2006 Subaru Legacy

[ckoulaid]

Hi All,

 

New to the forum and need some help with a wagon I'm looking at. 2006 Legacy 2.5i with 88k.

 

Problem: I opened the hood and right away could smell oil burning. Is this as bad as I think it is? Looks like the engine is leaking oil. Pics below from the passenger side. OR is this a power steering pump leak?

Edited September 9, 2021 by ckoulaid

[Febreze Mee]

I'd love to help you. A bit skeptical clicking on foreign links. To post photos through the forums use a file reducer like the one below to compress the photos:

 

https://compressjpeg.com/

 

Afterwards try posting using the photo tool you find under "Go Advanced" when typing up your post. Violá!

 

2006 Legacy. 88K. Wow, that has low miles for its age. At this mileage, your in your window to replace your head gaskets. These non-turbo cars are prone to head gasket issues due to the poor quality of the gaskets the factory slapped on. The LGTs and OBXT got the multi-layered steel head gaskets (MLS) which did a much better job sealing the heads. It is common for non turbo owners to switch to these gaskets for longevity and reliability.

 

Also, the car is in its window for a timing belt, and While you're in there you might as well replace the water pump, tensioner, idler pulleys.

 

Try to fix those photos so we can see this leak!

[ckoulaid]

Thanks Febreze for the tip re: photos! updated

 

The current owner says the timing belt was serviced in 2016 by the previous owner (no paperwork, though). They also mentioned the power steering pump was service a few weeks ago. The leak seems pretty fresh.

 

They are asking $8,500 which seems really high, but not really finding any comparables. Definitely, not here in Hawaii.

[Febreze Mee]

Absolutely!

 

Kind of hard to tell where this is in the bay without being properly oriented. I can make out the alternator and what looks to be the top of the block. Anyway you could edit these in Microsoft paint with red arrows/circles and give a better description as to where you see the fluid build up/pooling, or grime?

 

Power steering fluid is just automatic transmission fluid and has a very distinct smell to it. Does it smell like oil or PS fluid? It's also possible you smell burning oil from leaky heads, but see PS fluid leftover from the PS pump replacement recently done.

 

More of a description and as much detail as possible would help us help you. You might also try cleaning the area in question and watching it over a few days if you can to see if anything else comes up or if it is just left over spillage.

 

FWIW, I spent $6K on my 2006 2.5i Limited 5MT in Obsidian Black Pearl with 118,000mi on it. Picked it up back in March of this year. Beautiful service history. One-owner car. The only things needed would be a clutch sooner than later (replacing in two weeks). It's more than I would've liked to spend on it, but it was worth the extra coin to me as it checked off all of my boxes. With COVID and the chip shortage it's a sellers market, so you might pay a little more than you should for a used car. How much is the question nobody has an answer for. I saw an 2008 2.5i w/ 33,000mi sell for $10K around the same time I picked mine up. Peruse the web seeing what other cars similar to the one your looking at go for. Use KBB and previous sales as references too.

[ckoulaid]

@Febreze, Thanks again for the feedback.

 

The owner is going to take it back to the shop where the power steering pump was serviced to have them check it out.

 

As for the price, I'm a bit torn. I offered them $6,800 and they didn't even want to negotiate. hahaha

[Febreze Mee]

Fantastic! I'll be curious to see what the shop says.

 

I know Hawaii has a bit of a different car market than the continuous U.S. for the biggest factors being logistical ones, namely shipping/transport fees for cars and parts. However, I couldn't justify paying 8K for one of these. Even in an emergency situation. And the owner won't even negotiate?! That's ridiculous! $6800 is more than a reasonable offer, generous even. Used cars are climbing in price, but even $8000 can get you a lot of options. I would like to compare this car to even its turbo counterpart, but that is subjective. Not everyone wants the added maintenance costs that come with owning a Turbo car, so when I compare it to itself that price sounds high.

 

If you're dead set on one of these cars, shop around some more. Stick to your budget. Have patience. There are better examples and one will come up. Or maybe this owner will call you back willing to drop the price to a more reasonable one.

 

Can any other owners chime in here?

[ckoulaid]

Closing the loop on this one. The owner told me they decided not to get it checked out because they wiped up the fluid and it doesn't seem to be leaking. I think that is reasonable.

 

Still, no negotiation until they show the car to more potential buyers. Also, reasonable. The owner said if they don't get the full offer they may let me know.

 

Oh well.

[bigobeurre]

Hey, sorry that this happened to you. Edited June 2, 2022 by bigobeurre

[ckoulaid]

Hi All,

 

Just picked up a 2006 Legacy SE with 89k miles. There seems to be a small leak that I initially thought was power steering but it is dry around the power steering pump. Then the fluid looks a bit like transmission fluid, but the location of the fluid seems odd for transmission fluid, no?

 

No warning lights or codes. The only smell is after the fluid burns from driving. No loss of power. For the most part, it shifts up smoothly, but downshifts are randomly minimally rough. Nothing crazy.

 

Pictures are below. I have a shop appt. for next Monday but hoping I could figure it out before then.

 

Appreciate any help to troubleshoot! Thanks in advance!

Edited October 19, 2021 by ckoulaid

[dgoodhue]

The fluid could have been spilled while doing the timing belt. One one big concern about the smell of oil is if the head gasket is leaking oil, this is common problem that should be checked on every 4th Gen 2.5i before purchase.

[ckoulaid]

Appreciate it dgoodhue,

 

Figured out the leak is coming from the power steering pump. I'm taking it back to the shop since it is still under warranty.

 

Thanks!

[MoleMan]

I'd love to help you. A bit skeptical clicking on foreign links. To post photos through the forums use a file reducer like the one below to compress the photos:

 

https://compressjpeg.com/

 

Afterwards try posting using the photo tool you find under "Go Advanced" when typing up your post. Violá!

 

2006 Legacy. 88K. Wow, that has low miles for its age. At this mileage, your in your window to replace your head gaskets. These non-turbo cars are prone to head gasket issues due to the poor quality of the gaskets the factory slapped on. The LGTs and OBXT got the multi-layered steel head gaskets (MLS) which did a much better job sealing the heads. It is common for non turbo owners to switch to these gaskets for longevity and reliability.

 

Also, the car is in its window for a timing belt, and While you're in there you might as well replace the water pump, tensioner, idler pulleys.

 

Try to fix those photos so we can see this leak!

 

 

If you think 88k is low I have a 2006 SE manual trans in ABP with 46k on it. rarely gets driven. Bought it brand new and they had to get if from another dealer because of the manual trans.

 

Sometimes I think it’s funny that I have a lot of cars and the one I

Am in most is a 2006 Civic approaching 200,000 miles. The way I look at it is when my seven year old finally turns 16 she has a nice safe low miles twenty something year old car lol...