Oil Leak Help

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
207
Location
USA
I'm trying to help my brother. He has a 1991 Subaru Loyale that is leaking oil. Could he switch to a thicker oil to slow the leak? If so, how thick can he go, it only has a 1.4L 4cyl motor? Or, is their an oil or additive you could suggest that might swell the gasket/seal so that the leak stops.

Fixing it is out of the question. Simply not worth the money. It's a pos. Also, it is leaking a quart every other week, maybe a quart every 3 weeks.
 
There's no magic additive that will fix a leak that bad. However, $2.00 for a quart of oil every two to three weeks is a lot better than a car payment. Keep topping it off and run it until it gives up.
 
Does anyone know if one brand HM oil does a better job of swelling seals or slowing leaks?
 
check the oil sender and maybe look for loose bolts on the oilpan etc. Dont overtighten go a 1/4 turn at the most if at all...use a high mileage oil such as valvoline or pennzoil or any other name brand use 10w30 in the summer if he has high mileage or even 10w40 hm if over 150,000 miles but no heavier than that 5w30 in the cold below 30 degrees, i use hm oils in a few of my high mileage cars and trucks and it works if it is seal related ...We are engine rebuilders and could easily change the seals but why when the hm oil slows it or stops it most of the time.
 
i have used pennzoil hm with great results a lot of people like the new valvoline hm they say its synthetic based but im not sure... besides it seems synthetic is a marketing term these days
to some degree... use any name brand hm and it should help some.... hm oil are blended on the high side of the spectrum and have a lot of additives that can help an old engine run longer and stay cleaner
 
Next time he changes his oil, maybe I'll suggest dumping in a quart of 10w40 and the rest 10w30. That way it will thicken the oil just a bit. I wouldn't want him to use an extremely thick oil on such a small engine. However, being summer, I think that should be fine.

I'll also make sure he is in fact using a HM oil.
 
Is it burning the oil, or leaking it? And if it's leaking it, how bad is it leaking? Are there oil stains on the ground after he parks, or does it just kinda seep out but not drip? Also, do you know from where it's leaking?

If it's not leaking, but rather burning oil, do you know if it's smoking or not?
 
leaking, not burning. I can see it leak. coming from oil pan gasket.

Nothing will help much. Though, from some quick research, most subaru's take a 40w oil. So, he should be able to bump up his thickness with out any problem. That may slow the leak.
 
Subarus use RTV instead of an oil pan gasket. But, they rarely leak form the pan - it just looks that way because wherever they leak from, the oil finds its way to the edge of the oil pan. Usual places in the front of the engine are cam and crank seals, or the oil pump. At the rear, there is an oil separator cover plate. It was made of plastic in some years, and they crack. Requires engine removal to fix. The rear main very rarely leaks.

The Ultimate Subaru Message Board is a good place to go for help with that Loyale: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top