club.liberty.asn.au

After having an oil change a few weeks ago i decided to have a quick look under the car to make sure everything looks fine (the car went back to the mechanic because they overfilled it ridiculously) and noticed a nice oil spot on the floor of my garage and oil on the engine floor cover thingy. Check the oil level and it has dropped a bit on the dip stick. Also found that the coolant level has dropped a bit too.
After speaking to my mechanic he said the apprentice may not have tightened up the sump and it has come loose or he possibly broke the washer or something along those lines.

after looking more i noticed this on the passenger side


the same substance is on the drivers side although there is only a small amount

anyway im no expert when it comes to motors but thats not from a loose sump. Could this be related to my coolant and oil loss or is it from the CV joint?

please help

Could be a split CV boot. When they go they splatter grease all over the place as the shaft rotates. Looks "lumpy" as far as I can tell from the photo. Coolant, oil or steering fluid doesn't do that. Also looks like a bit has splattered on the header. Wait for the car to cool and wipe your finger on a some of it. If it's viscous like grease then I'd strongly suspect the CV boot. Should cost a few hundred bucks to do both sides. They do have a habit of going on most Subarus.

Of course that wouldn't explain the drop in fluid levels. If it's not the CV boot, then you'll probably have to take a closer look. Maybe jack the front up and pull the plastic splash guard off. Take all safety precautions i.e. don't go under car held up by jack alone &c...

I've just last week had both transmission cooler hoses replaced, after having a leak 1 week after a service. It was spraying all over the front of the engine, splash guard, radiator & exhaust. Couldn't see any drop in fluids, couldn't tell what the greasy film was just by looking at it late at night when the wife got home. Just was cautious and took it back in the morning. Don't know if the finger wipe test would've helped.

If you suspect levels are dropping be very careful driving too far.

Good luck,
AL.

its been back to the mechanic and he was able to tighten up the sump and i havent seen oil drop since. Its going back to get the CV's looked at soon.

Im sick of my car having to go back to the mechanic because the apprentice cant do something as simple as an oil change. I sort of know the mechanic personally and he claimed he was "too busy" to do it himself so he obviously palmed it off... if i wanted the hassle i could have done it myself, and probably should have.

That's just grease weaping past the clamp, get the clamp replaced and it will be fine until the boot perishes and splits, which probably won't be fore a while.

chuckie wrote:its been back to the mechanic and he was able to tighten up the sump and i havent seen oil drop since. Its going back to get the CV's looked at soon.

Im sick of my car having to go back to the mechanic because the apprentice cant do something as simple as an oil change. I sort of know the mechanic personally and he claimed he was "too busy" to do it himself so he obviously palmed it off... if i wanted the hassle i could have done it myself, and probably should have.

You said it, do it yourself, its a very simple job, you ll save money and you ll probably use better oil in comparison to the generic stuff the garage probably uses

was supposed to take it to the mechanics today but got caught up in uni stuff...so it will have to wait now. Ive noticed a few more drops on the headers, what happens if i leave it too long? i cant see a split but its still a possibility.

might take it down to makin and luby? they can have a look at some of my other concerns too