Hey everyone. I just registered yesterday. I just picked up an 03 WRX Friday. I bought the car knowing it possibly has a front diff issue. I have an appt with Forged to do a full inspection with compression/ leak down. But.....Sunday I took it to Walmart (before I get flamed I know how stupid that was) to just get the oil changed. I went with T6 5W-40. After the tech drove it back out to the parking lot, I checked the oil before I paid. It was a little above full but below the notch. Yesterday, after I left Forged, on the drive home it started smoking. Bad. Very bad. All the gauges were good, no CEL. I was less than a mile from home, so I limped it back. When I checked the dipstick, oil was all the way above the first twist. Checked my invoice from Walmart and the tech had put 6 quarts in. I know too much oil is just as bad as not enough. And I'm pretty sure my motor is screwed. The oil also has a gas smell to it. What do I do??
6 quarts shouldn't matter much and for future reference take it to Allpro which is closer and far better. Gas smell sounds like an injector issue
a friend and, at one point, Subaru certified tech, was testing the oil theory. he had, at one point, 8 quarts of oil in his personal car for 3 months. Never had a single issue out of the car. It's not as bad as some people might think, unless there's a dry sump maybe? I dunno... Sadly, he's no longer around (living) to give his deductions on that. What color was the smoke? Where was the smoke coming from?
The smoke is from the exhaust, and was grayish blue. Smells like oil/ fuel. Nothing smoking under the hood. I took off the oil filler cap and no smoke coming out of it. Motor is making a ticking/ knocking sound, but I don't know if it's just normal boxer engine sounds/ piston slap because I'm not familiar yet. Pulled a code for Mis-fire in #3.
Btw, I also had a PPI done before I bought it. Compression was good(didn't do a leak down). There was one code stored but not active P0483
The only other things that I did to the car was clean the MAF sensor, wire brush the battery cables/ terminals, and change the fuel filter. I also reset the ECU.
roll it down to Allpro, stabbing blind on the webz will only frustrate you with your purchase decision. Quicker this is done cheaper the repair. Brandon will be able to take care of that possible diff issue as well.
Thanks. I called and talked to someone there yesterday. Patrick maybe? As soon as I can arrange a way back home, I'll drop off my car.
+1 If you do a little browsing on the site you will see the amazing reputation of AllPro on this site. I would definitely get your car over there sooner rather than later...
Thanks guys. Looks like it's definitely worth the extra time/ distance to get to AllPro. I also got the known service records and receipts from the previous owner. The car had quite a bit of work done at AllPro in 2012. I hate to keep this going but I'm outside now just looking over the engine. My coolant reservoir is really full. Above the F mark. How much should be showing in the turbo reservoir? Also, below the passenger side fan, at the bottom right above the "cross brace ", is a 90* brass fitting that has a flanged end to connect to a line. Except there is no line/ tube attached. Looks like it's 3/8".
Here are pics of the fitting, reservoir, and overflow. (Can't load more than 1 pic). Sorry for so many "dumb" questions on my first day.
Update: Dropped off my car last night at SOK. Here's the summary.... "CYLINDER LEAK DOWN TEST FOUND THAT CYLINDER #1 AND #3 HAD 155 & 17% LEAK DOWN . WE ALSO FOUND THAT THE TURBO UNIT SEALS HAD FAILED AND WAS UTILIZING OIL AT A RAPID RATE. THE CAM AND CRANK SEALS HAVE ALSO FAILED AND ARE LEAKING OIL. CONDITION COULD HAVE BE CAUSE BY OVER FILLING OF THE OIL SUMP. VALVE SEALS AND SEATS WOULD ALSO FALL UNDER THAT CONCERN. WE RECOMMEND THAT THE ENGINE BE TORN DOWN AND VALVES REPLACED ALONG WITH SEALS AND RELATED PARTS. THE TURBO WILL NEED COMPLETE REPLACEMENT AS WELL. TOTAL PARTS COST EQUAL 2817.83 TOTAL LABOR OF 2179.00 TOTAL COST TO REPAIR ENGINE CONCERNS = 4996.83" I'm meeting with Brandon and Patrick at AllPro tomorrow to discuss engines/ swaps/ options. My question(s) is basically what route to take? Just rebuild current motor, hybrid swap, STI, ect. I know cash is the king of speed and I know a full STI swap (done the right way) is $12K+. I'm working out how much $$ I will be able to throw in to it (meeting with Walmart Store Mgr tomorrow to discuss a resolution). I've decided that either AllPro will do all/ part of the work, and/or DIY with some knowledgeable guys I've met off here. What I'm wanting out of my 03 Bugeye Wag: Daily Driver, mid 300s WHP with room to grow, reliability.
$5k to rebuild the stock engine? NOPE. You can get a 2.5 for cheaper, including labor. If you can find a totaled 04-07 STi, you can swap everything over that needs to be swapped...sell the rest and would probably come out ahead. A few others on the forums have done that in the past. good luck! Keep us up to date.
I'm thinking you should start a journal for this when you decide which way you want to go. It would be cool to watch the progress. Just a thought. Good luck!
^ Ill def start a journal. My head is kind of spinning right now from taking a crash course in Subaru performance over the past week. And there's 2 good turbo options in the Garage Sale right now, but I don't know which one bc I don't know which direction to go; digitizedsoul's rotated kit (I haven't forgot to call you back, just been tied up on the phone) and rsutton1223's Dom 1.5XT-R. If it was one of you guys and you had a sub $10K budget, what would you do? hnoes:
Buy Rsutton's dom 1.5, perrin Fmic, supporting mods, coilovers, head unit, amp, done. lol (for my car anyway)
I'm thinking that's a great option. Minus head unit/ amp.... Already have installed. Forgot to mention the separate $1400 to fix/ replace the front diff/ Trans bearing issue. (I knew this issue existed before I bought the car) I don't know the "official" diagnosis of the DT issue yet, still waiting on the detailed email from SOK... Edit: Just looked up Rsutton's FMIC and CAI on Perrin's website. It says the parts aren't compatible with my 03.....