oil smell

new to the site have 2005 legacy Gt limited have noticed oil smell and some traces of smoke in the turbo area. No external leaks I can see.I am curious of any possible problems anybody else knows of. No smoke out the back & runs fine?????

the car is stock no mods

Welcome to the site!

You possibly have a bad oil seal on the turbo...? Are you losing a significant a out of oil?

How many miles are on the car?

check the inner CV boot on the axle . that side likes to crack and break, sensing grease on to the DP causing smoke.

Identical thing happened to me, except I was just waiting for the CV boot to finally break in order to rebuild the axle.

With your car still cold, stick your hand down near the downpipe and feel the top of the inner CV boot/Bottom of the downpipe. This CV boot is very failure prone due to it's close proximity to the downpipe; which may mimic the issue you're seeing. CV Boot Failure/Replacement

Check this first before anything else, since it's the easiest.

thanks car has over 100 thousand had cv boots replaced when cam belt was due did water pump belt had all fluids changed out. The more i look turbo outer housing looks wet it did get overfilled with oil about a month back and ran funny so found they had overfilled i put to correct leval it ran fine.will take in and get est from dealer.i am able to do my own work if i know whats wrong if i need to pull DP I wound spend the money and just replace catted up pipe downpipe and go complete header to back new exhaust know i am going to get different responses but what is best front to back system or do i have to bundle different brands.

oh thaks again for the welcome and any advice.

thanks car has over 100 thousand had cv boots replaced when cam belt was due did water pump belt had all fluids changed out. The more i look turbo outer housing looks wet it did get overfilled with oil about a month back and ran funny so found they had overfilled i put to correct level it ran fine.will take in and get est from dealer.i am able to do my own work if i know whats wrong if i need to pull DP I wound spend the money and just replace catted up pipe downpipe and go complete header to back new exhaust know i am going to get different responses but what is best front to back system or do i have to bundle different brands.

oh thaks again for the welcome and any advice.

Whoa, slow down, partner!

From top to bottom, here:

You need to be checking your oil levels often, that's a big thing with LGT ownership. This will help you determine if you're losing oil from the turbo, or if it's coming from somewhere else. You should address and fix this potentially expensive problem before you start dropping money into go-fast mods.

You need to replace that catted UP anyway -- an OEM STi UP from 07+ will do just fine and can be had for about $75 from your local CL or NASIOC. Aftermarket options start at $150. They all do the same thing, there's no extra HP to be unleashed by spending more $$. Replacing the UP isn't an option for your MY -- the OEM unit contains a catalytic converter which can become dislodged and take out the turbo, which will then take out your motor. See my Shopping List for how much that'll cost you, at a minimum. (Hint: Spend the $75 now and save yourself $7500 later!)

Hop into the regional forums and find out where folks in your area take their cars -- It's not good for either of you to even acknowledge that the dealership exists. Just say NO!

As for exhaust, these aren't Hondas; The stock exhaust is fine until you start making over 300whp. Anything under that, and it's just a noisemaker. A good DP will net you some gains, I suggest the Cobb or Grimmspeed units. Both are very quality.

Good headers are hard to find for a decent price. Do you really wanna drop nearly a grand for decent headers? Because your stock ones are just fine.

Sure, there are "bundled" packages for turboback and catbacks, but they're just noisemakers.

thanks that is what i wanted to find out dont want a noise maker didnt know how good or bad factory stuff is.

my other car is a vette so know chevy inside and out but new to subaru planned on the up pipe fix and getting a cobb tuner but have done nothing to the car but maintance and new bigger sway bars.so If its the drain hose will do it and up pipe not wanting to waste my money on pricy exhaust stuff

thanks again

ps having hard time finding subaru guru in cedar rapids iowa

E-tunes are always an option, especially if you buy the Cobb AP -

AP stage 1 and a catless UP is really where it's at for a DD - Stage2 is nice, but, the simplicity of Stage1 really shines through -

thanks for all the replys got under it tonight and can see the black bloated drain hose all wet so can see how bad all those rusted exhaust bolts are going to be !!

As in turbo oil return hose ? Get that fixed ASAP.

Use PB Blaster on the exhaust bolts and nuts. Get some 3/8 nuts and bolts to replace the bolts and springs at the mid pipe.

You will break a couple of the small heatshield bolts on the turbo, its no biggy, you don't need all of them.

Now would be a good time for a DP and catless up pipe.

Use anti sieze compound on all the nuts and bolts before putting them back on.

Hint, I bolt the turbo to the up pipe it's much easier to line everything up.

Be careful with the turbo inlet hose, you can cut/rip it very easy.

It sounds like your new axles are leaking cv grease, which shouldn't be happening. Is the cv boot torn? Are the axles new/remanufactured? Just to make sure it's cv grease, is the grease a dark greenish color?

*Have you inspected your passenger side cv axle boot? From what I understand usually those go first since the cv boots are subject to higher temperatures on that side so the rubber gets brittle and splits.

ok with a vette for my second car and 2 inches of snow coming tonight

I stopped at subaru got the 3 gaskets and a little hose tore into it friday night. had all the parts lined up on the floor at 9:30 or so only broke a couple bolts one on DP seized half on half of so cut him off , Saturday morning put it all back together I have to say getting the drain tube and the intake lined up and not taking a hammer and pounding the car to death :lol: anyway finally got the clamp on drain tube pulled down on tube from motor hidden behind the uppipe and its mounting brkt.

Money wise I have been wanting to work on this car but dont want to go loud and unreliable.that said plan on cobb acess and up and DP But those are pricey and a good project when its warm and dont mind driving second car.

So for now 91.00 dollars in parts a few skinned nuckles and the know how to do again my subaru lives again with out smoking and having burned oil smell.

Eddy in Iowa

05 legacy GT Limited

Black paint black leather

bigger sway bars

winter package

nice car

Thanks again for advice on my problem