98 Legacy with 2.2L, 147K miles

 

Any idea what this means?

 

When driving, all seems as normal. But after sitting for a week, started the engine, saw lots of white, sweet-smelling smoke which was coolant on top of the engine burning, plus I think some got on top of the Y-pipe.

 

Note, no white smoke comes out from the tail-pipe so it doesn't look internal to the motor.

 

Secondly, the heat works a bit weaker than I think it should, took about 20 minutes of driving to get it hot and even then only when parked. Not sure if it's related to the above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it's mostly oil leak on the bottom but FWIW.

 

means you have a leak. It may be the oil pressure switch. May be the power steering fluid.

 

Wash the engine and keep an eye on it.

 

Heat- replace the t-stat and the radiator cap, your due.

 

 

nipper

From the pixs, unable to see what is oil or coolant leakage. My advise is to top off the radiator/overflow container with antifreeze, and keep on driving. Low coolant will prevent the heater from putting out really hot air.

 

Check radiator and heater hoses for any leaks. If everything is too wet with oil and antifreeze, to find a leak, take your car to a do it yourself wand car wash, and give the motor a good bath. With a clean motor, you will be better able to find fluid leaks.

I know which fluid is leaking, I am almost positive it's the coolant as I stated above. I can tell by the sweet smell and by the color of the smoke.

 

Could it be the head gasket? Stupid question, because I think head gasket always leaks internally, *not outside the engine* is that correct?

 

I will try to wash everything and see where it's (the coolant) coming from.

the top looks reddish, and they use ATF (red) for the power steering.

I will check it out...

The dreaded headgasket issue?

 

http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-head-gasket-problems-explained/

classic power steering pump leak, it leaks on top of the engine and it either runs back or front between the block and the timing belt cover... now fix that PS pump and wash the top of the engine.. however... with the amount of oil under the car, it seems like u have some other sort of leak somewhere, it aint coolant... check valve covers, rear cam seal and off course cam seals and crack seal if you are doing a timing belt... cam, crank and valve cover seals are usually the culprit of oil leaks on EJ22s

 

as far as the heating goes, check yur Tstat as Nipper stated, that usually is the problem

Edited December 19, 200817 yr by njdrsubaru

I will check it.