scoobyman1984

ok, so messing about with the wagon tonight and can smell strong fuel smell on oil dipstick.

is this something normal or should i be worried??

carpeys

its probably your doing too many short runs with the engine running a little rich when cold and its causing a build up of fuel and washing the bores of oil and collecting in the sump, you need to change the oil as its not giving you the protection you need

scoobyman1984

havnt done any journeys in it, only had it two weeks and its been sat on the drive since it was delivered!!!

its got piston slap when cold but that does disappear when the car warms up, only had it idling on the drive to keep it running.

just a bit worried that it could be piston rings or something else about to go pop.

lets say that the engine is on its last legs, what engine could i use as a replacement other than a straight swap wrx engine???

carpeys

mine has piston slap ,had it since I bought it but I warm it up before I rev it up and only take it over 2000 revs when the slap has cleared when its hot theres no knocking goes like a train, change the oil to be safe then its up to you if you want to rebuild or replace, if you rebuild you know its gonna be good

XDevil666

Haha stay away from this site then, makes you paranoid to hell! Everyday I'm expecting my car to go pop after I have been on here!

Heard a squeal tonight when I set off under heavy load, after been on this site I think my car is going to blow! Haha still going strong since I got it, so hoping my luck continues

Guest

iTrader: (2)

You didn't mention but if your car is a V3/4 these years (97/98) were the most prone to piston slap and pretty much every car has it to a greater or lesser degree. Nothing to worry about as long as it goes away when warmed up.

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

fuel in oil is not a good sign tbh

could be worn rings causing blow by, or just massively over fueling.

either way the petrol will break down the oil and it wont do its job of lubricating/cooling the engine.

change the oil asap and see what its like after you have driven it a bit.

jason_2013

Put new oil in as already been said. If the new oil goes black quite quickly then it's time for a rebuild. Cheaper to do it before something bad happens.

Mouser

Are you sure it is petrol you smell? Have a snifter at some other cars via the filler cap if you can and you may find the smell is very similar.

As far as dirty oil is concerned, this is from an American site:-

Myth #2

If the oil turns dark or black quickly, it's no good. You can tell the condition of oil by the look, smell or color of it. Dirty (black) motor oil means the oil is breaking down.

Fact

A common misconception is that high quality motor oil should come out of an engine looking clean at the time of an oil change. Nothing could be further from the truth. If the oil is doing its job of cleaning the engine, then it should be dirty when it is drained. Quaker State® motor oil will start looking dirty a short time after it is put to use. In the case of diesel engines, the oil will look dirty within a few hours of operation. These are signs that the motor oil is doing its job of keeping soot, dirt, and other combustion contaminants in suspension to be carried to the filter or removed from the crankcase when the oil is changed. Quaker State® motor oils have been formulated to hold these contaminants in suspension until they can be removed with an oil and filter change.

Try not to become paranoid with your car and enjoy it.

scoobyman1984

the more i think about it i think it is overfuelling rather than anything else, although why i havnt got to the bottom of yet.

the car has piston slap when cold but as said this disappears when warmed up, and for a car that is still completely standard apart from a cat back exhaust and panel filter, it goes really well, id say at least on a par with my version 1 sti wagon when that was standard, no smoke from exhaust or anything like that, just a strong smell of petrol every now and again, it does pop from the exhaust occasionally as well which for a standard catted car is unusual.

going to do a full oil and filter change and go from there, if it blows up, it blows up!!! lol

is there anything i should flush the engine with whilst doing an oil change to be sure that any fuel in there is gone.

MichaelW

iTrader: (7)

Don't flush the engine. If there is fuel in there it will evaporate on its own after you've drained the oil.

oilman

iTrader: (9)

This is true, oil going dirty is a good thing. Shows it is doing one of its main jobs of cleaning.

As already said, if the oil stinks of fuel then change it asap as fuel will kill oil.

Cheers

Guy

scoobyman1984

any suggestions to whats best to use oil wise?? was looking at your service packs but thought id ask your advice first.

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

A good quality 5w40 fully synthetic will do the job. Look on opie oils website as there are a few. Do a search on here.

Hth

oilman

iTrader: (9)

Unless heavily modified or used on track a lot then 5w-40 synthetic will be fine. Loads to choose from http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-656-5w-40.aspx

Cheers

Guy

alphaj12

I thought mine smelt of fuel. Took it in to mechanic and he looked at me like I was mad. Told me it smelt like nice fresh oil. Few thousand miles later and all is still ok so I agree with one of the earlier posts, compare it with another car with fresh oil in it. Also stop looking for problems, I use to be the same but now wait for things to break rather that second guessing every noise or puff of smoke.