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Oil Leak Help

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:39 pm
by lillindstrom
Hello I came across this site looking for some info on a Legacy I am looking to buy: 94 Legacy touring wagon awd, 186,xxx.
When I went to test drive it, it was very low on oil... lifters were making a little noise ... put some oil in it and seemed to quite them up but after the test drive it was clearly leaking oil onto the exhaust. Little further investigation and found there was a decent amount of oil puddled up on the passenger top under the intake manifold. I could not spot the exact point to where it was coming from but it was a good amount. Reading up on here I've found a few posts that seem similar... Maybe the oil pressure sending unit... maybe a return line... I was just wondering if this is a known issue and/or what it may be... Let me know if you have any ideas please
Thank you

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:03 am
by SubiePrice88
Passenger side you say?

Well thats where the turbo is, since its a touring wagon, and they are known to leak oil out of the outlet tube/pipe (right under the Turbo) onto the exhaust.

Another common thing is valve cover gaskets.

My 92 Sport Sedan (Turbo) had the same issue, turbo outlet leaked and valve cover leaked onto the up pipe.

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:29 am
by lillindstrom
Its puddled up on the head though, if it was leaking from the outlet pipe would it end up there? it drips down between where the plug wires go into the head on the face of the valve cover. I'll check that just seems to be a lot of oil puddled up in an uncommon spot

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:45 pm
by Legacy777
Welcome to the BBS. There may be a leak in the sending unit. There also may be a leak/crack in the PCV llines which could be letting oil out....but that is probably less likely the cause.

If you can, take it to one of those self car wash places and degrease the engine real good to see if you can determine where the oil is coming from.

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:59 pm
by lillindstrom
Hey thanks,
Alright I will do that today. Thanks for the help, hopefully I can figure this out, I'll post the outcome if I do