My 98 Oil Leak

[Subarstar]

Hi guys, also posted this in technical, but not much of a response.

MY98 turbo with a small oil leak from the front of the engine, just below the crank shaft pulley.

The oil cooler pipe is quite badly corroded, so I think this is where the leak is likely to be coming from.

I wanted to check the crank shaft oil seal, but the crank shaft pulley didn't want to play ball!...so I couldn't get the whole timing cover off.

With part of the cover removed, as far as I can see, it's pretty clean in there, so I don't think it's the crank shaft seal.

Has anyone else replaced this pipe?

Does it come complete from Subaru? (It's a combination of steel/rubber pipes/hoses.)

The bottom radiator hose needs replacing as well, so I might as well do both at the same time.

Any hints/tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

[cullenmin]

I had this pipe replaced on my 1st scoob due to it being corroded, dont think it was too big a job, I was told at the time this was due to the temprature changes in that area being above the exhaust manifold

Rich

[euan_r]

If its the pipe im thinking off, which ive replaced before, its actually a coolant pipe. Would be best replaced all the same if it getting corroded as they are avaliable new from dealers or import car parts. Oil must be comming from else where, another possibility would be the pump.

Crank bolt shouldnt be on exceptionally tight, i presume you had the car in fifth.

[Subarstar]

Had another look at my leak problems

First of all, it looks like it aint the bottom radiator hose that needed replaced after all.

I found a crack in the small hose that runs from the overflow on the metal coolant tank, across the top of the radiator towards the expansion bottle.

Snipped the damaged bit off, re-connected it and hey presto.....fixed.

A few months ago, I replaced the rocker cover gasket, so I assumed that the oil wasn't leaking from there.

Guess what?........WRONG! It is coming from the rocker cover.

So this time, I'm going to use some instant gasket. I think I had convinced myself the last time I didn't need the sealant, but this time I aint taking any chances.

Thanks for your input guys.

[maddogsx]

If you use instant gasket, take the seal completely out the rocker cover clean both the seal and the actual rocker cover so they've got clean oil free facings. Lay the seal back into the track in the cover, (also doing the same for the bolts and plug spaces) and once the gaskets in place use a tiny amount of gasket in the corners where it raises from the flat to accept the camshfts. That's the bit that seems to let the oil out the most, might also be worth doing the cam and oil pump/crankshaft oil seals at the same time for the few extra quid, it might save you a bit of time later on.