Starting to freak out, NEED HELP AND SOME KNOWLEDGE

Hey guys, ive posted earlier asking questions about a situation ive run into with a 2005 legacy gt ive just bought. it has 125K miles, its a 5spd. i just did an oil change putting in Rotella T6. my mechanic had an issue, the oil filter he was given was wrong and it fell off when we finished filling and the engine got full of oil on the bottom so i was expecting white smoke from that. However, since that the car sat overnight and when i started the car up in the morning and it was smoking white very thin smoke went away after i drove it. now after work i started the car and it was hesitant starting up, took a slight bit longer and spat out a big cloud of white smoke, smoked thin after that and went away later. now, i was just shooting the car, had it off. started it again and it did the same thing only this time it was really rough starting, it blew a big cloud again and until i revved it it didnt go away. My friend claimed that it was smoking too when i was getting a little on it when driving. Ive had some thin white smoke before when i first got home from the purchase when i revved the engine for an exhaust video. It also appears that there is some sort of oil leak from the Turbo area, perhaps the Turbo oil return hose. PLEASE, I NEED HELP, im freaking out i wanna find the problem already and fix it. if anyone has come across something similar or might know what it could be i would really appreciate the help and knowledge.

 

Thank you!

ruh roh

did you by chance buy the car from a dealer? regardless stop driving it, and for the love of god, stop revving it.

 

how did your mechanic not know the oil filter wasn't threading? did you replace the spilled oil?

bought the car from a person, its my daily i cant stop driving it unfortunately, and when my mechanic bought the filter the store gave him the wrong one, it was the 2.5i filter and not the 2.5T so it fell off. of course i replaced the spilled oil

2.5i and 2.5T both use the same filter fyi

idk, the seal literally flew off the first oil filter we put on, went and bought a better one, a K&N oil filter and that one held up

it never blew any smoke or acted funny during your test drive??

 

and others may chime in, i'm certainly no expert, but at best it sounds like a head gasket and you're seeing smoke from coolant in the cylinders. at worst a ringland/s is/are fried, and in the middle/equally bad is your turbo shit the bed and you'll toast the motor driving it. regardless quit 'getting on it'. and if it's the latter of the two, either you stop driving it or it stops driving for you. sorry chief.

id didnt act up during test drive other than the clutch which needs replacing. the weird thing is that the actual smoke clouds only appeared after i did the oil change last night.... im freaking out right now i really dont know what to do. im gonna take it to my mechanic tomorrow again to have him look at it, if he doesnt know whats happening then i might have to part ways with a load of money and take it to a subaru dealer.... if i had an option to post a video of what it looks like i would. i have a feeling it could be valve covers, but then again i surly am no expert.

i mean i dont get on it, since i got it on my driveway from the purchase ive been driving it carefully, when i say getting on it im talking about going up to 5K rpm in third from 2K and shifting, i havent been redlining or anything like that. has nobody else ever seen something similar to this?

Tow it to a reputable Subaru mechanic. Nothing against your buddy that's working on it but a specialist would be able to diagnose this faster and give you the best ways to fix it.

 

This may sound idiotic but did your mechanic put oil on the seal itself or did he put it on dry

he put it on dry i think, he does oil changes on a daily basis so i doubt that was the issue. ive started to hear anything now from having possibly put too much oil to just the turbo needing replacing

no he didnt put it on dry

ruh roh

Either way -- The oil filter application is the least of your worries here.

 

Sounds like you're in a bad spot, mate. Seriously, though, STOP DRIVING IT.

 

Don't take it to the dealership. Get into the regional forums and read (Don't post another OMGHELPME thread) about where most folks in your area take their cars. You'll be much better off in the hands of a capable, knowledgeable Subaru Mechanic than any other.

STOP DRIVING IT.

 

Don't take it to the dealership. Get into the regional forums and read (Don't post another OMGHELPME thread) about where most folks in your area take their cars. You'll be much better off in the hands of a capable, knowledgeable Subaru Mechanic than any other.

 

+ like, a lot.

 

Get to a reputable Subaru mechanic. And check around here for opinions, just because someone's google rating is 4*'s and the website says "we work on Subarus" doesn't really mean shit.

 

What brand was the original filter? FWIW a couple years ago I was buying fram filters. And twice in two months on two different cars the rubber seal failed almost immediately after application while driving. Luckily it didn't F'up either car.

 

When I went back to O'Reilly's the second time the cashier told me that months earlier fram had recalls because of this problem. Apparently they did not recall all of them. I refuse to buy fram now

Sounds like you put too much oil in.....It'll smoke and carry on just like that.....check your oil level again.

Alright so appears like the situation has been resolved as far as the heavy smoking, it appeared that the engine did have too much oil, i drained it and refilled some again half a quart at a time. since then ive been driving with my cutout open which is about a foot or two down the pipe from the turbo so if any smoke was to appear id be aware of it immediately. so far, so good (knock on wood). i am aware my turbo seals are not in the greatest shape however and i do seem to get very thin white smoke here and there after complete spooling. but again, since ive done the oil again around 5 PM until now (1 AM) i have not seen nor smelt white smoke, aside from the exhaust completely clearing out from all the previous oil. so im crossing my fingers that the situation is indeed resolved and i will see how it is in a day or two.