Where is this oil leak coming from?

[Ben F]

Hello everyone, I bought a 2.2L 99 Legacy L sedan with about 150k miles recently (not sure exactly because until I fixed it the odometer/speedometer would stop working intermittently :-\ )

 

Anyway, there is an oil leak that looks like it might be coming from the head gasket. It drips onto the exhaust on the passenger side exhaust.

 

I don't know if this is relevant, but it also bogs under load at high speeds, i.e. up hill or on highways, and I overheated it once and the leak got a lot worse for a while. However, it idles great but I haven't done a compression test yet to confirm that the HG isn't blown.

 

From what I've read, this 2.2 should be the last of the ones with the good HG before the problem period with the leaks etc. However, I can't seem to track this one down. I replaced the valve cover gaskets, which didn't appear to be the problem anyway, and washed the suspected areas with engine degreaser.

 

Anyway, here are some pics. Let me know what you think.

 

TIA!

 

 

 

 

 

Back of head and timing cover are clean, so I don't think anything is dripping down?

 

 

[Subruise]

let me guess, it still has a plastic oil seperator plate on the back? when those leak you gotta get a metal one from the dealer. however, if you overheated thats not good news for your hgs.

[CoupedUpSubie]

let me guess, it still has a plastic oil seperator plate on the back? when those leak you gotta get a metal one from the dealer. however, if you overheated thats not good news for your hgs.

 

If it was the seperator plate then the backside of the engine would have oil on it. I'm guessing HG or just valve cover leak on the bottom.

[Ben F]

let me guess, it still has a plastic oil seperator plate on the back? when those leak you gotta get a metal one from the dealer. however, if you overheated thats not good news for your hgs.

 

Ya, I wasn't watching the temp gauge enough and it got into the tiny hot zone on the top of the gauge But hey, now I've learned to watch the gauge religiously.

 

The engine needs to be pulled to replace the oil separator, right? I doubt it's ever been pulled. So even though the wet spot is located just around the HG/exhaust flange the oil could be coming from the back of the engine?

 

Thanks!

[Fairtax4me]

Either head gasket or worn valve guides. You can drop the Y pipe and look up into the port, if there is a lot of oil inside the port it's valve guides.

Do you have any blue smoke out of the tail pipe at startup?

[Ben F]

Sorry it took so long to reply. Cold startup this morning-no smoke. In fact, I've never seen it smoke. It idles great and apart from what I think is likely a bad knock sensor, it has power too. It was leaking since before I overheated and it hasn't gotten any worse as far as I can tell. It doesn't leak much at all either, except when I overheated it and it generated a good amount of smoke. Any idea of how long I can go till I need to replace the head gaskets if they're the problem? Should I do a compression test? How bout some of that coolant stop leak stuff?

 

Thanks!

[idosubaru]

i'm not confident we know where the leak is coming from yet....i'd drop that exhaust manifold and then get us a picture before we assume anything.

 

 

s.

[Fairtax4me]

It's probably the head gasket. Keep an eye on the oil level and you should be able to limp that along for a pretty long time. Eventually it will start to leak coolant as well though.

 

There are a few ways you can figure out the mileage that it Shoudl have. One would be to run a Carfax or other vehicle history report to figure out the average yearly mileage put on the car by the previous owner. Multiply the AYM by the number of years since the P/O bought the car, and add that to the reported mileage at the time the previous owner bought the car. That should get you in the ballpark.

 

You could also look through service records if it has them to determine the average yearly mileage, and figure AYM from 0, or the mileage on the oldest service record.

 

We can't see the valve cover gasket surface very well in the pics. That's a common leak on any Subaru.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Fairtax4me

[GeneralDisorder]

'99 is phase-II and is SEVERELY prone to HG oil leaks. Almost certainly the source based on those pictures.

 

Time to do HG's.

 

GD

[Ben F]

It's probably the head gasket. Keep an eye on the oil level and you should be able to limp that along for a pretty long time. Eventually it will start to leak coolant as well though.

 

There are a few ways you can figure out the mileage that it Shoudl have. One would be to run a Carfax or other vehicle history report to figure out the average yearly mileage put on the car by the previous owner. Multiply the AYM by the number of years since the P/O bought the car, and add that to the reported mileage at the time the previous owner bought the car. That should get you in the ballpark.

 

You could also look through service records if it has them to determine the average yearly mileage, and figure AYM from 0, or the mileage on the oldest service record.

 

We can't see the valve cover gasket surface very well in the pics. That's a common leak on any Subaru.

 

Thats a good idea on the mileage. I was going on that the speedo was off about 10-20% of the time and it was probably happening for a while. Just a rough guesstimate. It's actually reading 140k right now.

 

I just replaced the valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals (due to oil in the plug tubes), no leaks there.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Ben F]

'99 is phase-II and is SEVERELY prone to HG oil leaks. Almost certainly the source based on those pictures.

 

Time to do HG's.

 

GD

 

I've read that mine should be the last of the phase I 2.2L motors.

This article says:

The second group is the 2nd generation Subaru 2.2l and 2.5l engines found in the Forrester from mid year 1998, Impreza from mid year 1998, the Outback and Legacy from 2000.

 

Is 150K miles a reasonable HG service time for a phase I motor? I think at least one of the PO's abused the car.

 

I have rebuilt an engine before (an AMC 360 V8), do you think I could do the HG's on this car in a week or so? I'll start researching, but is it a very hard job?

 

Thanks!

[GeneralDisorder]

It is not a phase-I engine. All '99 to '01 2.2 engines are phase-II. Besides that I can tell from your pictures that it's a phase-II.

 

All phase-II engines have the spark plug wires going through the valve cover. Phase-I do not. You'll notice that your's has this feature....

 

Best to pull the engine out for HG's. They can be done in the car but it's not as fun or as clean.

 

GD

[Ben F]

It is not a phase-I engine. All '99 to '01 2.2 engines are phase-II. Besides that I can tell from your pictures that it's a phase-II.

 

All phase-II engines have the spark plug wires going through the valve cover. Phase-I do not. You'll notice that your's has this feature....

 

Best to pull the engine out for HG's. They can be done in the car but it's not as fun or as clean.

 

GD

 

Tru dat, the plugs do go through the valve covers. So I guess I do have a phase two. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

Well, it looks like I'll be doing an HG job in the near future. Thanks for the help fellas!

[themoneypit]

if its just a slight oil leak from them, dont worry about it. add the subaru coolant conditioner to the coolant, and that should keep them from starting to leak coolant. just check your oil when u fill up and keep it full. if its not overheating, then you should be fine for awhile.

 

if/when you do them, be sure to use oem subaru gaskets, not the cheap aftermarket stuff. there is one aftermarket company that makes a comparable (maybe better) gasket, but i cant remember the name off the top of my head.

[1 Lucky Texan]

there is one aftermarket company that makes a comparable (maybe better) gasket, but i cant remember the name off the top of my head.

 

 

is it Six Star ?