Front end oil leak..Again 98 Outback

My 98 Outback began leaking oil from the front end at around 86K miles. I took it to my Sub dealer and had him replace the timing belt, cam seals, crank seal, oil pump seal, water pump and thermostat. This was in July 2004. Now I'm getting the same symptoms again, heavy burning smell after freeway driving, heavy oil coating the skid plate while the oil pan is completely clean. I drive this car very little it is now at 99K. Do I have this to look forward to every 10K miles. Did the dealer do something wrong? I thought maybe I should change to a heavier oil 10W30 instead of the 5W30 I've been using. I change every

3K miles or 6 months. I added a bottle of stop leak stuff to see if it helps. The work ran close to $1000 so I don't look forward to doing it every couple years. Any advice?
Reply to
cocoon
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I have a '99 Outback and I'm starting to see some seepage around the valve cover gaskets. I bought a set of new gaskets but haven't had the time or motivation to replace them yet.

I changed the cam and crank seals back in '03 and that problem stayed fixed.

The stop leak probably won't help and going to a thicker oil might slow it down some.

The bottom line is that the engine is

8 years old and the seals will fail. I belive that the seal lifetime will be more dependent on the age of the engine rather than the mileage.

The flat design of the Subaru engine tends to make it something of an oil dripper by nature.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

My point is that my seals were changed two years ago and now they're failing again. Are you saying that because the engine is 8 years old the seals are going to continue to fail no matter how many times they're replaced?

Reply to
cocoon

I guess I wasn't clear...

My first thought was that it is a different set of seals that's causing your problem. Like maybe your valve covers. I'll bet they weren't changed with the crank and cam seals.

Another possibility is that when the crank seal was replaced, the oil pump screws and O-ring weren't checked. There was a known problem on my year model and quite possibly yours where the oil pump back cover screws would loosen and allow pressurized oil to blow past the crank seal. The fix is to locktite the screws. I presume you don't have any way of knowing whether or not that was done...

And finally, no, seals last way longer than 2 years regardless of the engine's age.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

I think both posters are talking about different leak sources. I interpret "seals" as the cam seals which are different from valve cover gaskets. Valve cover gaskets are a known issue on Subaru flat fours (and sixes) simply because they are vertical and have residual oil sitting on the bottom at all times. They are nowhere near as expensive or labor consuming as cam seals. (Still a pain in the ass tho...)

Is it possible to replace the cam seals *without* changing the valve cover gaskets?

Reply to
nobody >

My '95 Legacy had an oil leak and my mechanic replaced the oil pump and that did the trick. I did find on another message board the claim that the return oil journal was too narrow and to drill it out with an 1/8" drill bit. If the problem is an oil pressure problem caused by a constricted oil journal, replacing the oil pump gasket won't solve the problem. The back pressure on the gasket will cause the new gasket to fail just like the old one did.

Reply to
JS

I believe my leak is either the cam seals, crank seal, or oil pump seal. The leak I get happens only when the car is freeway driven and you can tell cause of the burnt oil smell. I don't get any oil drips in the driveway. I am going to check the valve covers for signs of leaking but I'd think if they were leaking I'd get drips on the ground, right?

Reply to
cocoon

If you went to the car wash and cleaned the engine, especially underneath, then let it idel in the driverway for 20-30 minutes would you get any drips? perhaps a CV boot has split and slung grease onto the exhaust?

I dunno

Carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Reply to
mikey

Hi,

Assuming all the seals WERE replaced, and done PROPERLY...

Looking thru the posts, I don't see that anybody's mentioned checking the PCV system. Excess crankcase pressure from a clogged ventilation system can sometimes cause leaks even w/ brand new seals.

As has been mentioned before, you've gotta get things cleaned up well enough to see where the leak's coming from before knowing what the cure's gonna be.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Courtright

The valve covers leak at the back of engine check that or you have a problem up front again.

"cocoon" wrote: > My 98 Outback began leaking oil from the front end at around > 86K > miles. I took it to my Sub dealer and had him replace the > timing belt, > cam seals, crank seal, oil pump seal, water pump and > thermostat. This > was in July 2004. Now I'm getting the same symptoms again, > heavy > burning smell after freeway driving, heavy oil coating the > skid plate > while the oil pan is completely clean. I drive this car very > little it > is now at 99K. Do I have this to look forward to every 10K > miles. Did > the dealer do something wrong? I thought maybe I should change > to a > heavier oil 10W30 instead of the 5W30 I've been using. I > change every > 3K miles or 6 months. I added a bottle of stop leak stuff to > see if it > helps. The work ran close to $1000 so I don't look forward to > doing it > every couple years. Any advice?

Reply to
burdock

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