Oily smell please help

by **Thursty** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:19 pm

Hi, I'm a week into owning my first subaru, 2000 GT wagon and it has been smelling a little oily, mainly after it has been boosting harder, not so much with normal driving.

The car was serviced right before I bought it by a subaru mechanic and he told me that they always have a bit of an oily smell.

I just thought that it might have been some product that he had used in the service/cleaning and hoped that it might just go away. So far it hasn't.

Any advice on what to look for would be appreciated.

by **jaydece** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:18 am

Maybe check underneath your transmission and/or diff area for leaks....

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by **ssstahly** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:49 am

Most likely the mechanic being a grub and leaving traces of grease on areas that heat up and will eventually burn away to nothing. In saying that, last time it happened to me it was a rip in the drive shaft boot that was flicking grease on to the exhaust.

by **Jack_Keaka** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:15 am

Deodorant... Oh the car! Sorry can't help.

by **zch91** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:13 am

Check your CV boots.. Though that's a pungent smell rather than an oily smell lol. Otherwise just grab a torch and have a look for oil leaks?

by **maj** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:31 am

Had a thick oily smell when subaru dealer tore the gearbox rear driveshaft seal whilst doing my clutch.

Otherwise agree your mechanic is messy and doesn't know what he's on about when it comes to smell.

Only smell liberty GT's usually get is clutch smell, but definitely is not oily.

by **-=HaZ=-** » Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:25 pm

Its most likely the rocker covers leaking they will need to be replaced. This is quite common on this engine. What you are smelling is the drivers side rocker cover leaking oil onto the exhaust pipe, the exhaust is directly under the drivers side rocker cover. It explains why you only smell the smell after some spirited driving or after a long drive. The smell will get worse, and you will smell the smell inside the cabin if you have your air conditioner intakes draw air from the engine bay. I had exactly the same problem.

If you are short on cash just replace the drivers side first; should be no more than a few hundred in labour for both.