Smoke from engine compartment. Please help.

[ChristophCobb]

Just bought a 92 SVX with 77k miles on it. Not taken care of. Dirty. Used regular gas. Gunk In the pan under the engine. Dirt and leaves all over the trunk and vents under the wind shield. So far I've done a very basic cleaning. Vacuumed all the leaves I could reach with the nozzle. Still more in there. Vacuumed the interior. Put fresh full synthetic oil in her, fresh K and N oil filter, and Lucas oil injector cleaner in the tank as well as a full 93 octane fill up. Car runs better than when I bought it, but it doesn't like to stop at red lights. It goes down and gives low revs like it's going to stall then corrects itself. Like: vrum..vrum.. vrum.. vrum.. Almost like when an engine runs out of fuel. Then sometimes it's fine and doesn't do it. But more noticeably is the smoke coming from the engine compartment. Smells like oil and chemical. It's really got me worried. It continues to smoke after the cars off which leads me to believe something's leaking onto something hot and then evaporating. I don't know. Where do I start looking? What do I do? Yesterday after I drained the garbage oil from the engine and put new stuff in and did the filter, when I was driving it, the check engine light came on. I pulled over. This was when I first noticed the low rev thing. I shut the car off. Checked for oil leaking on the street under the car. Nothing. Turned it back on and it ran perfectly. Ran well for the rest of the day, even at stop lights. This morning there was an accident on the way to work up the road so needless to say there was a lot of stop and go and I noticed the smoke and the low revs again. Any ideas?

[bishop]

When I picked up my car the power steering dumped a bunch of fluid onto the exhaust, luckily no fire, though it still smokes a little to this day. As for the almost dieing it sounds like theres a vacuum leak some where.

[Crazy_pilot]

Yep, check underneath for power steering fluid leaking onto the exhaust. My car is doing that quite badly right now so I made a little aluminium drip shield. I don't recommend that as a permanent fix though.

[ChristophCobb]

Good point! I was under it yesterday and noticed a ton a black sludge in the pan and on various parts under there and assumed it was bad oil but that makes sense! Okay so check power steering. As for the possible vacuum leak, how problematic is that to fix? Also what kind of power steering fluid does the 92 svx need? I'm not sure how I'm going to get that repaired or how much it's gonna cost.

[Blacky]

Power steering uses transmission fluid.

[ChristophCobb]

Okay. I actually don't know what type of tranny fluid to get for this car either. I'm sure it's in the owners manual tho. I just started driving it a couple days ago so I'm still discovering it's quirks.

[ChristophCobb]

Just got home and checked the power steering fluid. It's at where it should be on the hot marker so now I'm doubting that that could be the issue. Whats next?

[edren1]

I had the exact same problem, if you check your power steering line coming off the rack on driver side it runs close to the sub frame. Mine was barely touching it and the line had a small pinhole leak in it from it rubbing against frame. It would spray a little mist on the CAT causing the smoke.

[ChristophCobb]

Okay I will try that as soon as I get the chance. Thank you for the input!

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Originally Posted by ChristophCobb

Okay. I actually don't know what type of tranny fluid to get for this car either. I'm sure it's in the owners manual tho. I just started driving it a couple days ago so I'm still discovering it's quirks.

For the steering Mobil ATF D / M or similar. Dextron II if I remember correctly.

[SVX_MY_BABY]

The ECU in the SVX monitors what type of gas you use and adjusts to it's characteristics. Pick one high octane fuel grade and stick with it for best results. As you are basically at sea level 91 or 92 would probably be just fine.

[ChristophCobb]

The owner before me used the regular gas. As soon as I got the car out of shop I took it and filled it up with 93 octane. That's what I plan on using for the car always.

[ChristophCobb]

So power steering fluid levels are good. Break fluids seem to be within the f and l brackets as well. So not sure. We did manage to find a mouse nest on top of the intake manifold and leaves, nuts, and grime. Poor little car. Vacuumed it all out. You mentioned the ECU earlier and I have a question regarding the battery. Currently there's a battery drain and in order to successfully start the car I have to turn the battery off (via on/off screw) when I'm not using the car for some time (at work or overnight). I don't know too much about the ECU and how that operates the vehicle, but does turning off the battery all the time effect how it operates? Does it have to relearn everything every time I drive the car? And if so, is that bad for the car? I know for instance my dad's truck, when the battery was replaced, it was disconnected for some time and after it had power again, his truck had to relearn all the motions and wouldn't shift or run 100 % correctly how it used to in till about 3 days later after driving it around. I want to take good care of this car and eventually plan on fixing this Drain issue and would like to know if disconnecting the battery is causing stress on the engine or ECU or both. Because if so, then I will put that up higher on my priority list for the cars needs as of now. Because for now I want to fix some of the other issues, and am willing to deal with opening the hood and screwing in the battery. Thanks for your help thus far guys. Tomorrow I'm taking it on the longest trip it's been driving on since I've owned it. New Egypt, nj to Howell, nj. Hour round trip. So well see how things go and when I get back I'll resume cleaning it and I'll post some pics if I remember!

[Blacky]

The ECU does relearn each time but I don't think it's actually bad for it.
Try folding down the back seat to see if the trunk light is staying on when the trunk is closed. That's what was draining my battery a few years ago.
I have a full parts car if you need anything. I sent you a PM.

[ChristophCobb]

So there's a lot of oil straight dripping down from the engine block... I don't know what to do next. Anyone. Know of any good trustworthy subaru and or SVX mechanics in New Jersey? I think this one may be out of my hands. It seems to me like this gasket here is loose in some places and is blowing oil onto the exhaust.