Intake full of oil, and car won't go over 20mph

My car won't go over 20mph. It's difficult to even get to 20 mph. I thought my transmission went out, so I replaced it, and with the new transmission, I have the same problem.

 

I had the throttle body off, and noticed the inside of the intake had a pool of oil in it. I thought the problem may have been the PCV valve, so I removed it, it was all gunked up. No parts stores in the area had another one, so I cleaned the old one and reinstalled it. My car has been burning oil, so it's coming through the intake. How is it getting in the intake though? Could the oil have fouled a sensor, causing my car to not go above 20mph?

 

Car is a 2008 Legacy, 2.5 naturally aspirated engine. Automatic transmission.

 

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I have oil pooled in my intake manifold too, I think it comes up through the pcv valve and accumulates. I don't think that's the source of your problem though.

 

Have you had a check engine light, or any trouble codes? I would imagine there must be some codes stored if the car won't go over 20

Edited December 5, 2020 by apexi
added a few random pics I took a few years ago.

Clean your MAF sensor and replace your air intake filter and see if the problem goes away? Surely you have a CEL?

I don't have any check engine lights. Weird.

 

I wish I did, might actually tell me something.

 

Will clean the MAF and report back.

 

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Does the car rev normally in neutral? Can you rev all the way through the rpm ranges?

Cleaned the MAF, seems to idle better. Drivability still sucks though.

 

I can rev up to 3500 rpm in neutral.

 

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Clogged catalytic converter?

^^^^^My thoughts exactly. Burning a lot of oil fouled and clogged the cat. Probably trashed the front O2 as well.

Two tests, 1 disconnect maf and try to rev engine

2 pull the pre-cat o2 sensors and see if it runs better AND OR if you have an infrared temp gun, test the temps pre and post cat. A normally functioning cat will have the exhaust coming out of the converter higher than going in. A failed cat will show the exhaust before the cat considerably hotter

I’d try the second tests first

I used a can of seafoam on the intake, the smoke out the tailpipe cleared up after that.

 

The car revs normally up to 4.5k if moving, it doesn't want to shift gears though.

 

Had a mechanic look at the car today, they think the people I got the transmission from gave me a bad transmission. I'm working on getting a refund for the transmission.

 

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That wouldn’t prevent the car from revving in neutral

I used a can of seafoam on the intake, the smoke out the tailpipe cleared up after that.

 

The car revs normally up to 4.5k if moving, it doesn't want to shift gears though.

 

Had a mechanic look at the car today, they think the people I got the transmission from gave me a bad transmission. I'm working on getting a refund for the transmission.

 

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Seafoam causes smoke out the intake. That's normal. That's just Seafoam blowing out the exhaust.

 

The issues you listed are not a transmission issue almost certainly. You should be able to rev the car out in neutral.

There's a good bit of debris on the transmission fluid dipstick. Pretty sure I have a transmission problem.

 

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There's a good bit of debris on the transmission fluid dipstick. Pretty sure I have a transmission problem.

 

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You'd still be able to rev out in neutral and not have a bunch of oil in your intake. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say sure, you got a bad transmission, but this car seems to not really be worth your time.

Nobody is saying you don’t have a bad transmission, everyone is telling you that the transmission has nothing to do with your other problems