naimouasta Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 i have some kind of oil leak. since this past fall, i noticed that i had oil residue on my oil filter whenever i changed or checked up on my oil changes. i was using purolator filters and they have been known to leak so i thought they were just leaky filters. i switched to a different brand and it still had oil residue all over it. it was worst in the winter, where you can actually see oil drops forming on the bottom of the filter. also during those cold mornings in fall/winter, there was a burning smell when i first started the car until it was warm. i just assumed it was the leaky filters, but when i think about it, there was no residue on the exhaust. today i checked the oil filter, different brand, and its still leaking. i looked around some more and i noticed the oil was coming from the timing cover and dripping down in front of the oil filter . also where the acbelt/idler pulley is, it looks like it also splattered oil on to the timing cover. my guess for that is maybe oil is leaking behind the timing cover onto the crank pulley, onto the belt then onto the idler pulley. i'm at 57k miles and this is an 08 2.5i. if there is indeed an oil leak, it should be covered under powertrain right? or is there some catch to the warranty covering only certain things. i'm going to stop by the dealership sometime later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradshaw_subaru_2006L Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hey man, I have a 06 2.5i and it has been doing the same thing oil on the filter every time I change it. I will wipe down and clean the area but every time I look its covered in oil again. Now my car is making a knocking sound and it has the crap worried out of me. Mine now has 71,000 on it and I think I'm screwed. So please if you go to the dealer post up any info you get about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I've found the less tight you put the filter on, the less you have that chance of it leaking. An overtightened filter will result in the rubber ring of the filter to deform and will certainly leak over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 i know that. but the thing is the leak is coming from above the filter. coming from behind the timing cover i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 You should spray it down with simple green to clean it up to get an exact location of where its coming from. You'd be surprised how much oil spatter you get from just a small leak. It may or may not be coming from up as high as you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownBoy Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 I'll try to find the paperwork from when my car did this when I first bought it. Some pin in the crankcase or something backed out causing the oil leak. It is a relatively easy fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradshaw_subaru_2006L Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Did the engine make any noise when the pin backed out or did it just leak oil. I have both going on right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownBoy Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 Alright. I got my folder full of invoices/parts user manuals out and looked up the invoice. The cause was a piston pin access plug leaking. The correction was a resealing of #2 piston pin access plug. The oil leak wasn't major, but it was visually evident. There were no noises, weird driving/sputtering, etc. ( I check my oil pretty regularly, so I don't think there was enough gone to notice/cause any engine issues.) It occurred at 9,156 miles/15 months in service [on January 17, 2006]. Car now has 55,592 miles and no oil issues (knock on wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted May 9, 2010 Author Share Posted May 9, 2010 hmm interesting. i have to schedule to check mine out, i've been busy lately. i have to double check leaks myself before i bring it in. i wiped everything dry so i'll give it a couple more miles before i go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 update! so i'm at 59k miles and i took a look under the car. the leak continues and i think i got headgasket issues!!! passenger side by the oil filter http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/3116/image05262010125953.jpg http://img52.imageshack.us/f/img52/3116/image05262010125953.jpg driverside. http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8711/image05262010130253.jpg http://img3.imageshack.us/f/img3/8711/image05262010130253.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 If it were my car I wouldn't be worried by what you see in the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted May 27, 2010 Author Share Posted May 27, 2010 well lets say if my oil filters were not leaky, back in the cold season, then it would mean the headgaskets were leaking pretty bad?!? i had purolators which were known to leak in super cold weather. but the last three changes i used supertech (always had good luck with supertech's on other cars) filters and it still leaked all over the filter. it only since stopped since the weather warmed up. i know its ok now, but what about 10k, 20k, 30k miles from now?!? shouldn't it be completely dry in the first place. i thought subaru fixed this ish by now. my powertrain warranty is up soon. i'm at 59k miles. are headgaskets still 100k or something or is that only the older cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 CRAP! so 7 months since i started this thread i'm pretty sure now i have leaking headgaskets. its probably due to the colder weather?!? i'm at 69550 miles right now. i'm so pissed off right now. what should i do? i do all the servicing on my car other than alignments, so i'm sure if i go to my dealership, they tell me to f*** myself. is subaru still warrantying headgaskets pass 60k? the car right now drives fine, and i just changed the coolant recently which was clean. so maybe oil is just leaking externally. i can probably do the headgaskets myself, i just did my brothers 2.5rs this pass spring; but really i don't want to be spending money and time in something i shouldn't have to in the first place. i thought subaru fixed this issue! ideas/suggestions? i still owe about 4k on it. trade in for 08-09 spec b? 10'+ GT? 10'+ 2.5i? i really would want a turbo, but for a daily driver i kind of just want to settle on non-turbo really, which is why i kinda wished my car would last forever. driver side http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/9196/dsc00750sg.jpg passenger side http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/6923/dsc00742w.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabidWombat Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Actually, you may not be as bad off as you think. You've got photos documenting the issue when you were still at 59k, so it should be covered. If you have the rest of your paperwork in order for regular maintenance, there's a chance SoA would cover it. Have you considered getting an oil analysis, it might help diagnose HG issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 i don't really have legit paperwork for regular maintenance. i do it all myself so all i have is this log and a bunch of receipts. also does this thread count as documentation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 My .02 is it doesn't matter whether or not you did regular maintenance yourself, because regular maintenance doesn't really affect the head gasket. I was told by subaru that in order for them to consider a warranty repair, I have to take it into them and have them diagnose the problem. I didn't like this because the potential cost of the repair for my issue was around $80, versus $90 for a diagnosis. I'd take it in to subaru, bite the bullet and pay a diagnostic fee and see what they have to say. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be a quick easy fix, worst case they'll say HG and you can call soa and open a case with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnout8488 Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 You shouldn't have to pay a diagnostic fee if you're still under warranty. My 2.5i with 104k has the same exact looking HG leak symptoms, but it hasn't gotten any worse in 30,000 miles. A lot of them seem to look like this, but the leak stops after awhile. If you can get free headgaskets out of this, by all means do it, but if you end up getting shafted by the dealership, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naimouasta Posted November 14, 2010 Author Share Posted November 14, 2010 yea i'm sure it can go to like 150k+ before it starts having real issues but just to be at 69k, and it not being dry just makes me mad. i think subaru's can probably run forever if they can just put good gaskets/seals in the dam motors. i did my brothers headgaskets on his 2.5rs and the cylinder walls still had the cross hatchings on it, and the motor has 208k miles at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 You shouldn't have to pay a diagnostic fee if you're still under warranty. My 2.5i with 104k has the same exact looking HG leak symptoms, but it hasn't gotten any worse in 30,000 miles. A lot of them seem to look like this, but the leak stops after awhile. If you can get free headgaskets out of this, by all means do it, but if you end up getting shafted by the dealership, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Good call, I forgot to mention that I was out of warranty and that's why I would've paid a fee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted November 15, 2010 Share Posted November 15, 2010 I've noticed some oil drops on my filter when I do oil changes as well, didn't see it coming from anywhere above the filter housing, and the engine never gets low on oil between changes, so I wasn't too worried about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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