tjxtreme Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Hello, '99 2.5L 130k I recently noticed three engine oil leaks that weren't there before... all seem somewhat serious, as hanging drops are clearly visible in several places. Here's the sequence of events... I moved from Florida back to Ohio, and it sat in my cold driveway for a month and a half while I was out of town (my dad drove it several times though). When I went to check the oil, it was barely on the dipstick. So I decided to do an oil change, and have a look underneath. It turns out, it was missing about a half quart of oil. It appears that the leaks are from BOTH head gaskets, and either the oil pan gasket or ...rear main. My questions are: Why did this happen all of the sudden, and what is the expected gasket life in Subarus? Is this rate of leakage (.5 quarts over 1-2 months) cause for concern? How much would it cost to have head gaskets replaced? do they have to pull the engine, or could an oil-change-and-brake-job guy like myself attempt this? ...any other advice on how I should handle this would be greatly appreciated Thanks, Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Rule of thumb is that when you do the timing belt you replace the following: Water pump timing belt tensioner idler main seal cam seals (thermostat since your there anyway) And you reseal the oil pump. Why? Because we know from experience that 80-100% of the above parts will fail between 106 and 212,000 miles. Since they all take the same amount of labor to get to, its prudent to replace them all at the same time, and not have to touch them again till the next timing belt change. Now back to you... You can be seeing either cam seals, valve cover gaskets (usually the covers are just loose), or if it is at the rear of the engine, the plastic sepertaor plate. The last item the engine has to be pulled, and the plastic plate is replaced with a metal one. Head gaskets arent leaking oil. The way the oil journals are designed they arent close to the outside, if you were leaking anything it would be coolant. What you need to do is steam clean the engine (or wash it at a do it yourself place) under the car. Then drive it and see where the oil is coming from. The most annoying thing about subaru oil leaks is that they drip on the exhaust and make a hell of a lot of smoke. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjxtreme Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 Nipper- Thanks, I'll try the car wash idea. This may help: the leaks on the engine block were from the seal closest to where the spark plug wires connect to the plugs. I'm pretty sure that one of the parts being joined by that has a raised grid pattern on it... does that help? I guess it would make sense that if something was going to come loose and leak, it would be exaggerated by extremely cold weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 oh cool, those are just the o rings that the plugs pass through in the valve covers. Thats easy to do (well easier then a head gasket). nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.