2004 Outback Wagon Burning Lots Of Oil Smoke From Engine
Posted in Headlight Bulbs | Asked on Nov 8, 2011
Last night I used my Subaru to deliver pizzas for 5 hours. I normally use my 1997 Honda Civic with 200K on it. I drive somewhat aggressively (nothing insane!) while delivering, and about 2-3 hours in I kept noticing whiffs of burning oil.
I stopped at one house and had to help thenm set up a small buffet and left the car idiling for about 5 minutes in the driveway. When I got out to it, I could see smoke in the headlight beams coming from the grill pretty bad. It smelled strongly of burning oil. I opened the hood to see from where but it was too dark to get a good look.
I drove much nicer the rest of the night and the oil smoke seemed to slowly settle down. My oil level is within range and there were no spots on the driveway this morning. The car seemed to idle smoothly and the temprature gauge never got hot and the oil light never went on.
Any ideas as to what’s wrong with my baby?? Is this some weird idiosyncracy of the boxer engine? Or am I totally screwed?
Thanks for the input musicalgreasemonkey. I had the oil changed a little over 2,000 miles ago. I checked the oil level and it was right between the high/low mark.
The burning oil condition seems to happen only after the engine has been put under some stress. It doesn’t do it when I’m driving normally.
There are 3 Answers for "2004 Outback Wagon Burning Lots Of Oil Smoke From Engine"
Since you said that you did not see the smoke coming out of the exhaust, and that it was coming from the engine compartment, it means that there is oil coming in contact with something very hot outside of the engine. It is most likely that you or someone changed the oil on the car, and might have spilled a little bit on the engine or the exhaust. If this is the case, then it will most likely burn off, but if there is a lot of smoke then there is a case i can think of: when the oil was changed, the person changing it was a little careless, and they either put the oil filter on without a gasket, or they did not put the filter on tightly enough, and the oil is slowly dripping out. In either of these cases, the oil would drip out, and would be carried backward by air moving under the car into the exhaust. I know this, because this happened to me.
The worst thing that it could be would be that it is some kind of seal slowly leaking oil onto the engine or exhaust, but it is most likely someones careless oil change.
But bring it in just to get it checked out, and change the oil again anyway
Subaru’s are sometimes known for having oil leaks in various engine areas. Oil may leak from the valve covers or front engine cover and onto the exhaust manifold where even a small amount will smoke and smell pretty bad. It doesn’t take much oil leakage to smoke and smell, so you may not see a noticeable change in the oil level. Rate of leakage will be greater the more you rev the engine.
I had this problem with a ’95 Legacy wagon w/ about 130K. If I remember right the cost of replacing the valve cover and front engine gasket was a few hundred.
If you ever had a front end accident, you might also check to make sure the serpentine belt isn’t cutting into the plastic shroud. This will also cause smoke and smell similar to what you’re describing.
More than likely your PCV system is blocked or the PCV valve is not functioning correctly. PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventillation… so under certain driving conditions you end up with positive crankcase pressure and this system vents it out. If this is blocked or not functioning properly then the pressure in the crankcase can increase to high levels. So if your PCV lines are clogged or the valve does not open, then oil might be pushed out through your valve cover gaskets onto the headers of the exhaust. Running it hard would be a time you make extra pressure in the crankcase.
I would check out your PCV lines and the PCV valve, the valve is not expensive at all to replace. And if you have a turbo, check the oil lines going to the turbo, also. I have seen the dreaded blue smoke in the headlights many many times for different reasons, lol.