Oil leak

[B 4 You]

I have a 1992, and I've always had a little oil somewhere under my car, what should I expect for something almost 21 years old? Anyway, recently I started smelling burning oil, so I looked a little harder, and saw what seemed to be a significant amount of oil. The ground was dry where I park though, so all of the leak is being burnt off by the exhaust. My first inclination is the valve cover gaskets. How much is this repair? I have a reputable garage I know that knows the SVX and will do it right. I just want to know how long and how much for parts. Also, 2 and a half years ago, right when I bought the car I had to replace the ENTIRE cooling system, and while the shop had my engine out of my car, I had them replace every rubber gasket that they could reach while the engine was easily reached. I doubt it's something connected directly to the block, but as usual with this car, I'm probably wrong. Any likely culprits? I'm just going to carry oil with me and keep filling it up. Between oil changes (3,700 miles) I think I lost close to a half-quart to a quart. Not positive, as the mesurement cup only went to 4 quarts.

[smc]

Hmm. If its hitting your headers, then its most likely a valve cover gasket. First things first. Get a ratchet and socket, and make certain that all the cover bolts are snug. DO NOT torque the piss out of them, just good and snug. Then, get 2 cans of engine de-greaser. Drop your skid plate and take the car to your local self car wash with the high pressure washer. Soak every inch of your engine and front crossmember with the de-greaser. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Pressure wash off and repeat with can #2. This should clean off your engine and allow you to pinpoint exactly where your leak is coming from if it reoccurs.
If worse comes to worse, valve cover gasket replacement is not that big of a deal. A good afternoon and basic tools will allow you to get the job done.

[davew833]

Could also be the rear main seal or the oil separator plate on the back of the engine behind the flywheel. Subaru's updated the design of the separator plate several times because of cracking/leaking issues. It's not an expensive part, but reaching it requires pulling the engine or dropping the tranny.

[B 4 You]

Well I looked under it today. I took it to the car wash and just pressure washed the entire underside of it the other day to get rid of any oil I could. It seems to be wet only in the front. It's dripping into the "bowl" of the plastic cover that attaches to the bumper (can't think of what it's called), and dripping down the oil pan a little. Not that much. It seems idling it releases the most oil.

[SVX8588]

Did you check your oil pressure sensor? It's right behind the power steering reservoir. Mine was leaking pretty bad.

[B 4 You]

No, I'll have to check in the morning.