Burning smell from engine
 

Hi
New to the forum and here with a problem already.
I am the chairman and founder of LADS Lancashire And District Subaru owners club www.ladsoc.co.uk but SVXs are like hens teeth here so very little info on them.
Im in the UK with a jap import SVX and after doing a couple of miles the engine has a strong burning smell coming from it.
Temp gauge is fine and the coolant level is good also ( no loss ).
The only thing done recently is an oil and filter change and replacement of the power steering pipe from the reservoiur.
Hope someone has a reason for this.
Cheers
Trev

Trev=-
I would check the work done (posibbly spilt oil or a problem with pipe). After that I would look into a posible head gasket problem. The easiest way to check that is if there is white residue on the inside of the oil cap.

Burning smell, eh? Probly just normal svx operations. bad engine seals (See: valve covers, front seals) can easilly lead to a burning oil smell. the leaking power steering pump is likely causing a burning ATF smell. if it smells like something other than atf or oil then you have a more serious problem

Hi Trev,also in the UK,make sure that the oil in the gearbox/diff is not overfilled,my gearbox level fluctuates from day to day and sometimes smells after a run out.:)

Just checked and it seems my bottom hose is not getting hot, top one is ok.

whoever replaced the p/s pipe may have let fluid run all over and in the cat heatsheild.

^^^good point, any fluids that go anywhere on the motor will be burning off for some time, it seems normally for the SVX to smell like burning power steering fluid

Hi Trev, welcome to the forums. It would appear that the water is not circulating. First check that the radiator is full and not just the expansion tank. The other causes are a stuck thermostat, or the pump is not working properly.

Harvey.;)

Hi Trev,

Welcome.

I just checked out your pictures on the LADS forum. Your car seems to be absolutely mint, and it's the rare "special factory order" with all the extras. We had thread about it when it came up on ebay a while back.

As others have said above, the burning smell is probably some oil or ATF that has dripped onto the cat. Do you see any smoke?

With regard to your coolant pipes: If your car is not overheating then the cooling system is probably working correctly, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Phil.

[QUOTE=b3lha]Hi Trev,

Welcome.

I just checked out your pictures on the LADS forum. Your car seems to be absolutely mint, and it's the rare "special factory order" with all the extras. We had thread about it when it came up on ebay a while back.

Cheers Phil
Maybe you can enlighten me on the above re factory order and the extras cos I aint found them yet.

Their was some smoke coming from the drivers side the first time I gave it a run after the work was done and thought it could be some fluid that has dropped on a hot place.
Do these engines get very hot? I know my Impreza does with the turbo but are these the same.

Regards

Trev

Hi Trev,

The "extras" are ABS, Cruise Control, Sunroof and Airbag - which are not standard on the base model Japanese SVX.

See James Dunne's excellent website: http://www.geocities.com/jamsvx/versions.html

Exactly. Same thing happened to me when my power steering line split, the fluid dripped down onto the exhaust and there was smoke coming out from the driver's side.

I often feel a fair amount of heat coming off my car after a good run, but I don't think the SVX engine runs any hotter than other similar engines. SVX transmissions on the other hand are well known for getting very hot. An aftermarket transmission cooler might be a worthwhile investment if you don't already have one.

Phil.