CMohan

Hi all, I am having yet another problem with a Subaru. Today, to celebrate the Forth of July, I decided to change the rotars on my girlfriends 1998 Legacy GT. Well, it didn't go to bad, got them all on, braking has tightened up etc. However, after the daylight faded, I was driving and noticed that when I make right hand turns, there is a grinding noise coming from the driver-side rear tire. After I straighten out, the grinding goes away, but it is noticable when I make right hand turns only. It also seems that the car shakes a little more on the highway than it did prior to my handy work. I haven't been able to look at the time since it is dark, but If anyone has any idea what the problem could be, I would greatly appreciate the help. Thanks.

Hi everyone, I just had a quick question. I have a 96 legacy 2.5 and am changing the front crank seal on the oil pump. When I was reinstalling the oil pump, I accidentally snapped the upper left mounting bolt...i was just curious as to what I can do to insure that the oil pump will seal up properly without the mounting bolt...(the nub is stuck in the body of the engine, can't remove it)? Can I just seal the hole up with a bunch of Ultra grey? Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks so much.

I thought I had done a fairly good job cleaning the housing of the oil pump...I used brake cleaner and wiped it all down fairly well. I guess I will have to grab some rags, clean the whole underneath, and see if I can't get an exect location of where the leak is coming from...that will probably be better than all this guess work. Thanks for the help everyone...and if anyone else has any input or idea at what I am looking at....please chime in and let me know.

I could try to clean up the engine....does anyone have any recommendations on engine cleaning product that works well? Also...what is the best way to check for head gasket leaking? Thanks for the help gary.

Oh yeah, I don't know if it is too important, but my car is an automatic....also, I found a picture on the site that shows exactly where the smoke on my car is coming from...if anyone has a guess on this one, please help me....thanks in advance.

I'm sure it is not grease from the CV boot....I actually originally had it looked at by a mechanic at pepboys who said that the leak was coming from "Behind the oil pump wall"...which, after some help from others on USM, took to mean that the some seal on the oil pump was broken. They couldn't do the work however as the said they "don't get that involved with engine work", which is why I attempted to do it myself b/c the dealship will charge me a fortune...however, it would appear they didn't know what they were talking about...I'm not sure what the leak is

Hi everyone, These last couple of days, I have attempted to fix an oil leak in my 96 Subaru Legecy 2.5. After pulling the timing belt off I removed the oil pump, put a new crank seal, o ring and new ultra grey coating on the housing and reinstalled the timing belt (twice as the first time I did it wrong). Happy to finally install the thing correctly, and be able to drive it, I took off...only to find out that I did not fix the damn oil leak and it is still leaking and creating a lot of smoke when I come to a stop. I was hoping that the first time I drove it, it would just be some residual oil burning off...no such luck. The smoke is coming from oil that is burning mostly on the tail pipe at the "Y" where they meet, as well as the Catilytic converter. When I pulled the timing cover off originally, there did not appear to be any oil collected on the inside of the cover. Most of the oil that has collected under the car seems to be on the back side of the oil pan...All over the tire rods, etc, some, actually a good amount, has even collected on the transmission fluid pan... I am at my wits end after working nearly 20 hours to pull the belt twice and do all the other stuff that I thought would fix the problem, to no avail...I really don't want to take it to the dealer as I have invested to much of my time and money getting the parts and a few of my tools that I will need to do the job...If any of you could please help me with any other Ideas as to what the leak could be coming from, I would greatly appreciate it...thanks

Thanks to all of you who gave me some great advice on how to proceed with all of this...it's time for me and the car to face off again....hopefully this time I will come out on top. You have all been wonderful with providing me with great advice and wisdom and I only hope that I can repay the favor at some later date. Have a great night all, and hopefully I won't need anymore advice on this wonderful process.

Hi everyone, I was just hoping for some help. Yesterday, I resealed my oil pump, and after putting everything back together, my car wouldn't start, it will turn over but not catch...anyways, I think the timing is off, the two pully's to the right side of the timing belt somehow got out of place when I was dong all the work and it messed up the timing.... I was wondering how you would fix/adjust the timing? Do i need to go in and remove the timing belt and move the pully's or can I just turn the cranksprocekt with the belt on until the marks I made are back into place? Any help would be great, I need to get my car fixed quickly for a family thing. Thank you in advance for any help I can get. Thanks again.

I marked the pully's/belts for alignment, however, the right side pully's were moved somehow...i must have bumped them or something...and when I tried to readjust...they won't move back into place all the way... This must be the problem then....Do I need to re-remove the time belt to fix this or can I just turn the cranksproket until everything is lines back up? Thanks for any help I get, I wanna try and fix this mess

Hi everyone...today, I attempted to reseal my oil pump which requried me to take out the timing belt etc. Huge hassle....well when I was finally done with the job, I put everything back together and attempted to start the car and the engine won't turn over...it will start to rev when I turn the key but it will not catch.... I'm not sure what the problem is, whether I messed up the timing or what...if anyone could please give me an idea on where to look/what to fix/how to fix it...I would greatly appreciate it...I'm at my wits end with this whole thing....Thanks

Hi everyone...I just had a quick question about taking out the timing belt to get to the oil pump...The haynes manuel says you need to put the engine at top dead center....is this procedure necessary and, if so, any advise on how to do this easily..... My car is a 96' Legacy 2.5 DOHC.....thanks for any help I receive. - Chris

Thank's to both Hklaine and Legacy 777 for all of the advice you have given...after some careful deliberation I have decided to man-up and do the job myself. I figure if pepboys already removed all of the belts etc and got to the oil pump, all the necessary bolts and stuff should not be frozen and i should be able to remove them...worst case senario is I can't do it all and get the car towed to a place and I won't have to pay all the labor.... If anyone has any idea how long this should take for a newbie so I can plan out a time to do it...I would appreciate it....thank you all...I love this site

thank you HKlaine, a couple more questions...I don't mean to be a pest, I just want to do this all right......if the water pump, crank seal, and timing belt were replaced last year...would these need to be replaced again due to the oil leak...also, the mechanic who looked at my car said it wasn't the crank seal or anything...that the leak was coming from "behind the oil pump wall". I'm not sure what that means, but I am hoping I can fix this myself.....Maybe he didn't remove the oil pump and this is what that means....not sure.....any additional help would be great....thank you all

Thanks for your help olnick, it's always appreciated.....do you or anyone know how you would fix the oil pumps back plate if it is loose and parts I should buy...new oil pump?....and does anyone else have any different opinion as to what the problem is.... I've looked through the haynes repair book as well as various posts on this site and it seems that removing the timing belt is more of a huge, time consuming pain rather than something which requires a lot of technical know-how....does anyone have any insight on how much technical know-how is required to do this and whether any special tools are required....thanks alot everyone.

Hi everyone, I currently have an oil leak in my 1996 subaru legacy 2.5 and, according to a mechanic, the leak is not coming from any seals, it is coming from behind the oil pump wall? I think "Oil Pump wall" is the wording he used. As pepboys doesn't get to deeply involved in engine work, the mechanic said I had to take it to someone who can fix the problem...he does not know exactly what is leaking, only that it is behind the oil pump wall.... also, last year I had my timing belt, cam seal and water pump replaced.... I was wondering if anyone has any idea what is leaking, how much work it will require to get in and fix it, and whether anyone would recommend me taking it to a dealer or engine shop...not sure which would be a little easier on my wallet and be able to fix the problem.....if anyone could provide some insight, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance for any help I get.....

I wrote yesterday... Hi all, I have come across a recent problem that I am hoping someone can help me with. Yesterday, I thought I could smell a little burning oil after I had run the car (96 legacy 2.5GT) for a little while and come to a stop and idled. Not much noticable smoke, but a little. My car was due for an oil change, so I changed the oil, and while I was under the car, I noticed that there was a lot of this black sludge like material caked on various parts of the underside of the car from the behind the oil pan and on the rods going to the wheel (No idea what the technical name of this parts are). Anyways, After the oil change, I drove the car about 40 miles and again noticed the slight smell of burning oil and a little bit of smoke after the car got to operating temp and I was at idle but nothing really bad. Today however, after again driving about 40 miles, the buring oil smell was very much stronger and the smoke coming from under the engine was extremely noticable to the point my friend thought the car was going to catch on fire (he's a little paranoid). I let the car sit for the day and then drove it 40 miles home with the same results as in the morning...ridiculous amount of smoke and unbearable smell of buring oil. I dropped it off at a shop and noticed a small amount of oil had dripped onto the ground under the car, and it appeared to be coming from a skinny metal plate in front of the oil pan....the shop said they were going to run a dye test the smell seems to be the strongest on the left side of the engine just above the intake manifold....but I was hoping someone on here may have had a similar experience and/or have an idea what is going on so I can prepare myself for the bad news....any help would be greatly appreciated. I should add that I experienced a similar occurance in January of 04 and had to have the cam seal, water pump, and timing belt replaced. Don't know if it is the same thing, but the smoke wasn't quite as bad last year, though the smell was nearly the same and the smoke was fairly sizeable. -------------------------- I just got a call from pepboys (Who did nothing for me) that the leak is not coming from any seals, but something more internal in the engine. They then informed me that they do not do engine work like that and that I would be charged a 150 bucks for the labor. Very frustrating as I have no information other than the leak is not from the seals and 150 is a lot for a poor student like me for nothing.....aside from my frustration though, I was wondering if any of you have any idea what the problem could possibly be. If it is not a seal that is leaking and the leak is coming from somthing more internal than where the seals are....any ideas on what it could be and how much it would cost to get this fixed...any help would be greatly appreciated....I'm at my wits end....Thank you -Chris

Does it seem unusual to need to replace a cam seal again after only 30K or so...also, the guy at the shop when he sold me on the timing belt said I shouldn't need one again for 100K, is this accurate...should I not need to replace the thing this time after only 30 k or so..... I just don't want to blame anyone for shotty work if that isn't the case or be taken advantage of.... thanks for all the help everyone...it is very much appreciated.

Thanks for the info guys...any idea how long a replaced cam seal should last once it is replaced...or better yet...what would cause one to wear down in just a little over a year....I don't drive my car too hard very often.....and how much should a repair for these things run....thanks..

Hi all, I have come across a recent problem that I am hoping someone can help me with. Yesterday, I thought I could smell a little burning oil after I had run the car (96 legacy 2.5GT) for a little while and come to a stop and idled. Not much noticable smoke, but a little. My car was due for an oil change, so I changed the oil, and while I was under the car, I noticed that there was a lot of this black sludge like material caked on various parts of the underside of the car from the behind the oil pan and on the rods going to the wheel (No idea what the technical name of this parts are). Anyways, After the oil change, I drove the car about 40 miles and again noticed the slight smell of burning oil and a little bit of smoke after the car got to operating temp and I was at idle but nothing really bad. Today however, after again driving about 40 miles, the buring oil smell was very much stronger and the smoke coming from under the engine was extremely noticable to the point my friend thought the car was going to catch on fire (he's a little paranoid). I let the car sit for the day and then drove it 40 miles home with the same results as in the morning...ridiculous amount of smoke and unbearable smell of buring oil. I dropped it off at a shop and noticed a small amount of oil had dripped onto the ground under the car, and it appeared to be coming from a skinny metal plate in front of the oil pan....the shop said they were going to run a dye test the smell seems to be the strongest on the left side of the engine just above the intake manifold....but I was hoping someone on here may have had a similar experience and/or have an idea what is going on so I can prepare myself for the bad news....any help would be greatly appreciated. I should add that I experienced a similar occurance in January of 04 and had to have the cam seal, water pump, and timing belt replaced. Don't know if it is the same thing, but the smoke wasn't quite as bad last year, though the smell was nearly the same and the smoke was fairly sizeable. Thanks so much for any help/guidance that is offered. -Chris

Thanks for everyone's help....I love this site

Luckily, I think I can just get another machine screw and work it in like that. I haven't replaced the spark plug wires, which is something I plan to do in the very near future. Hopefully that will solve all the problems. One more question, does anyone know if the CEL should stay on if the knock sensor has been disconnected? And will disconnecting the battery work? Thanks for everyone's help, it is much appreciated.

Thank you for the reply. I went to the website, but unfortunately, the reset procedures are for 90-94 legacy's. Mines a 1996 so I need a scan tool...Does anyone know if disconnecting the battery will work? If it does, do I need to keep it disconnected for a long time? Any help will be much appreciated.

Hi everyone, I am new to the site and am very fortunate to have found such a great source of information. I have come across a problem and I am praying for some help. Recently, I have had a problem with my 1996 Legacy 2.5. The check engine light came on. I had it scanned and it was telling me it was the knock sensor. As I had recently placed regular gas in my car rather than the recommended premium, I thought no problem, I'll just put in some octane booster/fuel inj. cleaner and I should be all set. This was no good. I then used some top-engine cleaner to try and fix the problem, also to no avail. I then use some MMO, drove about a 100 miles and changed my oil...the light stayed on. I also, since this happened, changed out the spark plugs as well as the fuel filter and nothing is helping. Today, I went to a salvage yard and found a knock sensor from a 95 legacy which was in relatively good condition. I took out the old, tried to replace it and ran into a few problems, mainly, he screw which holds the sensor will not tighten completely...it just keeps spinning around....also I noticed some sort of spring like contraption on the tread to the screw....I tightened it the best I could but needless to say, the stupid check engine light is still on. I'm gonna go to home depot and get a new screw to see if this will help. In the meantime, I have disonnected the knock sensor to see if my car's performance would improve, and no luck. Since the light has been on my car has been sluggish on acceleration, often times hesitating a great deal...it's driving me crazy. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if the timing is off, but I replaced the timing belt a year ago with the timing adjusted correctly, so I hope this is not the problem. Please help...Thanks.