I just bought an 09 Legacy 2.5i and it seems to smell like oil (in the cabin + outside) predominantly during warming up. I tried putting the car in a garage, but the results were the same. What can this be?
Add a little more information, Mileage? Modifications? Warm up? Are you driving it and it is still there but not as bad? Is it leaking anything underneath the vehicle? If you don't know... check. Pop your hood and see if there is oil on your engine. Snap a pic and post it. Check your exhaust, Is there smoke coming out of it post warmed up, what color is it. What does it smell like? Is it a sweet smell or more of a burnt smell?
09? Couldn't be leaking oil. The vehicle's not old enough. I think the previous seller changed the oil and spilled some over when filling. So what you could be smelling is fresh oil that has dripped onto the exhaust manfold.
I got it from the stealership at less than 60k w/o warranty. It seems like the smell is more from the tailpipes (right specifically). The smoke + smell stops coming out after the car is warmed up, but it seems weird that the smell is more excessive from the right side. I can't really describe the type of smell it is.
It is weird that the smell is more prominent from one side since it's not a true dual exhaust. Its possible that something is in the right muffler, but I would expect it to smell more when wrmed up if that were the case. Im guessing youre just seeing normal condensation (smoke) and smelling gas. The car runs fairly rich on cold start and if left idling, can smell faintly of unburnt gas. Where are you located?
If youre interested in having me (and others) give you their opinion in person, this Tuesday night's meet at old chicago in harmar would be a perfect opportunity to have someone look at it. Itll be cold out and by the time I have a couple beers and burgers in me my sense of smell reaches bloodhound status.
I need to know what I should do by tomorrow because tomorrow is the deadline for returning it, but thanks for the offer.
Deadline for returning the car? If they will actually honor an offer like that (doubtful), you might as well see if the dealership will look at it for you. It is possible that there's a leak somewhere, but if youre just now experiencing these "symptoms" Im putting my money on cold start fuel smell. It doesnt smell like rotten eggs, does it?
No, it doesn't smell like rotten eggs. How bad is cold start fuel smell? I think it seems excessive considering that it can get into the cabin.
doing a search and came up with this thread. what would a rotten egg smell indicate? my wife's 09 Outback has this very strange "rotten egg" or sewer smell on startup as well? goes away after a few minutes...thanks for any advice! jim
Thanks Pillboy! I have been totally tapped out financially between this car and the HG on the 99 outback (finally ready tomorrow!!) but will address this issue soon as I recover...
You could try running some injector cleaner through it and see if that might help a sticky injector that could be leaking. Chevron Techron used to have a good rep among car enthusiasts and I haven't heard that that has changed any. Try Walmart as they have a good selection of automotive chemicals.
