Spazz698 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Got my 93 legacy about a week and a half ago, was owned by the dealership's owner who gave me the rundown on the car while he had it. Basically he had it for a little over a yr, put maybe 1k on it since it was just getting used to go to like the store or something and decided to sell it after it was sitting for almost a month. When I initally was looking at it at the dealership the sales guy started it up and you could smell burning oil almost immediately from the exhaust. After it warmed it the smell disappeared and other than a little bit of excess smoke coming out of the tailpipe (I just chalked it up to carbon? build up since it was sitting for a while and not really being used, had a similar prob with a mustang I had but that was carbed) I couldnt find anything wrong with it. Now, there's a bit of smoke coming from under the hood when it's been running for a while and when I run it around 5k and up more smoke coming out of the tailpipe again. I dont have any oil leaks I can find so any ideas what can be doing this? If it makes a difference this car does get used quite a bit, almost 1k put on it since it was bought. The tailpipe smoke is white so I dont think it's burning oil either, but I havent checked it yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boing Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Is this the 2.2 or 2.5? I was wondering how much oil you've been through in that 1000 miles? This is full Fuel injected too right? Normally when white smoke shows up there is some other engine problems like stalling or hard to start and leans toward moisture in the fuel. Any other symptoms? boing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 the title of this thread says "smoking under the hood". need to know where that is coming from. seems something is dripping on something hot. need to fill in those somethings for us. if it's smoking....it's very possible it's leaking. let's assume you're not leaking under the hood...though that sounds unlikely to me if smoke is coming from under the hood. need more details. if you're seeing smoke out the tail pipe then i'm wondering if you're loosing anything? after 3,000 miles...any oil loss? any coolant loss? verify you're not loosing any coolant, transmission fluid or oil, get back to us and move on from there. do you have any busted CV boots (at the ends of the axles where they meet the wheels?) if they are cracked or busted grease can fling onto hot parts and burn off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 White smoke in the exhaust usually means that coolant is burning off. This would indicate a leaking head gasket. Your underhood smoke problem is probably not related to the above. Have a lookn underneath the engine, a small oil leak dripping onto the exhaust can cause a lot of smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaudiggity Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Check your valve cover gaskets. If you can't find it take it to a mechanic and they can run an engine die through your motor and then they take a black light and they can usually pin-point where the leak is coming from. Possible way to save money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun100 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I know of 3 such cases in addition to my own 1998 OB. In each case it was valve cover (gaskets) leaking, then onto the exhaust. Just enough to smoke a little and smell burnt. Unfortunately doing both sides is about $500-$600. Do you need other work you can justify (leaking cam seals, front crank seal, etc.???) that would save some $$$$ later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus1995 Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Not A good idea to smoke under the hood. Batteries give off hyrdogen. Petrol is very Whwoooomphhhhhhhhhh bang. I solved the prob by gettin new cv boots---------stops them things flingin grease all over the CAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted January 8, 2005 Author Share Posted January 8, 2005 Is this the 2.2 or 2.5? I was wondering how much oil you've been through in that 1000 miles? This is full Fuel injected too right? Normally when white smoke shows up there is some other engine problems like stalling or hard to start and leans toward moisture in the fuel. Any other symptoms? boing 2.2L, havent gone thru any oil at all but i havent checked the coolant or tranny fluid yet (but it's not slipping at all so I dont think there's any loss there) and its full FI. If there were other things going on with it I'd have an easier time figuring out what's going on, but other than the smoke there's absolutely nothing else. I do believe the CV boots are fine since those tend to make noise once they start going. I was wondering if it was the valve cover gaskets, I heard subarus have issues with them. I'll be checking it out tomorrow when I get the chance (I just had my daughter a couple weeks ago, kinda presses me for time) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchbob Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 I do believe the CV boots are fine since those tend to make noise once they start going.It's the CV JOINTS that make noise when they go. You wouldn't have an audible indication if the boots that cover and hold the CV Joint grease were bad until the lack of lubrication damaged the CV joints. A spinning axle will fling joint grease out of a tear in the CV boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 It's the CV JOINTS that make noise when they go. You wouldn't have an audible indication if the boots that cover and hold the CV Joint grease were bad until the lack of lubrication damaged the CV joints. A spinning axle will fling joint grease out of a tear in the CV boot. And all over everything under the car. . . Helluva mess to clean up. The EJ22 engine you have in that car is very reliable, and does not have the Head Gasket Problem that you have heard about. That is the early models of the EJ25 engine (2.5L). The first model had internal leaks that caused big problems, and the second model had external leaks that caused smaller problems, but was still bad. IIRC they are using a third generation EJ25 in theier new cars. All of us are looking closely at those engines to see if Subaru has finally fixed this problem (well, at least I am. . .). Now where, exactly is it smoking? The thread title says under the hood (smoke coming up from around the front of the car), while your post only talks about the smoke coming from the tailpipe (which is white, indicating burning moisture). From the indications you have given, it may have been let to overheat badly enough to warp the heads allowing coolant weepage into the combustion chamber. From what you have said, I'm not sure the guy that sold it to you was being entirely straight up with you. If it smoked right from the start, he would have noticed, and had it checked out (well, I would have), and finding the problem he may have just wanted to unload it on some unsuspecting buyer (have you noticed that I do not trust dealerships at all?). . . I would go over that car with a fine toothed comb, to be sure that everything is as it should be. On the plus side, you have a car that with proper care, will give you many many years of excelent service. If you watch this forum you will see many people that have over 250,000 miles on thier cars (with that engine). I only have 150,000, so mine is just getting to be broken in. . .drives like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 I checked, the cv boots are fine (actually they look almost new) but there's been oil dripping under the valve covers (havent seen it firsthand and it doesnt look fresh but there is oil and dirt covering whatever's directly under them, odd enough the rest of the block is surprisingly clean) so I'm gonna be watching that for a while. Oil doesnt actually look like it's gome anywhere tho, same for the coolant, but since its only been about 2 weeks it could just be a very slow leak. The dealership may have been trying to get it off their hands, but I only paid roughly half of the car's worth (blue booked at 3700, bought it for 1800 cash, with title and registration) so any routine repairs I'm more than willing to do myself. Actually, I know the dealership/owner was doing just that, but the sales guy apparently knows my bf pretty well (found it fairly amusing when he said "oh you're the one who just had chris's baby") so he gave me a good deal. But as I've been checking everything, and from what looks like they were replaced within the last few months I think I made off pretty damn good even with what needs repair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I checked, the cv boots are fine (actually they look almost new) but there's been oil dripping under the valve covers (havent seen it firsthand and it doesnt look fresh but there is oil and dirt covering whatever's directly under them, odd enough the rest of the block is surprisingly clean) so I'm gonna be watching that for a while. Oil doesnt actually look like it's gome anywhere tho, same for the coolant, but since its only been about 2 weeks it could just be a very slow leak. The dealership may have been trying to get it off their hands, but I only paid roughly half of the car's worth (blue booked at 3700, bought it for 1800 cash, with title and registration) so any routine repairs I'm more than willing to do myself. Actually, I know the dealership/owner was doing just that, but the sales guy apparently knows my bf pretty well (found it fairly amusing when he said "oh you're the one who just had chris's baby") so he gave me a good deal. But as I've been checking everything, and from what looks like they were replaced within the last few months I think I made off pretty damn good even with what needs repair First off, congrats on the baby. No one has said this yet, which I find to be unforgivable. (OK, perhaps I'm an old softie) so is the smoke coming from under the hood, the tailpipe, or both? we still have not gotten that cleared up. As for the oil under the valve covers, clean that off, and see if it returns. It may be that the covers were replaced and they were just sloppy enough to leave the old dirt on there (Perhaps I'm just picky about reapirs done to my car too. . .). If the oil returns, you know that you need gaskets. Was the car sold "As Is" or did they give you any kind of warranty? If they gave you a warranty, get the shop to replace the gaskets. If not, do you have the tools and expertise to do this? Parts are a lot cheaper on Subarus than labor. . . (don't ask me why, I find them easy to work on). Oh, and annother thing we have neglected: Welcome to the forum and to the world of Subarus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 Thank you! OK the smoke is coming from both the tailpipe and under the hood, smoke starts coming out of the tailpipe at about 5k (btw I do racing, so once I get accustomed to my car it'll be pushed pretty hard, this is why I learned to work on my own cars) it'll smoke under the hood when it's been idling for a bit, but it doesnt seem to be consistant. I have done gasket work before, but I havent actually done valve cover gaskets. Usually if I'm doing something I'm not 100% on I'll have my dad watch my work (he was a certified master mechanic, now works on diesel buses) so just in case I do try to mess up he can stop me before I make more work for myself since he doesnt go back and fix my messes he will make me do so. As far as tools go, I *did* have everything I need but my dad kinda took off with a good portion of my tools that he needed for work, but I should be able to get them back if I ask about them. Once it stops half snowing and half raining I'm gonna clean out the engine bay, hopefully they did replace it at some point and just left it a mess. When I got the car I declined the warranty since I can work on cars and it wont take me a week to replace a wire (isnt that how all dealerships are?) that and due to the price being so low I would have had to pay even more than usual for it (it was down to the subaru or a honda and the honda looked like it was seeing its last days) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brokechump Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Pull your spark plugs and check for white prongs...if it's burning coolant in a cylinder(s) there will be some very white build up on the spark plug(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Good call, Chump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted January 11, 2005 Author Share Posted January 11, 2005 Pull your spark plugs and check for white prongs...if it's burning coolant in a cylinder(s) there will be some very white build up on the spark plug(s). Actually I just replaced them last night since one was starting to foul out. No white build up, but they were shot, tips were anywhere from dark brown to black. Unfortunately one wire was jammed into the plug so I have to replace those as well, even tho they're fairly new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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