This is my second scoob. I was so impressed with the first one I bought another. 2006 wrx which is now sat on my drive spewing oil. Its leaking like a good `un, looks like its around the turbo area and below, burning off on the exhaust giving an embarrasing cloud of stinking smoke. Its done 45k miles, I find it hard to believe the head covers come loose already. Not a happy camper..anyone had oil leaks in this area on a car with relatively low miles?

 

Has the car been modified, as if the turbo has been removed it could be an issue with the oil drain pipe, I know it is not under pressure but if split could be leaking. Otherwise it is most probably the rocker cover gaskets.
Does the engine have a film of oil in the affected area? If so give it a good clean up with gunk or similar but only use a hose pipe not a jet wash to clean off the area. Then allow the engine to run whilst observing or take the car for a drive to get the oil pressure up and inspect straight after.

 

Mine started at around 40,000 miles, a fairly easy fix (cam covers), but I still have to sort mine two years on.....

dunx

P.S. Mine doesn't drip, it just burns a wee bit....

 

Car is unmodified. I only noticed because I did a random check of the dipstick only to find it bone dry. I put in about 2 pints then drove it for about an hour and saw smoke. Checked the dipstick and it was dry again. I could see a trail of pretty oil patterns on the wet road and driveway. I`ve removed the airfilter and header tank and theres a lot of oil covering the area underneath. Under the car the filter is covered and that side of the sump is too. The cam cover bolts are tight and the oil pressure light never came on. I`ll clean it and see if I can see a leak. It seems to have got a very bad leak very quickly.

 

Sounds like the oil drain from the turbo back to the sump, if it's going that fast, DON'T risk losing an engine. It is a absolute bugger of a job to get to, but a relatively easy "fix", a bit of rubber hose and a clip.

HTH

dunx

 

Thanks for the suggestions. On closer inspection the bottom of the oil filter has rusted through. Not been on there that long either. My faith now restored in Subaru, the moral is don`t buy cheap oil filters....