'03 Forester, only 60,000 miles, some spotting on garage floor and occasional oil smell. Oil level unchanged. Not real worried but wonder what garage might find and charge if others had similar problem? Shop I go to and bought tires gives free rotation but usually finds stuff wrong every year. I can afford a new Forester but this one does all I need.
Simple things first: look at the oil drain plug. Subaru says that you _must_ put a new crush ring (gasket) on with every oil change but virtually all oil change places fail to do that. The old ring is simply not capable of sealing well and when the oil is warm it will surely leak there if it can. The uninformed will try to tighten the plug if they detect any seepage after a change but that simply risks causing permanent damage.
3 common problems. Oil plug gasket. oil filter , and "oil pisser switch" Less common, cam cover gaskets /cam plugs and head gaskets. Less common, but definitely NOT UNCOMMON.
May have checked there but will have to do it again. I did look around and nothing was obvious.
I had an older Forester where I was changing the oil myself and got away without changing rings for a while and leak developed so I bought rings. What I have been doing is letting shop change oil annually when they rotated tires and I'd change oil myself at 6 months.
Occasional oil smell makes it seem to me that leak is elsewhere.
I had the head gasket leak at 40k where sugary smell was the only indicator.
Where? Under the engine, the rear, or what? Do you change the orientation of the car when you park in the garage or do you always park the same way?
Haven't found a car that doesn't leak some, especially for a decade-old car. Does "oil" mean the engine oil? A LOT of oil would have to be lost before you noticed a change in its level. "Some spotting" sounds like just a few spots, not an oil slick.
When it's up on their hoist, have them check there is a nylon washer or crimp washer under the drain plug. If you have some quickie lube shop do the engine oil/filter change, they do sometimes neglect to replace the washer. They put on the old worn washer or completely omit it. They may also not clean the engine of any dirt or pieces of the old filter's seal when putting on the new filter. You didn't say how long you've spotted the oil on the garage floor (or if it's wet or dry and soaked in). If it's about time for another engine oil change, make sure this time they put in the nylon or crush washer with the drain plug and clean the area where the new filter seals onto the engine.
Usually it's hard to tell what leaks there are for an engine when it is dirty, especially for slow leaks of little fluid. Steam clean the engine. Then you (or they) can tell if and where are the leaks for the engine. I had a shop tell me that I needed a new manifold gasket because of coolant on the engine that puddled up. It was a bad radiator cap that was weak. When it prematurely blew out coolant, the coolant got sprayed back on the engine. Couldn't tell what was going on until I steamcleaned the engine. When I spotted where it was, tested the cap, found it weak, replaced it, no more coolant on the engine. Had me scared for awhile thinking it could be the manifold gasket problem although my car wasn't in the year range noted for that problem.
You didn't say where were the spots on the floor in relation to your car (and if you always park the same way in the garage and always over the same spot). If the leaks are at the rear, its the rear differential that's leaking. You can't check the level unless you get the car up on ramps or a hoist and remove the plug to check if the level is at the bottom of the hole - and by then you might as well as top it off if low. Might have to replace the diff's gasket (which means getting a diff drain/flush at the same time). Every year for many years the shop would tell me about a leak at the rear diff (any oil that leaked - but might no longer be leaking - gets real dirty back there so it's obvious). Didn't bother replacing the diff plate seal for many years. When it was time for a diff flush, that's when I had them do it. A plate seal is easy to fix. Clean off around the plate and axle tubes and seals and watch for more oil accumulation.
I haven't been under a Forester to know if the area under the engine oil drain plug is clear. I remember one car, I think a Subie, where there was a reinforcement plate with some holes in it. Alas, when draining oil, some always goes other than straight down. As you remove the plug, it follows the plug, hits your arm, or whatever. One solution which I think the manual said was to remove the plate. Another was to put a wide low-profile funnel in the hole in the plate under the drain plug. Once the oil mess was made, who know where the oil would blow while driving, like onto the exhaust. I'm neat so would rag off all the spilt oil but shops and especially quickie lube joints might not.
You're "not real worred" but you're considering a whole new car just because of some leaks?
When I take it to that shop they seem to have developed a habit of finding expensive repairs. Normally I'll hold on to a car until cost of repairs exceeds book value.
Whatever is leaking is in the front of the car and when weather gets better I'll put it up on ramps and look. I did get bad vibes when I googled up Subaru oil leaks where they seemed to say that it was more common with the brand.
only 60K but you are WAY overdue for a timing belt service if it wasn't don e 2-3 years ago. Possible oil leak from cam or front crank seal, as well as places mentioned. Any missing/rough-running? oil can get onto spark plug b oots if you need valve cover seals. Pull and check that they are dry.
Possible oil leak from cam or front crank seal, as well as places mentioned. Any missing/rough-running? oil can get onto spark plug boots if you need valve cover seals. Pull and check that they are dry.
Timing belt was changed at maybe 35k when I had noticed the sugary antifreeze smell and they changed my water pump. At 40k they did the head gasket.
Forester is running smoothly but wife keeps pointing to oil spots on garage floor. Nothing obvious under the hood and oil level is not down and I've never needed to add oil in life of car.
Sure the drops are engine oil? In addition to typical fluids, the rear bushing of the lower control arm can leak a fluid if it's cracked (I think, it IS fluid filled on Outbacks) .
Looks like the fault of the oil filter. Just put Forester up on ramps to look and there was a drop of oil at the bottom of the filter. It was 6 months ago that I had oil changed and drops have been minor and oil level unchanged. Shop puts on smaller filter than I do and PITA as I don't have smaller wrench. Filter on pretty tight too. I was going to wait a year to get next oil change as I'm only putting
5-6 k mi/yr but now I'll probably see them sooner. Reason I use this shop is I bought tires there and get free rotation for life of tires. We have a two car garage and wife and I park in exactly the same places backing into garage so I knew oil was from the front of the Forester.
If the filter is leaking take it back and have them replace the filter for you at no charge.
That is my intent.
The gasket on the oil cooler (above filter) will need replacement. That's the most likely source of a leak appearing/dripping from the filter.
If so, is that a big deal and what might it cost?
I've held off taking it in as oil level stays constant and drips infrequent.
Looked at manual and it says: NOTE: Engine oil cooler is equipped with turbo model only. Mines not turbocharged.
Have to mention that I talked to a fellow Forester owner this am who goes to the same shop that I do.
He say, every time, he goes for an oil change, they come out, sit him down and present him with a sheaf of papers like a town crier and tell him what they want to fix on his Forester.
That's what happens to me ;)
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