Got a very annoying oil leak going on with my MY95 WRX, that's proving to be a real PITA to diagnose, I'd appreciate any opinions on what might be causing it...
Symptoms: After running the car at speed (70mph) and stopping in traffic, smoke pours out of the side of the bonnet and out of the scoop.
Work done so far: Drivers side cam-cover seals replaced (new bolts, rubber seals and half moons), done by a reputable Subaru tuner. New cam seals top and bottom (upon replacing these yesterday, I found that one of the bolts for the outer camshaft "bridge" had fractured and was replaced along with the seal). New o-ring seal for power steering reservoir, and replaced fractured "send" pipe from pump.
Despite this work, I took the car for a run (14 miles or so) and it's still smoking (heavily) when I come to a standstill. Assuming that I've fixed the problem, how long would you expect it to take for the oil to burn off from the manifold? If I haven't fixed the problem, how's the best way to diagnose where the oil's coming from?

Sorry for the essay....

 

try checking the front crank seal.it drips down onto the manifold at the front.common cause of it going is the screws coming loose on the back of the oil pup leading to highpressure oil frocing out of the seal.

 

as above its the seal on the oil pump itself its well hidden behind all those plastics !!

 

Thanks, I'll do that. The front section of the exhaust manifold is clean though, the build-up of oil appears to be on the up-pipe under the #3 cylinder...
When you say the "back of the oil pup", do you mean inside, as in "requires splitting the block"?

 

if its leaking on the left hand side no3 its either rocker cover or leaking from the turbo area check the return from the turbo back to the sump ! is it engine oil or power steering fluid??? ones black the other will be red ??

 

There doesn't seem to be any fresh fluid, so it's very difficult to tell. I checked the turbo oil feeds while the engine was out over the weekend and they seem fine. Trouble is, it doesn't leak at all when stationary (no drips appearing or anything), just smokes real bad.
The cam-covers had oil build up in them (which let me to thinking the camshaft or crank seals), but the entire engine is pretty oily (despite many pressure washes) so I may be completely wrong.

 

just keep an eye on all the fluids m8 and keep driving it the more heat cycles the better when you get a leak either oil or power steering fluid it does take ages to burn off

 

check o/s/f inner cv boot mate if split the grease will spray out on the downpipe causing your smoke as a mates did it till id fixed it

 

I had this problem too mate exactly the same symptoms ,really embarrasing when stopping at lights and smoke whales out the scoop and bonnet,to start with thought the turbo had gone because when i lifted the bonnet the smoke came up from the turbo area, these guys on here helped me out loads turned out to be rocker gaskets have a look down the drivers side of the engine with a torch if you see any fluid down there thats what its likely to be you can probably tighten the bolts on the cover slightly to relive the problem short term but don't be fooled like me thinking this fixes it , they will need replacing , i'm not the best with engines and still learning so could be wrong just sounds so familiar, hope this helps

 

Thanks guys.
I think it's unlikely to be the rocker cover gasket, as they're new and I cleaned the mating faces really well before re-assembling. Plus there's no new oil appeared on the exhaust (that I can see) since putting it back together today.
CV joint is an interesting one, I'll have to check it out. That would really be ironic...
scoobyhyp, I'm running it on exactly halfway on the engine oil and PS fluid, hopefully one of them will drop significantly, but I don't really want to use it until it's sorted in case it catches fire! Gar. I love 'em when they're running right!

 

Check the oil filter rubber. Take it off and buy a new 1, then make sure u oil the o ring on the new filter before fitting it. Its happened to me on 3 diffrent subaru's.

 

Driver side front corner of the intercooler! Feel and check......drips down by the turbo or just past it...hot engine/exhaust/manifold causing lots of smoke....check when it's been running rather than cold since all the oil essentially drains away from the intercooler (as designed) and it becomes difficult to diagnose otherwise.
Hope you find the cause whatever it is mate...keep is posted.

 

Hi guys, just thought I'd update....
Had the engine out last weekend (in under 2 hours - woo!) with the intention of checking the feeds to the turbo - which weren't leaking...
While the engine was out I had the flywheel off (as the bellhousing was full of oil) to check the crank seal - wasn't that either.
So, after a bit of head scratching I redid the RH rocker cover gasket with some high temp sealant, and also removed the plastic cover behind the flywheel and cleaned up the mating surfaces and refitted with the same high temp sealant. Re-assembled and have been using it ever since... Not smoking any more!
So, what fixed it? No idea, to be honest - but it's looking like the drivers side rocker cover wasn't repaired properly, as even if the back of the engine was leaking, there's no way for that oil to get onto the up-pipe and burn.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. Enjoying being back behind the wheel.
Thanks again for your help!