new guy here <----- 98 legacy brighton leaking oil

[pitstain]

hello everyone,

i just got a 98 legacy brighton wagon from my girlfriends mother....it leaks a bit of oil.....she said if you drive it on the highway for a while then stop for a few minutes then go again itll smoke a little and looses a quart of oil every 3000 miles or so......please tell me its just valvecover gaskets.....hopefully not a front seal......it has the 2.2 motor in it

thanks in advance for the help

also can i swap in some disc brakes in the back to replace the stock drums?

[greg donovan]

it is probably the front seal but it could be the little o-ring in the oil pump. or it could be the cam seals. or the valve covers.

none of those are that big of a deal if you are even slightly competent at auto repair.

[Matt Monson]

A qt every 3000 miles? That's about what these would burn at that age. The two are probably not related at all. If it's hitting the exhaust and burning off, it's most likely the valve gasket. It's about a 30 minute repair. Be sure to get new mounting bolt washers when you get the gasket. They are known for leaking as well...

Swapping the disc brakes is doable, but it is one of the most tedious of all Subaru jobs. You need a complete rear disk brake set up including the parking brake cables all the way to the handle. For a daily driven wagon it is NOT worth the trouble unless she's going to start racing it...

[pitstain]

so valve cover gsskets, bolt washer gaskets and plug hole gaskets?

shes not driving it anymore im its new daddy...i guess ill forego the rear disc swap......are there any type of performance rear drum shoes available?