Head Gasket leak?

[Carlsson]

Hey! I recently discovered a small puddle on my engine. I'm not a boxer expert so I'm not sure what the area is called. My friend says after a harder drive this can be normal, but I am not too sure.

Info: I'm running Vortech Supercharger.
Cooling liquid is 1cm under minimum.
Oil on dipstick looks normal, same with oil lid.
Car has 16000km / 9900 miles on it.

Anyone know what it is, what it might be and if I can continue driving?
Heading for a longer drive now to see if I get any more of it.

Pictures.








Same place, different angle.



Imgur Album link:
http://imgur.com/a/VT7tj

[steve99]

Its certainly not normal.

Looks like engine oil , coolant from engine is usually blue if stock or possibly green

Clean it all off with degreaser ect then you might be able to see where its coming from on the next short drive. Looks like its been leaking for a while.

hopefully its the supercharger oil and not a cracked block, their is a suspect looking jagged line in that third photo closeup that looks like a crack

Whats the greenish/blue dried off stuff that might have been coolant ??

does the air con still work ?? , does not look like air con oil though

[Carlsson]

Originally Posted by steve99

Its certainly not normal.

Looks like engine oil , coolant from engine is usually blue if stock or possibly green

Clean it all off with degreaser ect then you might be able to see where its coming from on the next short drive. Looks like its been leaking for a while.

hopefully its the supercharger oil and not a cracked block, their is a suspect looking jagged line in that third photo closeup that looks like a crack

Whats the greenish/blue dried off stuff that might have been coolant ??

does the air con still work ?? , does not look like air con oil though

We can ignore the coolant part about my previous post. It's normal. I've wiped it off and gone for a 50 min drive. No more leakage from what I can see. It's not oil from the supercharger, it has an internal oil reservoir, and it's red.

The green stuff is stuff that they have from the factory to check for leaks, or something along those lines.

Air Condition still works.

[humfrz]

Good pictures!

Yep, something is (was) leaking for sure.

I have no idea of what is causing the leak.

Sorry, I'm no help ......


humfrz

[BirdTRD]

Originally Posted by Carlsson

Hey! I recently discovered a small puddle on my engine. I'm not a boxer expert so I'm not sure what the area is called. My friend says after a harder drive this can be normal, but I am not too sure.

Info: I'm running Vortech Supercharger.
Cooling liquid is 1cm under minimum.
Oil on dipstick looks normal, same with oil lid.
Car has 16000km / 9900 miles on it.

Anyone know what it is, what it might be and if I can continue driving?
Heading for a longer drive now to see if I get any more of it.

Did you ever figure out where the leak was coming from?

[Keenercarguy]

THAT LEAK IS FROM YOUR TIMING COVER. I've had mine fixed once already and it's back again. It is a not-unusual problem but it is a HUGE fix... @Carlsson

[bababooey]

Originally Posted by Keenercarguy

THAT LEAK IS FROM YOUR TIMING COVER. I've had mine fixed once already and it's back again. It is a not-unusual problem but it is a HUGE fix... @Carlsson

is this the same thing that people replace the cam plate cover to keep from leaking?

[monst]

Has this issue been addressed in a recall or TSB?

[Keenercarguy]

Originally Posted by bababooey

is this the same thing that people replace the cam plate cover to keep from leaking?

I'm not sure… the timing cover is on top of the crank case and I think it is attached or at least close to the cam cover, but it's especially odd because the oil from the timing cover (which all the subaru technicians at my dealer have seen on the majority of the new boxers) is seeping out of the seal, despite that the crank case isn't under any pressure. The mechanic that I chatted with, after the leak came back a second time barely a month after the first fix, said that all the techs there think that it's because the 0W-20 is so thin and it just works its way out… Again apparently this is not uncommon in the FA-20 and similar new boxers… Once it's fixed this time i'm going to consider changing to a thicker oil.