage even highway! About 17 MPG City and 20 MPG Highway! Why?

 

3. The brakes are really soft.

 

1) Clean the valve cover area and hope its comng from the cam seals. If not sounds like either a separator plate or rear main. The latter two will require an engine pull. Add some oil stop leak and it will give you more time to resolve issue.

 

2) tune up issues most likely. Plugs,pcv valve,etc.

Need more maintenance history, especially t belt etc. Am sure this will have to be done also.

 

3) Probably a complete R&R for brakes needed. Check to see if pads are gripping rotors (ie :clean rotor surface). The rear drums are a PITA. New shoes (at the least). New fluid and bleed FRt,LRr,FLt and RRr.

 

If you can do the work yourself, it's time and some money. If not, there's going to be a major influx of $ if you have to pull the engine.

 

Am sure others will add and/correct.

 

O.

[SuperAlloyZetto]

Ahh.. thank you thank you. It looks like there's about $1.5k to $2k for some repairs... okay a lot of repairs. I'm not even sure I should drive the car back to my place (about 25 min drive with freeway) if I decide to purchase it. I really like this car though.

 

I'm an amateur mechanic at best (cat install, shock/spring install, oil changes) but this seems like a daunting task. Is it worth it to put $2k into a 14 year old car?

[WoodsWagon]

You can drive it home but avoid the freeway. You want to leave long stopping distances if the brakes are sketchy.

 

You can rent engine lifts and if you have tools and a place to work on it the repairs are doable. You either put money into repairs on old cars or money into loan payments on new cars.

[SuperAlloyZetto]

What's a fair price for a car like this? 1998, 165k miles, oil leak, tune up etc? I don't want to get sucked into a financial black hole.

[CoupedUpSubie]

Blue book is $2200 in fair condition. If the only things needing to be addressed are the oil leak, tune up and possibly struts then offer $1200. The oil leak could be as simple as valve cover seals or it could be the separator plate. Also you want to be sure to do some tight circles and what not to check the operation of the transmission, if it feels like your driving a 4wd truck with locked diffs then the trans could be junk or it just needs a flush.

[ocei77]

Don't know fair market for CA.

I bought the same vehicle here for $800.

But, previous owner had done T belt etc within 30k of sale.

I didn't have to pull engine, though struts($300) and brakes had to be done.

This may be more of a money pit than you need.

 

O.

[SuperAlloyZetto]

The owner is listing it at $3k. I was thinking $800-$1000. Even at this price I'm kind of hesitant. Hopefully we can work something out. Thanks everyone.

[MilesFox]

hi everyone. I've been reading a lot of oil leak threads, seems like a common problem.

 

I'm looking to buy a "new to me" 1998 subaru impreza outback sport 2.2l automatic with about 165k miles. Could you guys help me diagnose a few things?

 

1. The owner says it's leaking oil. I took a few pics from the front of the car and it seems the whole bottom of the engine block is oily. I didn't notice any dripping though or any on the ground. The owner says it's not over heating but is burning oil. I checked the coolant reserve but couldn't see far down enough to see what color it was. It also smells a bit funny under the hood.

 

look under the alternator for the oil pressure sender. It can leak, and run down the frotn of the engine. This is a 7 dollar fix. Valve covers and cam seals will leak onto the exhaust causing oil burning. Remove the timing belts and change the cam seals this is a fairly easy task. Doing this kind of work on a subaru is much easier than the same work on a transverse fwd car.

 

what can this be? What's the max $$$ i would be paying to fix every possible leak?

 

$300 if you do the work yourself, and for that price you can replace the timing belts and water pump, too

 

2. She says she's getting poor gas mileage even highway! About 17 mpg city and 20 mpg highway! Why?

knock sensor and or engine temp sensor

 

3. The brakes are really soft. Seems like i needed to step on it really hard to come to a stop. Need to change brake fluid?

 

there may be air in the lines. According to mileage, flush the brake fluid. Disassemble the calipers and lubricate them on the slide pins and the shims. This is easy.

 

i had to use the bathroom so i wasn't as thorough as i should have been.

use more t.p.

 

here's the 3 pics i took:

 

http://imgur.com/a/d0jge#0

 

thanks... I really want this to work out. Free carfax if you can help me!

 

explain that 3000 is a fair price if the car had all this work done already, new tires, no rust, and service receipts. Same car without these issues would be 2000-2500 no rust and clean interior.

 

needing all this work 1000-1500. if it is rusty, 800-1200

Edited May 6, 2012 by MilesFox