Ugly Oil Leak

[newsance]

Ok, on my EA82 1987 wagon, it has had a moderate oil leak for the last few months, to the tune of about 1 quart every 1000 miles.

 

Originally it appeared to be leaking out of the valvecovers. The bottom of the head area on both sides was wet, which is what lead me to this conclusion.

 

Recently, it has gotten MUCH, MUCH worse, to where it is leaving puddles underneath it and is going through about 3 quarts every hundred miles.

 

It seems to be located in the same area, worse on the passenger side.

 

I recently had the timing belts changed, and the front cover was completely dry. It doesn't look like the oil pan is leaking, but I'm gonna recheck it.

 

I'm wondering if there is anything else in this area that could leak. Once again, it looks to be coming from the head area.

 

Also, how are the valvecovers sealed? Is it an RTV thing, or do they have actual gaskets?

[hooziewhatsit]

I believe the valvecovers have actual gaskets. I suppose you could try tightening the bolts a little (not enough to squeeze the gasket out).

 

You could also get the engine cleaned somewhere (DIY carwash, etc) to help see where the leak is coming from.

[85Sub4WD]

A leak that bad is making me think oil pump seal (mickey mouse gasket or shaft seal).

Clean the engine first tho, because if you are leaking from the oil pump, it would probably be blown back over the engine by the cooling fan.

[stephenw22]

My first car leaked pretty bad, and looked like how you describe. It was a combination of leaky valve covers and cam case o-rings. The VC gasket was totally shot, and the VC bolt grommets were also breaking up.

 

To find the leak, you have a couple of options. The easiest would be to check your engine bay (from above and below) while the engine is idling. Washing the engine before you do this would make identifying the location easier.

 

Another option is to take it to a shop and let them do a UV leak test. They put a dye packet in your oil, and then run the car on a lift while the look at it from underneath, using a UV light. It should only cost $40-50 for this type of test, and if the mechanic knows subarus, they'd be able to pinpoint the source very well.

 

If it were up to me, I'd try to find the leak myself. With a leak as big as yours, it should be easy to find.

[phishy75]

My turbowagon had a leak from the passenger side cam tower so bad that it was a constant drip right on to the exhaust up-pipe. You can imagine the nice smoke show whenever it was running:lol: . If yours is a N/A, then it wouldn't hit the exhaust because it is routed diferently.

 

If the front area (i.e. cam seals and oil pump) is dry, then I would guess that it is coming from the cam covers (valve covers) and/or the cam tower where it mates to the head. This is pretty easy to fix - especially on the passenger side. The cam covers have rubber gaskets that you put on without any sealant (and put new bolt grommet seals on that come with the gasket kit). The cam tower itself is sealed with high temp gasket silicone. When you reseal the cam tower, you must also put in a new oil passage o-ring (about a 1 cm o-ring that your local subie dealer will sell you) and make sure to follow the directions of the high temp sealant - usually finger tight at first for an hour and then snug down and let cure for about 24 hours after that.

 

Good luck tracking it down.

[MilesFox]

for the valve(cam) covers the boltswill only tighten so far down because its a shouldered bolt..

 

the gasket itself is formed rubber and fits in a groove on the edge of the cover. over time they get hard and brittle, and can crack, causing leaks. a temporary fix would be to pull the cover and lok for cracks, fill the cracks with RTV

 

when you buy a gasket set it will include the rubber grommets for the bolts as well

 

you can get them off easier if you undo the motor mount bolts from the crossmember and jack the motor up as much as the exhaust will allow. also remove the front pitch bar bolt to allow it to move

when you drop the motor down you can walk the motor mounts into the holes with a pry bar

[Roundeye]

I just fixed my '87 Wagon's oil leak(s). Mine was leaking from the head gasket at the bottom right where the oil passage is. Found to be a bad head gasket. A friend of mine's '87 Wagon is leaking in the exact same spot as mine was, I'm about to fix it too. I pulled the engine and replaced every oil seal and gasket on it along with timing belts, tensioners, water pump and hoses. (it's crazy not to since the engine is out anyway).

 

Leaks from the head gasket WILL go right on to the exhaust, oil gets blown back right onto the pipes (if it's leaking from the pass. side, it will put oil right onto the catalytic converter resulting in MUCH smoke from beneath). What really sucks is that since the exhaust pipes and cat are shielded, oil gets indide the shields and bakes on. This cannot be cleaned off, it must burn off. So it will smoke some even after it's fixed...until the residual burns off.

 

Flourecents are a great way to pinpoint hard-to-find leaks. All Shell (unsure about Exxon and Mobil) aviation oils (and greases) contain flourecent additives. I found this out by accident one day while doing a dye-penatrant inspection around an engine on a Cessna. I have used this finding for trouble shooting difficult leaks ever since, even on cars. Clean the engine nicely, change oil using a couple of quarts of Aeroshell, get a blacklight and look the engine over at night while it's running, or take a short trip and check it over with the light. Origin of leaks will be obvious.

[newsance]

Ok, so I changed the passenger side gasket. Things are looking good, until I start it up.

 

Crap. This time I see a constant trickle of oil coming out from the passenger side timing cover.

 

CRAP CRAP CRAP.

 

SO it looks like that seal is absolutely toast. I JUST DID timing belts on this thing 1 month ago, and then it looked absolutely fine in there. God I am pissed.

 

Question. What is the chance of doing something like zip-tying the belt to the sprocket and thus not having to tear off the front of the motor? (take the cover off, zip tie the belt to the cog, remove cog, replace seal, replace cog). I know some people do this on some mitsu stuff. I simply do not have time to tear into this damned thing again.

 

CRAP.

[stephenw22]

I've never heard of anyone zip-tying the belt to the sprocket. You could try it, I guess. I doubt it would work because of the way the belts are set up, though.

 

<soapbox> This is another reason why I don't have timing belt covers on my car </soapbox>

[idosubaru]

dude you have the 4 cylinder motor, these things are super easy to work on. this won't take that long at all, i could finish that in an hour. i could do it in 20 minutes on my car.

 

your are in luck - it's on the passengers side so you're money you don't have to remove the drivers side timing belt. the passengers side belt IS SUPER EASY. once you get to it it takes loosening TWO BOLTS to get off, you don't even have to remove them. remove cam sprocket and replace seal. get the cam seal KIT, not just the seal as there is also an oring behind the cam seal holder, remove the 3 10mm bolts around it to get it off and replace the oring as well while yo'ure in there.

 

DO NOT DRIVE IT LIKE THIS or you will surely ruin your engine bearings. you think this itty bitty cam seal is annoying, try replacing your block.