legacycentral bbs

Hi, I just bought my first Subaru and its a Sport Edition. I have a few questions about it though. It has 134,000mi on the car and the engine seems to run well. After I drive the car for a little while I go under the hood and I can smell burning oil. I smell near the turbo and thats where its coming from. I was just wondering if that is normal. Also what kind of oil should I be using for this car?



Another question.
After the car is warmed up it idles around 700-500rpm. When the car is first started cold it idles near 900-1100 rpm. This seems normal to me. Just wanna know...

Check for a valve cover gasket leak, thats most likely what it is...

Idle is normal.

10w-30 or 10w-40 is fine for the summer months. You might get away with 5w-30 in the winter if you don't drive hard. Turbocharged engines are extremely hard on oil. So change it often. I had been changing mine at every 3000 + change and the oil was still coming out too dark. So make sure you stay on top of it. You might want to eventually switch to a partial synthetic or full synthetic oil. Just make sure you stick to one brand of oil. Switching brands and stuff is hard on the engine, too.

If you search there is more info found elsewhere in the board.

djcripsen wrote:After I drive the car for a little while I go under the hood and I can smell burning oil..

Firstly, welcome to the forum and also to Subaru ownership!

I too get the same smell sometimes and need to check the gaskets. I've been trying to work out if it's the clutch burning or brake fluid leaking or what, but can't find anything wrong. My car has 184k miles on it and is still on the original clutch as far as I can see and it doesn't seem to burn very much oil, so I reckoned that it wasn't really worth worrying about!

Cheers

I get the same thing. It's the passenger side valve cover leaking in back on the uppipe in my case. Will be fixed soon.

Valve covers are the most common problem, dont think Ive seen a legacy that didnt leak at one time. Second would be a cam or crank seal leak which comes out near the bottom of the timing belt cover.

If your oil pan and jack plate are covered its probably a Cam/Crank seal or a leaking oil pan bolt (crush washer, fumoto?)

You mention 134,000mi, has the car had its 120k timing belt replacement?! This is usually when all the above stated problems are taken care of so Id be guessing the previous owner didnt want to spend money on a car they planned to sell.

Welcome to the group! Like you I just picked up a '91 Sport with 131K

cheers!!! welcome