Has anyone ever heard of an subaru (or other car, for that matter) catching fire because oil leaking from the valve covers was ignited by the hot exhaust manifold? My mechanic warned me about this, saying it wasn't too likely--he's only heard about it a few times, but he was obligated to alert me to the possibility since my valve covers appear to be leaking more and he smelled burning oil during a test drive. Obviously, this it not a good situation and I intend to replace the covers--but can it wait until after I drive ~600 miles this weekend or am I already on borrowed time?

 

Thanks.

Honest to god you should look under my 93 legacy with 330k all original seals and hoses. haha, it is basically a bit sludge ball on the bottom. Still didn't catch on fire though LOL! Car is going to the scrapper though so won't have a chance to further investigate, but the heart and muscle will hopefully be going towards another Legacy but rust free.

 

I would not be worried, it will just burn off unless it is pouring out steady, don't loose any sleep

highly unlikely to cause any problems. all subaru's do this, the design lends itself to oil dripping on the exhaust, almost doesn't matter where the leak is. 660 miles no big deal.

Oil by it self has a high flash point. It's vapor that really catches fire. Just dripping on the exhaust shouldn't be a problem other than dealing with the smell. I think most subie owner get used to the older our cars get until we start replacing gaskets.

My EA82T had a hole in the turbo return line, it was DUMPING oil on the hottest part of the exhaust, did 400miles without any issue. Well, except smoke coming up around the shifter hole at every stop.

Never had a problem with dripping oil catching fire, but I know first hand that when a turbo explodes after climbing a long grade, and that oil touches that glowing-red Turbine, all hell breaks loose and your car burns to the ground while you sit and watch for 20 minutes for the fire trucks because you dont have a fire extinguisher... Yeah.

 

Oil on the exhaust is not bad though.

 

-Bill

Never had a problem with dripping oil catching fire, but I know first hand that when a turbo explodes after climbing a long grade, and that oil touches that glowing-red Turbine, all hell breaks loose and your car burns to the ground while you sit and watch for 20 minutes for the fire trucks because you dont have a fire extinguisher... Yeah.

 

Oil on the exhaust is not bad though.

 

-Bill

 

great now your going to have me worried about my 94 SS. Where to buy a tiny fire extinguisher?