I recently rebuilt a 97 Subaru Outback Legacy, and everything was fine however, whenever I’ve taken it on the highway, I began noticing a distinct odor of burnt oil. Last night I got home and I actually began seeing smoke. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that oil was running down the differential, dripping onto the power steering and then onto the exhaust. When I looked at the flywheel it had no oil on it so I’m assuming it’s not engine oil, however the oil that is dripping looks like engine oil (Im using mobile 1 full synthetic). The fluid levels are all ok, transmission levels ok, engine oil is a little more than full( I added 1 gallon before starting it up for the first time) and there is differential oil, but I know the smell of differential oil, and the oil that was dripping down the differential was not differential oil. What could it be? I don’t want to have to take apart the engine again, that was a pain in the butt.
It does not take much oil to cause a problem. Determining the soure of the problem is really the key (duh I know) some common places to look, valve cover gaskets and oil sending unit. Good luck finding the source.
Something I wasn’t able to do is replace the crank, could it be that the oil seal went bad? I know I replaced the old flywheel gasket but someone told me that the oil seal is inside the block. If so, is there anything I can do to stem the leak without taking apart the engine again?
...is there anything I can do to stem the leak without taking apart the engine again?
Use a “high-mileage” oil.