Driving on Freeway Car shut off, Noise like belt spinning w/ smell, CEL, Oil light

So here's what happened this morning.

Driving home from work on freeway, About to exit freeway, Noise like a belt is wet and spinning, Car shuts off with CEL and Oil light on, Put the car in Neutral and coasted through freeway exit and stopped at light. Car is not overheating.

Started the car in neutral, spinning belt noise again, CEL and oil light on along with oil temp light on, car shuts off again. Started the car, got spinning belt noise again and CEL and oil lights came on again, drove through green light until I had enough speed, put the car in neutral turned off car and coasted into a gas station and parked.

Smell of burning belt pretty strong. Opened hood, started car, belts look ok, no damage, intact and turning as they should. Noise is still present but cannot see anything causing it.

Started the car again and noticed the heater was on, just decided to turn it off and the spinning belt noise went away, turned heater on and spinning belt noise came back and the just turned heater off.

Checked oil and was very watery. Took oil cap off and on the rim inside just about an inch down the tube where oil is added there was coolant, dip paper towel to confirm and its coolant.

 

Bought a quart of oil and added 10-30 which was all they had at chevron.

 

A bit of car history; Car burns normal amount of oil for our cars, kept eye on it, recently started adding 10-30 when low after an oil change. Other than that the ever present P0400 code that I haven't seen in 3 months. Car has been running fine until this.

 

Anyone have this happened to them. Just looking for some feedback.

coolant in the oil is never a good sign. personally it's never happened to me, but if you've got the 2.5L it might be pointing at a headgasket. same with the heater too, especially if it was blowing cold air out. then again, yours didn't overheat...hmm. that's all i've gathered from around the forum and from knowledgable people i've talked to about subarus. i'll look into this, but good luck.

Are you positive it's coolant and not condensation in the oil fill tube? Are you low on anti-freeze?

 

Were you low on oil when you added it?

 

What is the temp set to when you turn the heat on? If its set low, then your A/C may be kicking on. I've had a/c condensers go bad (not on my GT), when they turn on they'll be difficult to turn and start burning up the drive belt.

 

Try turning on the heat with the heat cranked up and see if you still get the noise.

Thanks Kaz, Ive been looking around on the forum and looks like a headgasket problem and from what I gathered it is going to cost about $1,500.00 to get fixed.

I think I'll just pick up a used engine from an auto wrecker. My legacy is a 1996 2.5 GT and am pretty sure I can just do a straight swap with a 1999 2.5 engine without having to change out the CPU or any harnesses.

 

I appreciate your help

Are you positive it's coolant and not condensation in the oil fill tube? Are you low on anti-freeze?

 

Were you low on oil when you added it?

 

What is the temp set to when you turn the heat on? If its set low, then your A/C may be kicking on. I've had a/c condensers go bad (not on my GT), when they turn on they'll be difficult to turn and start burning up the drive belt.

 

Try turning on the heat with the heat cranked up and see if you still get the noise.

I'm in Seattle and the heat setting was three clicks left from the hottest setting.

I'm positive it was coolant, it was green and the dipstick was watery to the point that I couldn't tell how much oil I had so I added a quart to try to even out the water/oil mixture. I have never seen the oil dipstick the way I did today, it was runny.

And I was not low on coolant and engine was not over heating.

glad I could help! bummer though that it was a headgasket; I have a 2.2 in my gt which was probably swapped in by the previous owner in lieu of a head gasket issue unfortunately, so I've been around trying to find a 2.5/learn as much as possible about these headgasket issues. and yes, you can do a straight swap, sounds like the way to go as long as the new engine has the better gaskets and lower miles. good luck!

The 1999 2.5 is still going to have the headgasket problem if it hasn't already been fixed..

there's gotta be a small batch of them with a good gasket/haven't been driven hard/something I may not know about. just for clarafication, what causes a head gasket to go? I know the signs (heater blowing cold air, overheating, coolant in oil, etc), but normally under what conditions wears out a gasket?

"what causes a head gasket to go?"

 

The biggest causes are, abuse in the form of, but not limited to,to many red line events.

Lack of proper cooling system maintenance, failure to keep fresh coolant in the cooling system and to keep the system clean. ETC.

And of course, overheating.

Fresh coolant helps prevent the dissimilar metals in the engine components and the head gasket from attacking each other.

That is why some people's headgaskets blow at or before 100,000 miles and other can go till 200,000 miles without having to do it.

great, I had a feeling it would occur from improper maintenance and beating on it. as is every other component on the car. good to know though thanks!

 

let us know how the headgasket job/engine swap works out soloalex!

On the DOHC, overheating, or AT LEAST fluctuating temp guage is a strong sign of head gaskets. And there is no noise/smell/ associated with bad head gaskets. Well, maybe that "sweet" smell of overheating coolant, but no rubber smell.

 

Also, your heater selections should have nothing to do with any squealing noise from the engine, UNLESS, as Silverstar said, the A/C was kicking on. And if the A/C compressor was going bad and didn't want to spin, the belt is going to continue to run across the pulley anyway, thus causing a burning rubber smell and a squealing(either from the belt or the compressor itself). But would have nothing to do with coolant getting into oil.

 

A bad water pump can cause most of the symptoms. If the water pump pulley begins to seize, the T-Belt will continue to run across it, causing a burning rubber smell and a squealing(from either the belt or the pump itself), AND could cause the motor to lock up momentarily and shut off, as it did in a 93 Legacy I had, AND would not usually cause overheating unless the pump freezes up all together. BUT, heater settings would not matter and it would not cause coolant to get into you oil. Bad water pumps, at least on the EJ motors, almost always give some or all signs mentioned above for a while before they actually die.

 

When was the last time you checked your oil and it was normal looking? When was it changed last?

 

Does your waterpump have 100,000 miles on it?

 

Honestly it sounds like two different problems.

 

And an engine swap is not the best idea UNLESS you know the past condition of it(was it beat on/maintained) or you know for sure if the head gaskets were done on the engine as well. Would not be cool to swap an engine and a year later you have the same problems, as kaz mentioned.

 

And if you get a 99 2.5 remember the Legacys had DOHC, Forester/Impreza had SOHC.

 

Good luck with it!

I would agree with Shik, sounds like two different problems.

Here is what I've come to.

My mechanic said a headgasket job would take about two weeks and would cost around $2,500. I then asked, what if I found a used engine and had him swap it, his reply was it would cost me about $1,000. This was over the phone since he has not seen the car and is going by what I mentioned in the post.

I work 15 minutes away and it takes me 15 minutes to get to work by 4am and I will be starting school tomorrow the 15th.

 

I am just going to find some $1,000 beater to get me to point A & B and I am going to do the headgasket myself. I am not a mechanic but how hard can it be right? Cars are nothing but nuts and bolts anyway and as long as it wasn't an electrical issue I'll tear into it. I have a '99 Forester with the same engine and figure when the headgasket on that one goes I will fix it on that one too.

I have the Haynes manual but any guidance in a helpfull direction would be greatly appreciated.

I plan on doing a write up but it will take me a while since I will be working from 4am to 7:30am then school from 8am to 3:30pm. Monday - Friday.

I live in the Seattle area so if any of you know of a shop in these parts let me know.

 

Thanks for your help so far.

$2,500 is ridiculous! I have never heard of it costing that much to replace head gaskets!

$2,500 is ridiculous! I have never heard of it costing that much to replace head gaskets!

 

I agree that is way to much. Cost me like $200-300 I wanna say to do mine. I did them before they went tho.

yeah, this doesn't make sense. 1k to replace a whole engine. 2.5k just to replace valve gaskets??? Even if they are pulling the motor for the head gasket replacement, it's doesn't take 15+ hours of work to pull and replace the heads!!

Normally if you go to a shop and have it done they are going to quote you in between $1,000 and $1,500. I think the person you asked is feeling the burn of the economic down turn and wants a little extra money.

really. these motor are simple. just the engineers where just getting crazy and seeing how many damn wires and sensors they can put on an engine.. most the plugs only fit one place. and if you can remember just a little bit of where they went youll be fine..

 

and with the FSM you really has it easy..

 

 

one thing i do it get tape and number the lines and what not.. and number the spot they connect to... you should see my engine.. little pieces of white tape with numbers on everything...

$2,500 is ridiculous! I have never heard of it costing that much to replace head gaskets!

 

+1!

Does this mechanic ware a mask?

1. When was the last time you checked your oil and it was normal looking? 2. When was it changed last?

3. Does your waterpump have 100,000 miles on it?

4. Honestly it sounds like two different problems.

And if you get a 99 2.5 remember the Legacys had DOHC, Forester/Impreza had SOHC.

 

Good luck with it!

 

1. About a week and a half before this happened

2. The oil had just reached 3000 miles on it

3. I don't have an answer to that, I would know

4. I think youre right, Make, Model, Year

 

Is there a Subaru engine that fits in my Legy that didn't have the headgasket troubles?

+1!

Does this mechanic ware a mask?

 

That was funny

I think the person you asked is feeling the burn of the economic down turn and wants a little extra money.

I thinking the same thing.

really. these motor are simple. just the engineers where just getting crazy and seeing how many damn wires and sensors they can put on an engine.. most the plugs only fit one place. and if you can remember just a little bit of where they went youll be fine..

 

and with the FSM you really has it easy..

 

 

one thing i do it get tape and number the lines and what not.. and number the spot they connect to... you should see my engine.. little pieces of white tape with numbers on everything...

 

What is FSM?

I will be labeling everything and is it just the headgasket that needs to be changed?

I am in the minority here, but at a Subaru dealership $2K + for the headgaskets in not ridiculous. On the high side maybe, but not ridiculous. If done properly, machine work alone for the heads would be a few hundred bucks. Then depending on the miles, you're bound to replace some valves, plus, again, depending on the miles, they will recommend a new water pump, reseal the oil pump, new timing belt, and new seals/gaskets/coolant for everything involved with pulling the heads. It is a lot more involved then some might think.

 

FSM= Factory Service Manual

 

The 2.2 engines weren't prone to head gasket failure, at least not nearly as much as the 2.5.

 

If I was in your position, I would:

 

1. Worry about what caused the squealing/burning rubber smell first and foremost. Fix it.
   
2. Change oil and keep some white paper towels on hand. Check every week and save the paper towel. Compare the color with the week before to look for changes. Keep a close eye on your temp guage when driving. It should never fluctuate once it reaches operating temp.
   
3. If there is any changes(ie: coolant begins getting into the oil), take it to the Subaru dealer and let them do some tests on the engine to confirm head gaskets failure.