Reply to I work on cars. AMA

Forum Index » Cars and Transportation

Reply to "I work on cars. AMA "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In the winter, my subaru (2004) emits a burnt oil smell coming through the vents, and I can see smoke coming out of the hood, but this only happens when the engine has been cold and I drive it long enough for the engine to get pretty warm. This doesn't happen when it's warmer.

I have taken it to my mechanic twice now, and as great as he is, he can't figure it out. I've googled it, and can't figure it out.

If you can point me to the right direction, you are a god in my eyes.[/quote]

I’m betting you have a very small leak in one of the cylinder head gaskets that is allowing oil to seep out in cold temps when the engine, which is made of metal, is at its maximum point of cold contraction. Metal expands and contracts as it gets warmer or colder. (Unrelated- did you know the SR-71 spyplane, which flew at almost 2,200 mph, got so hot from friction with the air around it that it “grew” 11 inches during flight? That’s how much metal can expand with heat) in the winter, the engine will contract more that it does in the summer. We’re not thing much here , just .0001, one then thousandth of an inch, is enough to let oil wick out past a seal and drip onto the exhaust manifold. In the summer, the engine doesn’t get cold enough to contract that much.

What to do? Unless you also have a leak in the cyclinder head gasket that is mixing coolant into the water or vice versa (cyclinder head gasket issues are common on Subaru H-4 enginess, btw) I’d let it ride. Live with it. Eventually it’ll get worse, and the leak WILL be easier to spot then. Same cost to fix it now or later. I’d wait until I couldn’t stand it anymore. But that’s just me.

Lastly, I’m NOT a god. Definitely not. But you’re very kind to say that. [/quote]

Great reference to SR-71, I always remember they used to leak fuel while sitting on the ground. It was designed so that when it was flying all the leaks would seal up with the heat expansion.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics