Grrrrrrrrrrrr
 

Stoopid car was smoking again today when I pulled into the garage. I have no idea what it is, but I hate to go to Subaru, give them the car all day just so that they can wait till 5:00 to check it out (despite my 7:30 appt.) and at 6:00, after I've been waiting there after work for 2 hours, they tell me (fill in the blank) is broken and I'll have to leave it there for the night or bring it back in the morning. STOOPID CAR!!! It runs fine, it sounds fine, but IT"S SMOKING!!! WTH? Just came here to vent. I'm kinda pissed off.
Mat-1

Car problems SUCK!
 

Mat,
Sorry you have been having problems with the car. I've been seeing your increasingly frustrated posts as of late and I feel your pain. Between the body shop, dealership ($1380, $980 warranty covered), new wheels and tires and last weekends front brakes (rotors and pads), I've spent alot of $$$. The wife still loves driving the car and so do I:D

Hang in there man.
Todd

Don't worry too much. I caught my SVX smoking a week ago, right after a cute Miata moved in next door. Yup - I think they were having SVXSEX when my back was turned. A cold blast of water from the hose should cure the problem. Glad I could help. Ron.

I wish!
 

Man, I wish I could be spending my money on custom stuff like brakes and wheels (especially wheels ;) ). Yea...I'm getting more frustrated, and after looking under the car I'm not worried too much that it's the tranny, at least. I have lots of fluid under there from somewhere. I've known for a long time that my power steering has a slow leak, and it appears that I'm leaking oil from where the bolts hold the valve cover to the rest of the engine. Anybody know what that might be caused by? I'm planning on calling one of my mom's friends who is a mechanic and having him take a look at it. She actually has suspicions that he's recently bought an SVX (he works for Subaru). If that doesn't work out, I'll try the other Subaru dealership here in Albuquerque. So, hopefully things will work out OK.
Mat-1

I would be happy to hear you say it is not smoking from the exhaust pipes.
Smoke in the negine compart is a leak.
The filler pipe below the oil cap has an o-ring. It dries out and leaks.
The fornt oil seal on the oil pump may be bad. Leaks oil into the timing cover and then drips out. Can get onto the exhaust and smoke.
Do you drive the car hard most of the time? I think most oil leaks can start from that or from too much heat. Check out the radiator. Is it clear or filled up with road dirt?

Old car= repair bills < New car = Car Payments
Time to fix failed part > Time to fix part before it fails

yeah i gotta couple of leaks myself.
 

i am going to take my car into the shop this weak and get the couple of leaks i have fixed. i think i have a small tranny fluid leak and an oil leak. both leaks are from bad gaskets. no big deal just comes with the territory. :rolleyes:

Re: I wish!
 

When my power sterring hose was going out, the fluid would pool in that location. Something in your PS may be leaking faster than you think.

Good point
 

I can happily say that there's no smoke coming out of the exhaust. My dad thinks the problem is the seals between the bolts and the valve cover gasket (which has been replaced 2X under warranty). I think it's some of that and my power steering problem. I'm fearing getting my power steering checked, though. A while back Subaru sent me a coupon for a 25 point inspection, so I took it in. They found some leaky gaskets, and they said my steering rack was cracked. However, the Subaru part of the dealership had gone out of business since I had recieved the coupon, so they couldn't do the work under warranty. So, I went to the new Subaru dealership and they said they'd have to inspect it before they did anything. They found that some of the gaskets were bad, but they said the rack wasn't broken. They said it was just a leaky line, not covered under warranty. The rack is under warranty. Now my warranty is finished, so I'm fearing this time around they might "find" a broken rack. I guess I'll just have to chance it. Anyway, for now I'll just wash off all of the oil and see if that stops the smoking.
mat-1
(BTW...I haven't seen mat-2 around much)

Hi Mat,
What kind of driving do you do? City, stop and go? highway? Hard driving? I would like to know because it sounds like your car gets HOT. Two sets of valve cover gaskets seems like a lot to me.
Real glad to hear no smoke from the exhaust. I think that would be a first for this engine.

Not usually
 

I'm usually gentle with my car. I usually keep it below 4K RPM, but occasionally (maybe more than occasionally ie. 5x/week) I'll wind it out in first. Now, the heat doesn't seem to be the cause for the failure of the valve cover gaskets. The ones on it when I bought it were leaky and I had them replaced when I had my tranny replaced the first time (about 3 months after buying the car). The gaskets were still leaky after that. I went away to school for 3 months and when I got back I had them replaced at a different Subaru dealership. The guys there said it had been done wrong the first time. So, they're fine now. It appears, like I said, the leaks are coming from the rubber seals around the bolts that hold the valve covers on. As far as the tranny heat, I live at 6700 ft and do mountainous driving every day. My daily commute involves a descent of 2,000 ft on the way to work, and an ascent of 2,000 ft on the way home. The 20 mile trip is roughly 15 miles highway. I have a tranny cooler, but cuz I don't have a temp guage, I don't know how well it works. I have Dexron V sythetic blend ATF which is approved for transmissions requiring Dexron IIE fluid (what the SVX uses). I think that's all the details.
Mat-1

I am really sorry to be hung up on this heat thing but I really do think that oil leaks are caused by too much heat. It may be worth while to clean out the radiator or at least check it out. Mine was plugged up with road dirt and I could not see it until I took it out.

well, back to GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr
 

Last night I cleaned off the oily parts of the engine to see where the oil was coming from. Tonight I got home and looked under the car and noticed a little oil coming out around one of the bolts that holds the valve cover (or rocker cover according to subaruparts.com) on. I thought it might be loose, so I started to tighten it. It turned really easily, so I figured I had found the problem. But it just kept turning. So I was all pissed that I had a stripped bolt which I could have taken out and just put a new bolt in no prob. But, as luck would have it, when my dad came out and started poking at it, it came out, but it was about 1/4" to short....the f$#*%!@ thing broke!!!!! So, now I have a little bolt stud in my engine and I gotta find a way to get it out (preferrably without going to Subaru). Any ideas? I REALLY NEED SOME HELP!!!! PLEASE!!!
Mat-1

Mat,

I am really sorry to hear about the bolt breaking off. I hope it is not too large of a job to fix. I do not have any experieince on the SVX valve covers, so I really can't comment on that. I have changed the valve cover gaskets on 97OBS, 2.2 L, for valve adjustment and that was pretty much okay. If you can get the cover off and I do not know if that is possible witout moving the engine, I hope you get lucky and can grab the end of the broken bolt and get it out.

wow mat you gotta be kidding me.....
 

that is just terrible luck, i would be freaking the hell out if i were in your shoes. wish me luck this coming week when i take my girl in. i hope she and my wallet come out ok. maybe getting this bolt out will be easier than it sounds.....i wish you the best.

I use way too much...
 

Silicone. I have silicone everywhere...exhaust gaskets, oil plug if it's leaky (which it isn't always), air intake, and now in the valve cover. I was able to put the broken off part of the the bolt back in using silicone. THat stopped the leak and I can at least drive it now. Ironically, it's now leaking less oil that it was before. I'm gonna call Subaru and see if they can fix it today, otherwise it'll be my weekend project. Wish me luck. By the way, 1994SuabruSVX, hope all your stuff goes OK. If I end up going to Subaru, I'll probably just have them fix my power steering line too ($187 :( )
Mat-1