aircraft engineer Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 OK sports fans - any likely location to check for slow seepage? very slow leakage (maybe 1/4 teaspoon per hour of operation if that) but enough to put an oil slick on the exhaust pipe and a slight "oily" look to the X-member with the occasional "drip" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I bet it's valve covers or rear main, not power steering. Either case is at least a $250 job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircraft engineer Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 duh... they were both just done - the car just went thru a timing belt/seals/waterpump/oil pump reseal and valve cover gaskets. Plus there's no evidence of ANY leakage from there - it passes the paper towel wipe down test. Oil smell coming from the exhaust (light oil odor - not like before it got the seals fixed - "Hey lady, you're on FIRE!" was the comment - my sister's car - with the billowing oil smoke) The level in the PS reservoir just keeps receding ever so slowly - 12 hours of driving all freeway (I-5) and the level just keeps getting lower (Veeerrry slowly, maybe 60ml down in the rez cup in those 12 hours. Not bad enough to worry about - just watch it for right now, but will need checked - as in "fixed" - "eventually" I'm wondering if the pipes can come loose and even where the PS attachments to the steering gear ARE) Of course, it's even more fun when the CAR is on the ROAD and I'M not. (I'm near Tacoma and the car at last report was passing Bakersfield) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The "o" ring seals where the hoses connect to the rack. Check the boots at either end of the rack. Squeeze them, as they should not feel like there is any liquid in them. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The "o" ring seals where the hoses connect to the rack. Check the boots at either end of the rack. Squeeze them, as they should not feel like there is any liquid in them. nipper yep, where the hoses attach to the rack. I had to replace my hoses, on the 93 and 94 legs, i just used lower mileage hoses off junkyard cars that didnt look to have the leaks of oil at that fitting. like 10 dollars for the hose from JY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwatt Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 OK sports fans - any likely location to check for slow seepage? very slow leakage (maybe 1/4 teaspoon per hour of operation if that) but enough to put an oil slick on the exhaust pipe and a slight "oily" look to the X-member with the occasional "drip" I know you mentioned "oil slick on the exhaust pipe and a slight "oily" look to the X-member" but are you certain the P/S pump isn't leaking where the reservoir attaches to it? There's an O-ring there also and it's a frequent cause of slow seepage, but the P/S fluid collects on top of the engine block right below the pump.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 the pumps typically leak where the reservoir meets the pump - there's an oring there. very common leakage point. next common one in my experience is from the boots...but that doesn't sound like the problem here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircraft engineer Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 Didn't see any evidence of leakage on the rez at all, just the "normal" collection of "dirt" but not "oily dirt". I blasted the engine before I worked on it so oil would show "easily" The oil is on the cross member (just a bit, but enough to make a couple of small drips) and on the driver's side around the heat shields and is slowly baking off (a lot of it was from the leaking cam seal and the unintentional oil bath from a loose oil filter) I didn't see any evidence of oil on the top of the block (but I wasn't really looking much on top, either) Since the car is 1100 miles away now, it's going to be a while before it gets fixed. I'll ask sis to check and see if there's any oil evident at that location - but it was dry when I had it all apart to do the timing belt (or so I remember anyway) It's behind that pulley shield now, anyway - time for a paper towel test - wipe it and see if it's "clean" or not to verify the o-ring question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-fleet-feet Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Thanks for the replies. Now in Phoenix and just wondering: Since Kingman (I-40) and 3 days I've seen exactly TWO Subes. I have no clue where a junkyard would be which had Subarus down here. Any Arizona members know of one NOT in Flagstaff? The PS parts are, of course, all over the Seattle area, but here I am 1545 miles away... I know there's a dealer in Avondale, since they're doing my flush next Wednesday. I just don't want to pay stealer prices for PS parts if I can avoid it. For those who remember my MPG thread, I was hitting 29.3 until Bakersfield, when I gave up on the 'heat' and hit the A/C. Down to 25 I went! I'm amazed, since Dragon was loaded to the rafters with *stuff* and I'm no lightweight. I had to be close to the GVWR. I was even more amazed she'd hold 75-80 MPH at 3000 RPM for hours at a time. Climbing. With the A/C on. Didn't take a drop of oil for the whole trip. The only thing I needed was a gallon of Bug Juice to clean off the butterflies and bees south of Stockton. Sure gotta love my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merkatroid Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Thanks for the replies. Now in Phoenix and just wondering: Since Kingman (I-40) and 3 days I've seen exactly TWO Subes. I have no clue where a junkyard would be which had Subarus down here. Any Arizona members know of one NOT in Flagstaff? The PS parts are, of course, all over the Seattle area, but here I am 1545 miles away... I know there's a dealer in Avondale, since they're doing my flush next Wednesday. I just don't want to pay stealer prices for PS parts if I can avoid it. For those who remember my MPG thread, I was hitting 29.3 until Bakersfield, when I gave up on the 'heat' and hit the A/C. Down to 25 I went! I'm amazed, since Dragon was loaded to the rafters with *stuff* and I'm no lightweight. I had to be close to the GVWR. I was even more amazed she'd hold 75-80 MPH at 3000 RPM for hours at a time. Climbing. With the A/C on. Didn't take a drop of oil for the whole trip. The only thing I needed was a gallon of Bug Juice to clean off the butterflies and bees south of Stockton. Sure gotta love my car. Kinda a late response but...Im in Phoenix and havent had any luck finding any good junkyards. Im from Washington and really miss having all the junked subarus around. Ive been driving my "new" sedan for a couple of weeks now and havent seen ANY ea82 equiped cars on the road.(other than the ones owned by my family...) Even my 98RS is rare down here. Most of the Subaru guys here seem to be WRX or STI owners, they dont even wave at me when Im in my RS or Sedan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e4620 Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Well, the I've seen the pump leak not only from the o ring on the reservoir, but the gasket on the back of the pump itself where the housing comes together. I know for a '99 legacy the part number for the reseal kit is 34419AA150, its pretty cheap and worth a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I bet it's valve covers or rear main, not power steering. Either case is at least a $250 job. Those 2 jobs couln't be further apart on the difficulty and price scale. And neither would be $250 Just replacing the valve cover gaskets should be $100 tops, including parts, or you're getting ripped off.(even $100 is high) Replacing the Rear main, means pulling the motor(or trans) and would surely cost $500 plus by the time you paid a shop to do it. I'm sure they'd want to sell you a clutch and do a full reseal while it was out. More$$$ Seems like the OP is pretty sure it's a PS leak. I would check the O-rings mentioned between the resevior and pump. If that isn't it, pull back the steering boots and see if you've got any fluid leaking out the ends of the rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Those 2 jobs couln't be further apart on the difficulty and price scale. And neither would be $250 Just replacing the valve cover gaskets should be $100 tops, including parts, or you're getting ripped off.(even $100 is high) Replacing the Rear main, means pulling the motor(or trans) and would surely cost $500 plus by the time you paid a shop to do it. I'm sure they'd want to sell you a clutch and do a full reseal while it was out. More$$$ On an SVX, valve cover gaskets I think would be a royal pain in the side and probably around the 200 mark just for labor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now