Akka

Hi

I’m a Scoob noob and have recently purchased a 95 WRX. I have just read a post about the guy with the melted piston and poor rebuild. You guys really know your stuff and I would appreciate it, if you have time, to answer a question of mine?

When my car is driven for a long time (e.g 1 hour) a small amount of smoke drifts out from the offside bonnet vent which is definitely not steam (as it smells). Before I bought the car the salesman told me there was a power steering leak? And that it would be fixed when I took it away (fixed by tightening the clip). I have read various posts on Scooby net and have noticed that a common problem is that the rocker cover leaks. Is this true? And if so could this be the problem? Or do you think it could be something else? Apologies for my lack of mechanical knowledge and any help would be most appreciated.

Regards

Akka

markwild

My UK car developed a leak from the rocker cover and the oil drips onto the exhaust manifold at the O/S of the engine bay, causing smoke - I'm not sure if other leaks could cause a similar prob. though - Also, I thought that the bonnet vents were covered (inside) on WRXs, like UK cars - How is the smoke coming through> or is there a lot of it ? When mine first went, I had smoke come from the I/C intake for a while, but it eased off slightly (when I did), until I had it fixed.....

Mark
PS _ Wouldn't class myself as 'knows my stuff' but I have experienced this gasket leak, so thought I'd add my 2peneth ...

Silverman

Had the same problem after the car went in for a RR set up. It was the rocker gasket, cost about £ 60.00 to fit. All the same symptoms as you discribed.

manckster

I had smoke too, it was the oil pump coming loose. I was told that this was not too uncommon either. Had to replace gaskets for oil pump and also cam belt, as it was contaminated with oil.

Graz

Got a similar problem myself and thought it was oil at first. Checked the oil, level normal, looked in the coolant header tank and it was empty.

I'm hoping it's antifreeze that emits the nasty smell when it burns up on the mainfold. Anyway put a pint of water in and it's full again. See if I can find out where it's leaking at the weekend, probably just needs a hose tightening up.

greasemonkey

It's certainly possible. Have you checked the PAS fluid level to see if you're losing any? It's also possible that the fluid could be overflowing if the reservoir has been overfilled. The filler cap has a litle dipstick in it, so if you haven't already looked you'll soon be able to work out the score there.

Again, it's a possibility, but don't over-estimate the likelihood of this being the problem though. A lot of people make the mistake of reading a couple of posts here regarding a specific problem, and think that all cars will suffer from it. Not the case with leaky camcover gaskets!

Eminently possible. You need to try and isolate the source. Try driving the car for a bit and then stopping and quickly whipping the bonnet open. With a bit of luck you'll be able to work out exactly where the smoke's coming from. Even if you can't, keeping a close eye on all the fluid levels should eventually clue you in to which one is dropping, and from there it's much easier to narrow down the source.

markwild

Good advice as usual from GM - Probably worth noting though that my gasket leak didn't cause any noticible drop in the oil level - I traced it by getting it on the ramps at TSL and taking a look - But I have a service every 2-3 months !

You should really keep an eye on the levels anyhow - leak or not, just as you'd check that your lights work before a journey and your tyre pressures are OK.....

Does it do it when the car is idling - i.e. if you just leave it in the drive, running, will it start smoking >? - Hopefully you can track it down then - might need to leave it a while to get hot though.

Mark

Akka

Cheers guys, every bit of advice will be tried and tested this weekend and the up coming week! I will keep you posted.

Big cheers to GM for the advise as requested

John