Underbody Gets Hot..MELTS PLASTIC
 

:confused: The Underbody Is Getting Really Hot. There Is A Substance That Appears To Be Oil On My Rear Differential. There Is Also Grey/Black Smoke That Comes From The Back Of My Engine Driver Side, After I Push The Car Hard. Any Ideas?

I Recently Bought The Car About 2 Weeks Ago And Have Been Lurking Around The Post. I Have Big Plans For My Suby But This Scares Me.

Okay, your title says 'melts plastic', but in the body of your post you make no mention of what plastic is melting???

Check the oil level in your engine, front diff and transmission and let me know if the fluid level is low in any of them.

It is very common for higher mileage Subarus to leak oil from the front engine seals (less common from the rear seal). When oil leaks from these front seals, it will drip down on the timing belt cover, and onto the oil pan. At high speeds, the oil can literally fly off of the oil pan and onto your exhaust pipes, underbody and rear diff. When you come to a stop, the oil on the hot exhaust pipes burns off and causes the infamous smoke 'barbeque'. :D

It could also be the high pressure power steering hose, as this is common for a aging SVX

The Back Of The Front Ash Tray That Makes Almost Contact With The Underbody. I Pulled It Out And The Back Was Melting

Oil Pressure Is Fine Along With All Other Fluids. No Visible Leaks..

Appreciate The Feedback!! Keep It Coming!!

I Think This Is Exactly What Happened....I Drive Kinda Fast :rolleyes:

Take a picture...


Was it ACTUALLY melting? or was it just warm.


The ash tray is very close to the trans, and the trans makes a fair amount of heat... IF it is ACTUALLY melting the plastic, you need to figure out what is wrong with your transmission, as it shouldn't be making THAT much heat.

I'd suggest getting a temperature sensor on the trans, as well as checking flow through the transcooler part of the radiator.

The next step would be to add a cooler.

I'm At Work Right Now (Diamler-Chyrlser Co-Op Engineer) But As Soon As I Get Home I Will Take Some Pics.

A Cooler Would Be A Great Idea. I'm Looking Into This One

Should I Get The High End One? ($200)

... Kettering student eh?

Hah I'm sorry. I'm A-section as well. are you an incoming freshman? or is this just a new car? I don't think I've ever seen you on campus.

SVXer95 (Collin) who just graduated went there. SVX10 is Mat, who graduate about a year and a half ago went there, and I thought I'd be the only one left haha.

Anywho, not to spoil Dayles business, but that cooler (ie that exact one) sells for 50$ from summit. (it's the one with all the mounts/lines etc)

That should work for you, however I'd get a temp gauge first, and check the trans fluid flow through it's section of the radiator first.

I got the bluish smoke deal from the bottom of the engine, driver side. It was the valve cover gaskets, maybe it's yours too. Does the dipstick for the oil pop up by the way?

Older soobies will leak ps fluid or the cam/main/oil pump seals will leak. Getting hot enough to melt the plastic? the only thing i can think of (and knowing how they are placed not sure how it it can be) is that the cats are getting red hot. if thats the case that means they are failing (age) or having raw gas dumped into them (O2 sensor possibly).

nipper

Yeah, I have no idea how the freakin ashtray could be melting... even if your trans is overheating, to get to the point where you'd be melting plastic, you would not have clutch material left in the transmission...

I don't think the heat from the cats could radiate that far. could be wrong though.

Shields
 

Previous owner might have taken off the heat shields from that area also.
Check those.

The Heat Shield Was "Replaced" By Previous Owner....:rolleyes:

I'm Going To Go With The Temp Gauge And Pimp Out My A Pillar With Like 40 Different Gauges That Measure Meaningless Crap Like Wind Speed....I'm Also Gonna Put Schematics In My Car.....I Don't Even Know What Schematics Are But I Know I Want Some

Thanks For The Input Guys!! I Love My New SVX!!

Skip the cap you have as a "maybe" in your profile. Caps do not help anything. If you want to upgrade your charging system for your stereo, get a higher output alternator, and a good battery, like an optima.

My car does same. I believe it to be atf that has splashed onto the undercoating and broken it down. Mine liquifies as it gets hot.