belizeanbus Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hi all... First thing, just want to let you all know that you've been a great help to a guy new to subarus. Been searching the archives for more advice, and I have some ideas,... but perhaps some advice from those who have been there might help. So it's an EA82. 170,000 miles. REcently started leaking oil badly. Seemed to be coming from the front, under the oil pump and around the oil pan. I took it to a mechanic for some advice and he said, cam seals. I replaced those, and the seals in the oil pump. Now it leaks a lot less, but still too much. Once I warm her up, she leaks from the drivers side of the engine, making two puddles, one from the front and one from the back of the engine, just to right (from the front) of the oilpan. So, from reading the archives, I thought...valve cover gaskets...? Or my original guess,...the oil pan seal. Or, worse case scenario... head gasket...? Strange thing is, the oil pump job helped a lot, so it seems like everything started leaking at once. Any ideas from anyone...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 make sure the pcv and crank case vents are clear. if the crankcase pressure gets too high you will have leaks all over the place. the cam housing is another suspect. I would clean it really well and remove the skid plate to inspect exactly where its coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizeanbus Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 make sure the pcv and crank case vents are clear. if the crankcase pressure gets too high you will have leaks all over the place. the cam housing is another suspect. I would clean it really well and remove the skid plate to inspect exactly where its coming from. That makes a lot of sense. The guage usually shows pretty low oil pressure. After I redid the seals up front, I started it up and the guage shot up higher than ever before. It wasn't more than a couple of minutes before it came down to the normal level. Then the leaks began. No idea if the guage showed the pressure going up when all this initially happened...my wife drives the car and she didn't notice. Anyone have any recommendations for checking the crank case vents?...I've never done it,...but I just picked up a PCV valve during my lunch break to see if that would solve the problem. Hope this solves it...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizeanbus Posted January 20, 2005 Author Share Posted January 20, 2005 Okay, all... Maybe you could assist with a little more troubleshooting. I'm on a marathon to get this thing roadworthy because next week I turn thirty and my wife and friends are taking me on a caravan tour of west coast breweries... Either the subaru runs, or we must take our friends' taurus. We prefer the style of the Subaru. Okay. The PCV made sense, but I think I (who did the work) and the mechanic who advised me of the problem were wrong. I switched out the PCV and the leaks continue in the same place. In the front to the right of the oil pump and in the back of the engine to the right of the oil pan. I cleaned it up pretty good down there, and found something I maybe should have found before... the oil pan gasket (cork) is badly worn, is stretched beyond the perimeter of the oil pan, and on the side where it leaks, I can grab both the outer and inner edges with my finger. Either it's split, or it's completely out of the area where the pan joins to the engine... Now...it's hard to know for sure, because I can't seem to see the flow of oil, but I suspect that it flows forward and drips down from the timing belt shrouds to the right of the oil pump. In the back, it is dripping onto the crossmember and to the ground. But,...it doesn't leak a drop when not running/just turned off, so if it's the oil pan, wouldn't it leak continuously? If any of you masters can shed some light, I would really appreciate it. Oh, and another thing...the oil pan bolts were really loose. My inclination is to go for the oil pan next. Question: When lifting the engine to get at the rear bolts, where is it best to place the jack? About the only place I can see is the oil pump...but I don't think that's the best idea... Thanks, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudrat79 Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 First off.....If your mechanically inclined enough to do the job, PULL THE ENGINE...... Then Pull the oil Pan and replace that gasket.....You'll cuss the entire time if you try to do it in the car.....Trust me I 've done it .....ONCE....... Next , as Much as I hate to say it....if your Mechanic was in deep enough to replace cam seals and Hopefully o-rings, he should have replaced the front main seal behind the crank pully and Sprockets.....Question for you....Do you happen to have a line of grunge/oil across the front of your hood line in line with your v-belts.....??? If so , thats a Sign the crank seal is the issue.....but it won't always sling there lots of times it just runs out the bottom..... If it were me Doing the job, I'd Pull the Motor, Do the front seal, Do the pan gasket.....Do the rear main seal, as well And if you had the time to get it all done, I'd just do a Complete re-seal.....Head gaskets and All......Rather than hit and Miss, trying to do the minimum......Another thing to verify....If you have oil hitting the timing Belts REPLACE them.......Oil and Rubber don't mix......The oil will sogg the t-belt and They will be aged Prematurely........Not the thing you want going bad on a Road trip..... Hope this Helps you in your Quest....... Later, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 the oil pan gasket usually will only leak if runing. the oil sits below the gasket level normaly. you will need to run it to find the leak. It is easy to do with the motor out(oil pan gasket) but I have done three in the car. you just need to lift the motor(undo the 2 lower engine mount bolts and raise it up a bit. a hoist works well for this but I have gotten creative with floor jacks and 2x4s. do a search as we just discuses to diferent ideas about oil pan gasket replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizeanbus Posted January 24, 2005 Author Share Posted January 24, 2005 Update: It seems that the oil pan gasket was the problem. The new problem: It still leaks. Same spot. Not bad,...just a few drops here and there. I cleaned the old cork off. I put rtv silicon a on both sides of the new cork, and put it back. Even gave it a day to dry. When I started it up, it started leaking a lot. Then I tightened the bolts even further. That virtually stopped the leak, but it still seeps out a bit. I can see it start to seep along the gasket from the front and back corners of the oil pan, driver's side. Now, it's about as tight as I can get it, but still I get a bit of oil leaking...any suggestions? Do new cork gaskets leak a bit until they are worn in? Should I apply some more rtv around the outer edge of the gasket? Do those stop-leak engine oil additives work...? Thanks to those who have helped... jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85Sub4WD Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Whatever you do DO NOT use stop-leak additives, they will kill your engine. If it is weaping a little bit, no sweat, using up to a quart every 3000 miles is the general rule-of-thumb I use for acceptable oil useage. Don't overtighten the oil pan bolts or else you will regret it when the snap. By the way, did you put the RTV silicone on both sides or just the gasket? Technically for all gasket sealers I have used, you are supposed to put it on both sides and some want you to let it "skim" before you assemble it. By the way, I use the hi-temp copper sealent for all sealing needs on my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizeanbus Posted January 24, 2005 Author Share Posted January 24, 2005 You're right. I just put the rtv on the gasket. I minor detail I overlooked. I guess there is not much I can do now aside from doing the gasket again... . Meantime, she's back on the road and we'll be watching the oil usage. It's an old motor, and we really don't know it's history from the previous owners... but in my utopian mind, I'd like to have an oil-tight engine. Any other suggestions to stop the oil from getting out without doing the gasket again would be oh so welcome . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyruss Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 RTV on a cork gasket is a bad idea. it never seems to work well. oh well too late for that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizeanbus Posted January 24, 2005 Author Share Posted January 24, 2005 Ahhh, it's never too late,... I can always re-do the work once winter's over. The gasket was only 8 bucks. What do you recommend instead of using rtv on the cork gasket...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudrat79 Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 RTV is NOT a BAD idea...... I put it on every Subaru Oil pan I re-seal.....If you prep the Oil Pan and Engine.....Then Put a Light skin of RVT on both sides of the New Gasket , you Will never get a Leaking gasket ......If you do, then you have a Severely Warped Pan, that should be noticeable when pulled off doing clean-up duty on it..... I've re-sealed More EA-82 motors than I care to count.....Some of these have over 150,000 and Still no leaking from Pan gasket......Or most of the rest of the Motor for that matter........ Take care, John...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 also be careful to not tighten the bolts so much thatit splits the gasket along the oil pan sealing ridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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