The 1999 Forester is up and running, Thanks FIXITGUY50. But it seems to have a small amount of burning oil smell each time it is driven. Is this normal ?

The 1999 Forester is up and running, Thanks FIXITGUY50. But it seems to have a small amount of burning oil smell each time it is driven. Is this normal ?

 

if its coming from the front of the motor, it is not a bad thing. if its coming from tailpipe its more of a concern.

Is definitely coming from the engine bay. I will check all the bolts on the valve covers and crawl under it ASAP. So close. It is running great, just smoking really bad after driving.

Did it have the smell before?

 

Did you pull the engine and seal the baffle plate? That's the most common cause in my experience. But on the 99 Forester it's metal which is much better than the plastic ones.

 

You did use Suby seals?

No smell before. Yes all gaskets are Subaru.

check your axle boots.

check your axle boots.

 

Very true - but usually a bit of a different smell.

Very true - but usually a bit of a different smell.

you are right, they do smell different, but over the net they tend to smell the same.

Monitor it. It could be just dripped oil, and it may take time for it to burn off, especially if its on the heatshields and not the exhaust itself.

 

Did you do this yourself?

 

 

nipper

There was already alot of oil in the lower portion of the engine. I hope to degrease ands clean it soon. We did have some drippage as they say. I need to be under there to see what is going on with the exhaust anyway.

Here's a thought.

 

I finally broke down and bought one of those trace sets to deal with a 99 Forester. I bought the complete kit.

 

But IIR kits to do one thing (lets say oil, or coolant) were like 20 bucks.

 

That'll help tell you whether it's new oil or old oil.

What is this kit. I am not familiar with it.

Dye to add to your oil, a black light, and goofy glasses.

 

The conbination or the black light and the yellow safety glasses makes the oil glow flourescent green.

 

 

IIR Advance had cheap kits for oil. I was looking for a coolant kit and ended up buying a kit for like 100 bucks elsewhere for AC, coolant, and oil/trans fluid.

 

I used the last of my trace dye yesterday for oil. It's like 8 bucks for an ounce at Advance and depending on teh brand of dye it tale 1/2 to 1 oz.

 

Sure can save a lot of time and speculation.

IS not oil. IS ATF !!! I have checked hoses that run under head, Seem solid. Fluid level in tranny seems very full.

Found it. Bad clamp on tubing runnng under head. Leak is gone.

Good deal! Glad it was a simple, cheap fix.

 

Those ATF hose clamps have been problematic for me. I changed all the hoses and clamps when I had the engine out of the '99 Outback, and they still weep a little. Even on my '07 Outback, two of the clamps are weeping at 30K miles.