lydanial

my problem is this, when i am giving the car a little bit of a pasting when i slow down there is smoke coming out from under the bonnet. there is no smoke from zorst, it smells like burning oil. i pop the bonnet but cannot see where its coming from at all.
i took it to a friend tonight but he cant seem to see anything, made various suggestions about turbo bearings, air intake or ruptures breather pipes also mentioned drivers side rocker cover, but i cant even see that,, where the hell is it?

forgot to mention its a 97 uk fsh 122k!!

RON

Could easily be the rocker gasket.... look under the bonnet, left hand side, right down the bottom.... sort of under the engine really, the oil drips onto the manifold, hence the smoke.... maybe....

lydanial

nk you thanks for quick reply. i really am newbie on these cars as never had any other probs.. how easy/expensive to do?

RON

depends if you mind getting your hands dirty.... you may be able to diagnose... but maybe get someone else to sort it!!

Dark Blue Mark

Can equally be the right side, but as Ron says, its normally the left hand cover due to the extra heat down there.

Its not a hugely difficult job if you've worked on a car before. You will need a new gasket and all rubber seals for the cover bolts.

Shine a torch down there when its hot and watch for a bit, you will be able to tece where the puffs of smoke come from.

MB

andypugh2000

This was the problem on mine, very common and 114 quid inc parts labour and vat got it sorted

lydanial

i was scared i had done something serious tbh.
but after reading other threads and sites, find that its a recuring problem that fits y diagnosis very well.. and as theres no smoke (at all) from zorst i knew engine was basically good.
have always serviced my own cars (with a little help from mr haynes) done a vauhall gte, renault 16v and hoping that most jobs on this i can do myself..
i will carry on getting proper services to keep the book in good order but the rest... hey i'll have a bash!

chris

ps thank you all so much for your input..

lydanial

ok so far this has happened..
took it to my friendly mechanic today and he popped the bonnet and said', 'hm not done one of these before'
anyway we put it on the ramp and here are my findings.
1, the oil filter was tightened by 1.5 turns (enough for a lot of smoke?)
2, passenger side rocker spotless
3, drivers side very clean but unable to see it all properly.
4, bottom of engine pretty clean.
5, oil traces on passenger side roughly under where they sit.
6, the pipe leading into intercooler (where it attaches to metal pipe) there is a 'hook' for holding onto jubilee clip, jubilee was fastened around clip causing it not to sit perfectly straight. (unrelated?)
7, very small amount of oil inside intercooler.

anyway we tightened the oil filter.. and i drove it back gently (he didnt have time to do intercooler, and as its free ramp use i dont mind). i had heater on warm blowing into my face constantly sniffing, nothing. as soon as i pulled up drive i popped the bonnet and could smell burning oil again (just last of residue?)
i was unable to open it up so i could check for sure on way home as was behind a bus on a car and a half road. anyway i have now had intercooler off and cleaned all the pipe work and washed it out with warm soapy water (kidding! just put that in for those bored readers) and put it back on straight with clips in right places.
i will try opening it up tonight after dropping wife off at work and see if its any better.. i shall be back..
chris
ps subaru lincoln quoted me 57+vat fitting and £20 parts for rocker... any scooby buffs in lincs area want to take a peek for me??

BlackWrxScooby

I had white smoke coming from my 93WRX and thought it was just steam so didn't bother about it, just over 100MPH up the motorway my power steering failed because a pipe had burst. white smoke but smelt really funny. was dripping down onto the hot exhaust.

Is the level in the power steering ok?

lydanial

is that the right or left one as you look under bonnet, both are fine, in fact i actually had to remove a bit yesterday as i read somewhere else about powersteering fluid overflow/leak and it was just above max... however not really been able to get her opened since then though.

i am hoping that the burning smell i got today was just 'burnoff' i tried looking at all the pipes under but cant see one..
come to think of it though i am not sure if its burning oil smell or fluid smell...
will check on colour of smoke tonight after dropping wife off..if it does it again.

geordie terzo

had the same problem recently.oil leaking from rocker gasket drivers side.mine was leaking from the very bottom and dripping onto heatshield, almost impossible to see but was really stinking.£97 to fix and still leaking! it's going back in on saturday.the joys of motoring

lydanial

i am getting more convinced on the rocker, took a look down the side this morning with a torch, tried to look just past it and noticed that it seems blacker underneath.. maybe a sooty kind of look, anyway will get the airbox out later and have a shifty.