Oil Leaking??
 

Any of you guys with manual transmission noticed oil leaking from behind the passenger side engine head? A plate that is right above the exhaust over pipe. Cleaned it off 2 days ago and ran my hand under it today and was wet with oil.:cry:

Do you have a burning oil smell or a wisp of smoke coming from that side after the car is warmed up? i have not visually seen any oil but i havent stuck my hand down there either. my car only has 2400 miles on it and there is definitly some oil dripping on something hot like the exhaust manifold. my dealer is not the greatest so i havent brought it in yet. my car is hibernating for the winter right now.

While driving I get a distinct oil burning smell while at a stop coming through the vents. i can also smell it outside of the car. definitely passenger side down low. no visual evidence on the floor.

Please send me a PM if you find out whats going on

I've heard something dripping on metal and sizzling after parking, once in a while. I have smelt something when I come to a stop light. Gonna look for any leaks this weekend.

I really don't want to turn this over to the dealership. I just want to drive it more. :burnrubber:

picture of leak?

I don't have any picture of it but if you're standing on the right side near the battery and look down you will see a triangle type plate with 3 bolts behind the engine head and just run your hand under it to see if it is wet. You can also see that the exhaust over pipe is right under it.

Try checking the torque on those bolts, maybe they are a little loose

I did before 12lbft.

I haven't done a ton of investigation yet but plan to tomorrow because I am getting something similar. I am at right around 4900 miles now and have noticed it off and on, I don't always get the smell. I check the oil fairly often and it's not losing or burning an appreciable amount, not enough to even register on the dipstick.

hmm...can't be water..then what?? mine has only 300 miles now. cant drive in this salty roads.

Hmm, I've been wondering about this too. I have almost 10k miles. For the last few K I have noticed a faint oil-burning smell after driving for a while. I generally only notice at stop lights or once I park the car. I haven't been able to find any leaks, and the dipstick has been rock-solid...but this sounds like a possible culprit for sure.

Exact same thing for me. I'm at 15K+ and probably noticed it 2K earlier. Will check as op suggested and report back.

Hopefully this engine doesn't have the typical Subaru headgaskets issue.

I checked in the area of the original poster and had no oil. Subaru hasn't really had head gasket issues except the 2.5L SOHC engines. I have owned 9 of them and only the EJ251 had head gasket issues.

Another local frs guy in az had his head gasket leaking onto the exhaust. Had it replaced and something is smelling again. Not sure of any updates. Asked him to post here

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Those of you noticing this - can you check your oil level and see if it's still where it should be? I wonder if it's not engine oil but some other kind of lubrication coming from somewhere else.

Looks like it is coming from the bottom of this plate.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=3484

Dripping on to the block, then on to the header.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=3485

From a much lower angle, doesn't look like it could be coming from anywhere else.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=3486

Hmm, anyone know what that plate is? Cylinder head plate?

Same with me. Mine started after my 15,000 service and I thought it might have been due to the dealership overfilling the oil (the dipstick level was reading 1-1.5" higher than full). I had the oil changed and the engine checked for leaks, with no leaks found (according to the dealer). I was still getting a burnt oil smell for the last week up to at least a couple days ago but didn't notice it yesterday or today.

Well, I just checked and my car has a similar (although bigger) spot of oil on that cylinder head plate. Looks like it might be time to make an appointment with the service department.

bummer.

In a way, but at least I know where the burning oil smell is coming from now.

Add me to the oil leak list, my VIN is in the 3400 range. I have been smelling burning oil off and on since I got my car. I needed to take my car in for it's first oil change anyway. Thank you tonytduc for the heads up and sure47 the pictures! And no my oil level is just fine.

:thanks:

So it looks like it's a very small leak then. I too noticed some burning smell coming from the header area after a spirited run - I can't check right now due to the blizzard out here, but I suspect I too have this oil spot on the cylinder head plate. VIN 2100 range, 3K miles. Sounds like the same gasket problem that plagued earlier subies?

This isn't a head gasket issue like the early EJ251s but might be an issue with the gasket under the plate or bolts becoming loose over time.

I think I'm starting show signs of this issue.

Ah - think we might have to re-torque those bolts on the cylinder head plate?

You are very welcome.

I did but still small leak after a few days.

Maybe, but I'm just going to take mine to the dealer. I could handle it myself but since it's a new car I'd like to have every problem documented on my car's history just in case there is a related problem later. Plus, the more people who alert Subaru to the problem the more likely it will be that there will be an official TSB or recall.

I have the same issue...burning oil smell after driving more than 20 minutes when stopping at a light or parking. I checked the bottom of that plate and it was wet with oil. All 3 bolts were loose, so i tightened them up a bit. I hope this isn't another serious problem.

I wonder.... could this be the reason why a forum member's FRS got caught on fire? Fuel line + oil = hmmmmm

It's a plate which blocks off the hole where the AT vacuum pump would be mounted.

What the hell Subaru...now this issue is starting to pop up quite a bit...

Did the engineers subject these cars to any design and assembly checks at all...:slap:

I need to stop reading the threads in this subforum or I'll never buy an FRS...:bonk:

yea i thought i smelled some oil burning today.

huh, well I shined a light down in this area, took a few pics, didn't see any oil? Granted the car has been sitting overnight, but I figured I'd see some in this area. I checked those three bolts and they were a bit under-torqued though. I tightened em up for now.

But I smell this exact same thing after any drive.

i added my comments to the mix on the other thread, but I also get a nasty burning smell from that area and through my HVAC. a few people have said they dont think it's oil. I have a ton of soot on that plate actually.

I went through the whole process w/ toyota and they told me it was normal and there was nothing htey would do. I'm actually looping around for a second visit and they are trying to make excuses to not look at the car... terrible!

I get the smell every day after 15-20m of highway driving, then coming to a traffic light. its awful.

edit: i only identified this plate as potentially related earlier this week, i didnt have them look at it. Has anyone done an oil UV test to find/prove the leak?

@ap1mikeo: Where you at? What city? What dealer told you it was "normal"?

I'm in northern california. Toyota corporate said it was normal, not the dealership. Piercy Toyota is the dealer. They claim their hands are tied once the engineers determine the car is ok. They have been pretty good to me, but I'm not sure what goes on behind the scenes between them and corporate.

The smell has gotten worse so I tried to send it in again, and they still claim their hands are tied. I'm not convinced this is oil on this plate, but something is burning. i've seen small wisps of smoke coming from this area after lifting the hood too. this is not right and needs to be resolved. If they are working on a fix, I just want to know so I can ease my mind. I'm scared to use the car, I'm scared to modify the car. It's not right.

The plate covers an access point to slot an air pump (because drifting. Really.) on the Automatic versions of the car. This pump needs to be oiled, so it also pulls oil from a banjo bolt at the front of the head (top) back to there, oils the pump and feeds it back into the head (at the back).

On M/T models, they simply install that plate to block it off, but that area still gets oil into it as it's open to the rest of the head.

Now, here's the key point. There is no gasket behind that plate. There is simply silicone sealant - like the stuff you can buy in the store. And it's not very thick at all. So I wouldn't be surprised if, on some cars, there's just not enough silicone sealant at some point on the plate, and a little bit of oil is leaking out.

We know of this because that's where our mechanical oil pump for our turbo kit mounts...

Thanks to everybody on this thread for pointing this stuff out!

I have some oil on the bottom of the plate and a few drips on the exhaust as well. Haven't really driven the car more than a few blocks since winter but I will ask the dealer about it in the spring. My car does give off an an oil smell when I rev it up but thought it was normal.
The oil loss is very small and my car has ~4900 mi on it.