Pictzie Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 My fiancee has an '93 Loyal 4x4 wagon, and it has many of the problems that come with a car over 170K miles. I'm working on the suspension noises(still handles fairly well, but they are so anoying), but I'm stumped on the oil leak it has. We replaced all of the seals and gaskets last year, but when you run it over 70mph for any length of time, it starts to leak oil. It falls on the engine crossmemember and then onto the cat, so we have lots of smoke and a bad stench when we have to stop. It looses about 1.5 qts on a tank of gas when I drive it on the interstate(well over 70 hehehe). I've tried washing the engine and crossmemember to try and track it down, but I've had no luck in getting closer....... Any Ideas????? Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 tell us exactly what gaskets and seals you have replaced. my first guess is the valve cover gaskets. here's more information to bore you. are you positive there is no sign of oil leaks up front - by the oil pump or crank seal? it can leak and drip on the ground, then blow back at high speeds. how do you know it's not leaking below 70 mph? it's possible that at lower speeds it's just dripping on the ground and not blowing back and on the exhaust. unless you're positive it's not leaking at idle, i'd wipe everything off really good underneath and let it idle for awhile, keeping an eye on the valve cover, cam and head mating surfaces. the valve cover gaskets are the easiest and cheap fixes so i'd at least check if not just replace them while you got the covers off. very common oil leak areas. these are very simple to replace, i particularly like to attach them with a wratcheting 10mm wrench they really shine in this job. a cracked gasket is a sure sign of failure, but they can leak without being cracked. don't over tigthen new gaskets. other possibilities for rear engine oil leaks are cam carrier gasket (a bead of sealant), the head gasket (the head gaskets can definitely leak without mixing with the coolant or any coolant loss), or the rear main seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MudisFun Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Scrub down the right head, and safely tighten a sheet of paper with tape on the rear side. Sit in the soob and rev the crap out of it! If the head gasket is leaking it should be real low, most likely the cam tower o-ring is leaking high up on the head. I know it sounds weird to do something like this but if know one else is around to help and piece of white paper here and here is great for leak finding, doesn't just soak-up and shows contact better. Good Luck! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
555Ron Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 If you took the cam tower off, the cam tower O-ring 100% must be replaced. It's a high pressure O-ring so you will be losing a fair bit of oil. An OEM Subaru O-ring is a must as is a suitable high temp sealant around the cam tower. Then don't overtorque the cam bolts too much that the sealant squeezes out... ...my $0.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pictzie Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Lets see....., I replaced the oil pan gasket, rear main, valve cover gaskets, the front seals and o rings on the cams, front crank seal, and intake gaskets(long story). I know that it doesn't leak much oil under 70 because on my fiancee's daily route, the car rarely gets to 70mph and it might use a quart every 1000 miles or so. I'll try the paper idea this weekend and see what I find. Thanks All Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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