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Need help identifying a part! Can these leak oil?

1398 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  konaid, 
gryfinn
4
Hey all, new poster here! I think I'm doing this correctly, but if I'm do anything that isn't kosher, I apologize in advance.

Anyway, on to my problem: I have a NA 2006 Forester LL Bean edition that has an external oil leak I've had difficulty pin-pointing. It doesn't seem to be any of the usual suspects. I replaced the PCV valve to no avail, and I also replaced the spark plugs recently and didn't see any oil in the valve covers.

I have noticed a couple of weird little parts (I'm not very well versed in the less common bits) that seem to have a lot of oil on/around them. My question is, what the heck are these and could they be the source of my problem? There are two of them and they're both on top of the engine block. They're black, cylinder-shaped doohickeys with an indention in the center and a wire plug on the side. One on the front-right of the engine block (almost directly under the oil filler neck), and another on the rear-left (nearish the PCV valve). I tried to get pictures as closely as possible, but it was a tight space.

Thanks in advance!

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Red07
The oil covered part the blue connector is attached to is the VVL (VVT?) solenoid. IIRC there are a few o-rings along the solenoid itself, which is where it looks like the oil may be seeping from.

Here's what I'd do: either pressure wash or scrub ALL oil residue/grease off the engine or affected and then drive it for about a day. Then, recheck the engine/affected area for 'fresh' leaks. This way you can pinpoint where the oil is coming from because you have a clean surface that is undisturbed, not something that has accumulated oil for months/had oil run down it from a different leaking part.
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dave5358
Red07 said:
The oil covered part the blue connector is attached to is the VVL (VVT?) solenoid. IIRC there are a few o-rings along the solenoid itself, which is where it looks like the oil may be seeping from.

Here's what I'd do: either pressure wash or scrub ALL oil residue/grease off the engine or affected and then drive it for about a day. Then, recheck the engine/affected area for 'fresh' leaks. This way you can pinpoint where the oil is coming from because you have a clean surface that is undisturbed, not something that has accumulated oil for months/had oil run down it from a different leaking part.
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Good advice ^^^^^^. Accept it that Subarus are leaky - it is a 'feature.'

In addition, remove the under-engine cover and look at the oil filter, filter base and related parts. They are common sources of leakage. Also, look at the valve covers and spark plug sockets. The under-engine cover tends to mask leakage problems.

While you're under the car (with a flashlight, right?) look at the seams between the cylinder heads and block. Subarus also tend to leak coolant and the head-block seam is a good place to start looking
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konaid
Ya, it is some pressure sending unit, or something. Can't remember the name. Just had to replace mine. I just bout the whole new sensors, and then sealed them in with a little thread goo. Stopped the leak.

The filler is also pretty prone to leaking. But ya, clean and check.

I will look for part numbers. One is on front driver side by the oil filler, one is on passenger rear of engine. Kind of a pain.
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