So, I switched to synth oil at 70000 miles on my 2k2 wrx wagon. I smell oil every once in a while during spirited driving. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or if its normal on a oil switch-over. Thanks, Justin
do you have aftermarket exhaust without cats? perhaps you have a pvc valve leak, or you may be burning oil through your turbo, since synthetic is thinner then regular motor oil.
My 2k2 wrx wagon is stock except for a grounding kit, k&n filter and the snorkus removal. I changed the pcv valve at 62k. I'll have to check it.
You know... things like this may turn out to be very simple. Go back under your car and see if you've tightened your oil filter tight enough. That'll get oil spraying onto your hot exhaust manifold during higher oil pressures.
yo i have an oil smell lately - almost 3k on an oil change that i may have overfilled. I'm about to do another change, but it's been a little disturbing the last 1k miles or so smelling oil... i attributed to colder weather and the above. switched to synth after 7.5k. [edit] currently 25k miles. Feuer Frei.
So instead of starting a new thread I'll just bump this one. From time to time I get the oil smell. Typically it's after driving with some high boost then coming to a stop. Example: Passing someone, then a mile or so down the road getting off on an onramp, at which point I stop for the street light. It's not a heavy smell, but it's there. I have never seen any sort of smoke. Another thing that might help. I borrow / tested sheens APS 50/50 bov a while back. I had it on for about a day with a few pulls of 10+lbs of boost. I noticed when I took it off it looked like there was some oil residue on it. I'm just wondering if I should be looking at catch cans or what could be causing this? Specs: '05 wrx wag Catless up, Shorty catless down, high flow 3 inch cat -> cobb catback, K&N panel filter, bw stage 2 tune pushing 19.5lbs of boost on stock td04 turbo. Car doesn't see full boost often, but it will happen. Thanks in advance, Ryan
It's an oil smell. Nothing super strong, but it's clearly there. I should also note that my oil does go down a little bit. I'll check it again tonight when I get home, but over 3k miles I'd say it drops maybe 1/2 to 2/3 a qt. A little less now that i've been running the shell oil, but I'll check it tonight knowing i'm at 2,600 miles on my current batch of oil.
Seals on the turbo are probably starting to go slowly. I wouldnt worry about it right now. Watch your oil level though.
I'm fearing this, Ryan. (btw, lookit my avatar, lol) I'll roll behind you during a WOT pull and check for smoke if you want.
Can I replace the seals or is that a "replace the whole turbo" sort of thing? Why do i have a feeling it's expensive and sucks to do.
How about switching to Rotella and retest? It has made a lot of difference for many cars that have consumption issues.
You mean from rotella-t to just normal rotella? Because I'm already running rotella-t 5w40 sync stuff.
Yeah, 19 lbs of boost is a lot . 3ric is probably on the money. Just pay attention to your oil levels. Swapping in with a replacement TD04 should be fine (and cheaper). We might want to check on the tune after that, though. Although, a VF39 is a fun turbo on a 2.0L .
Just drove home, hopped out of the car and checked the oil. With 2,756 miles on this tank of oil the one side of the dip stick is right on the mark. The other side is just barely below it, maybe 1mm. Once again, Shell Rotella-T ftw. I've used many other oil, including Amsoil, and all of them i've had to top off by this point in the oil usage. So with that information, any different feelings or still thinking it's the turbo seals?
Readymix salutes you Rotella-T users. My work here has paid off. Only brand whore chumps still use Mobil1. Seriously the best motor oil for your turbo subaru.
I dunno man, to be honest, I wouldn't worry about it until you start burning oil. Might be a good idea to keep an eye on your TMIC and y-pipe for oil buildup, but that's about it. Worry about it more when/if you start really burning/blowing-by oil. Well, you convinced me, I've got a couple gallons sitting in my garage. Going on next oil change .
To the op, I had a similar experience, I changed oil and noticed a smell and the filter was wet with oil. It wasn't the filter it was the oil cooler o-ring between the oil cooler and block. It was dripping on the crossover pipe.
I guess I might as well jump on the wagon, I'm gonna try the rotella next change if I can find some locally..... Also I get the oil smell but do not seem to consume any. Need to check the PCV and maybe add a catch can.
Shell Rotella-T 5w40 is the only kind you can get for their synthetic. It comes in a dark blue bottle. Can be found at Wal-trash. Though i've found it at pepboys for the same price as walmart these days.
I sometimes notice an oil smell too, but I also am not noticing any oil consumption. The prev owner ran Mobile 1, I switched to Rotella. It wasn't using oil on either brand. The prev owner also had a catch can installed the 'wrong' way, with the pcv and breather lines teed together. The catch can never 'caught' anything, even the lines running to it were clean, so I uninstalled it. Tonight, for fun, I took my intercooler off to see if there was any oil in it. I found oil coating the turbo outlet, a tiny amount of oil in the y-pipe extending about a inch past the turbo outlet, and NO oil in the inlets of the intercooler nor in the throttle body. So, I'm not sure if that's a normal amount of oil coming out of the turbo. I also don't know if it's coming from the PCV, breather lines or the turbo itself. I'm guessing PCV though since I see some signs of oil on the PCV breather just below the turbo outlet. I am going to swap in a new PCV soon. I am also planning to reinstall the catch can, but only on the PCV-to-intake breather. Here are some pics. I didn't get any pics of the y-pipe, since it was totally clean except the first inch kinda looked like the turbo, but it wasn't wet oil, it was dried on. I should add, this is on a 2003 wrx with 96k miles running stage 2 at ~17psi. Turbo outlet Intercooler inlet Intercooler outlet
Yeah Ryan, after reading your response I'd say don't worry about it. As mentioned, just keep an eye on the oil level...as anyone should with a turbo'd car. Joel, your 1st picture looks like blow-by. I bet if you took the turbo out you'd notice a fair amount in the inlet piping. It looks like a fair amount and I'm suprised your IC/throttle body area is that clean considering the amount of oil in the turbo outlet. Sounds like you have a plan of action though...
They say your not supposed to switch to sythetic oil after 40,000 miles, due to the engine being used to the aspects of normal oil. My car uses about 1 quart of oil every 3,000 miles doesn't burn it but it goes out threw the catch can I think.
I'd imagine the Rotella doesn't come in 5 quart containers since normal people put it in diesel trucks, which take a ton of oil. We aren't normal though.
Please continue oil-only questions in the new official oil thread. http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26092 Let's keep this thread on topic with smelling of oil, oil blow bye, etc. With that said, do you guys feel I should consider investing in an oil catch can and/or a new pvc?
I was/am using Amsoil 5w30. Nah, probably overkill. If you notice pooling of oil in any of your IC lines, then you probably should think about it. Otherwise, I'd say you're fine.
The biggest thing you have to remember is that switching oil brands is worse than running a ****ty oil. Every oil leaves deposits in the motor. EVERY OIL. Every oil has some kind of detergent package to help clean said deposits. EVERY OIL. Not all deposits are the same, not all detergant packages are the same. When you start changing brands of oils every time you change your oil, the deposits will start floating around in the oil. These deposits are the ones that plug up filters, screens, and can cause bearing/crank/rod damage. And when it comes right down to it, there isn't too many people on this forum that will actually stress the oil in their motor. Rotella/amsoil/royal purple, they are all good oils that will last longer than a standard dino oil and mobil 1. Mobil 1 is a good oil, except that it breaks down fairly quick, so it is not good for extended drain intervals. If you plan on DD your car, and are dead set on the 3k/3 month intervals, you might as well go out and buy some cheaper dino oil. No point in spending 40,50,60 on a oil change and drain in 3k later. The synth oils are made for extended drain intervals. The good amsoil is a 25k mile oil. If you do the proper maint on your car, and it is just a DD, you probably can get 25k out of a oil change. But with turbo cars and more HP over stock, you need to reduce you drain intervals. I typically run 7-8k with amsoil. Every oil analysis I sent in, I got a excellent back on. I could run more the 7-8k on the oil. But for *ME*, 7-8k on my car ends up being 2 oil changes a year. Russ
I change my PCV valve today. I don't know if it needed to be changed, the old valve still looked clean, but after doing all the work to get it off I put the new one on anyway. I had cleaned the turbo outlet the last time I took it apart, there was zero new oil in there this time. It's only been about four days and 150miles, but there was really nothing at all on the surface. I wonder if the oil I noticed last time was from being on the dyno a week earlier? I also inspected the breather lines. I noticed more oil in the valve cover breathers than the PCV breather. The PCV breather was clean, the valve breathers had a small amount of oil. So, I changed my mind on reinstalling the catch can, I'll hook it up to the valve cover breathers instead.
hmmm i'm having a similar problem on my MazdaSpeed Protege. I'm pretty sure mine is the seals on the turbo... I noticed without any engine braking that i burn significantly less oil... duluth is hard on cars ;(
