95 Impreza Massive Oil Leak

[GluKos]

Hi, guys

It's probably pretty obvious to you all but I am just an average
Joe, Gas-n-Go, totally clueless car owner. o_0

Now that we've got that out of the way...

I bought my Subie from a used car dealership a few years back. It
had a little less than 95K miles on it and today it has about
105K. Since I bought it I have had the battery replaced, just
about all the fluids, the timing belt (twice), the fan belt, both
cv joints, and of course the oil and filter every 3K miles.

After returning from a short errand earlier today, I noticed a
huge oil slick (it was raining) in the parking lot which, much to
my dismay, lead straight to my car. It actually looked like two
leaks that were about 3 inches apart. A few minutes later I
checked the oil level and it was absolutely bone-dry. I also
checked underneath to see where the leak was coming from but it
had stopped leaking by then and the puddle was quite large. All I
could really tell was that it came from somewhere underneath the
engine in the same general area as the oil pan.

1. What could cause such a sudden leak of that size? I'm really
hoping it won't cost me that much to repair because I'm flat
broke ATM.

2. Would it be safe for me to drive it a couple blocks to a 76
station (after I put a couple cans of oil in it of course)? There
was no smoke or any other indication that anything was wrong so
I'm fairly certain I haven't fatally damaged the engine block
yet.

 

[Jim Stewart]

Hi, guys

It's probably pretty obvious to you all but I am just an average
Joe, Gas-n-Go, totally clueless car owner. o_0

Now that we've got that out of the way...

I bought my Subie from a used car dealership a few years back. It
had a little less than 95K miles on it and today it has about
105K. Since I bought it I have had the battery replaced, just
about all the fluids, the timing belt (twice), the fan belt, both
cv joints, and of course the oil and filter every 3K miles.

After returning from a short errand earlier today, I noticed a
huge oil slick (it was raining) in the parking lot which, much to
my dismay, lead straight to my car. It actually looked like two
leaks that were about 3 inches apart. A few minutes later I
checked the oil level and it was absolutely bone-dry. I also
checked underneath to see where the leak was coming from but it
had stopped leaking by then and the puddle was quite large. All I
could really tell was that it came from somewhere underneath the
engine in the same general area as the oil pan.

1. What could cause such a sudden leak of that size? I'm really
hoping it won't cost me that much to repair because I'm flat
broke ATM.

2. Would it be safe for me to drive it a couple blocks to a 76
station (after I put a couple cans of oil in it of course)? There
was no smoke or any other indication that anything was wrong so
I'm fairly certain I haven't fatally damaged the engine block
yet.

If the oil pressure lamp works and is not
lit, you can probably drive the car safely.
If it lights, you're in trouble.

 

[Ed P]

If the oil pressure lamp works and is not
lit, you can probably drive the car safely.
If it lights, you're in trouble.

Did you recently have your oil and filter changed? Two simple
possibilities: 1) Oil pan drain plug is loose. 2) When the oil filter
was replaced, the old filter's gasket was left stuck to the engine,
resulting in two gaskets, which blew out. If it is neither of the
above, things get more complicated.

Ed P

 

[Mike Lloyd]

When something breaks always suspect the last thing you did.

In other words: I agree.

 

[l.lichtman]

I'm curious to know why you had the timing belt replaced TWICE in
10,000 miles.

 

[GluKos]

I'm curious to know why you had the timing belt replaced TWICE in
10,000 miles.

Someone from Walt's suggested that it should be replaced but he
screwed it up. It started making loud squeaking noises so I took
it to another mechanic. He told me that the Walt's guy apparently
used a belt that wasn't made for my car.

Anyway I had a friend look at my leaking engine and he says it's
definitely coming from the front part of the engine near the
crankshaft case. We put a couple quarts of oil in and ran it a
few minutes. The result was a pretty big puddle of oil but at
least we could actually see roughly where the leak was coming
from. I sure hope it's something that's not going to cost me an
arm and a leg.

Thanks to everyone for their input so far.