info on car:
03 wrx, 5spd, 96k miles, original engine, original tranny, original clutch, stock UP/DP. Basically as stock as you can get with the exception of a catback exhaust.

Recently I have noticed a burning oil smell coming from the pass side of the engine bay. I will also note that recently I may have been driving a bit harder, for a little longer, than usual(I usually drive below 3.2k rpm). So today at the gas station I lifted up the hood, and saw a little bit of smoke coming from under the turbo area. I look around some more, and i get under the car and see that there is some oil on the header/uppipe and the oil burning off of that is what seems to be causing the smoke. I took some pics, they aren't the best since i took them without a lift at a gas station. The bolt where the oil forms is part of the header I think..

I did some searching and it seems that it could either be the oil feed line to the turbo not being secured properly so then oil leaks from that and drips down? Another search said that the valve cover needs to be resealed by loosening some screw/banjo bolt with the rubber grommet/copper washer and re-tightening it. anybody have any thoughts on this? I also noticed that my oil level dropped slightly, so I added in some more and so far it seems to be fine.

First picture shows the general area I'm talking about.
2nd picture shows the area in detail where the oil starts leaking/burning/dripping
3rd pic shows the actual oil dripping/starting to drip
4th pic shows oil on the uppipe(or is it the header actually?)

Not my pictures, but I found some online to better illustrate what I am talking about.



my picture where you can see the oil collecting on that bolt and then dripping onto the heatshield..


this is a picture of the uppipe to the turbo where the oil seems to be burning off..



update:
upon closer inspection i notice that the bolts on the bottom of the valve cover on the passenger side seem to be dirty/greasy. it looks similar to these pics, but not nearly as grimey
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...IMG_1684-1.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...3/IMG_1687.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...3/IMG_1686.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...3/IMG_1685.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...3/IMG_1684.jpg

 

i say check your oil lines to turbo. go from there. if not your blocks leaking from where i looks like its coming outta the manifold

 

anybody willing to help me pinpoint this problem in person? lol

 

From your descriptions and picture info, lol, it definitely sounds like it's coming from the turbo's oil feed line...definitely check it out and in the mean time, don't drive it at all.

 

i don't think its the oil feed line, since there would be oil on the "top" side of the engine bay right? But it could be the oil return line thats leaking? is it ok to drive like a grandma with the oil return line thats slightly leaking?

I don't think i'm loosing much oil though since i dont see any drops on the floor anywhere or stuff like that.

how hard is it to replace the turbo oil lines?

 

Have someone look at the car. Please.

 

kevin you at school or at home? ill check this friday if you can make it out?

 

when my oil return line was leaking it always pooled exactly where yours is, so my best guess would be the return line. Or the feed line coming out of the motor, where it connects to the actual block, not the turbo.

 

I'm goona do this even though you should have someone really look... based on mileage I'm going with cam seal.

I'm probably right, but have a shop check it out.

 

is the cam seal the same thing as the half moon cover seal/gasket?

i'll get somebody to look at it though

 

why what can happen? Its not like it can catch on fire.



[/sarcasm]
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get it taken care of if its that bad.

 

Oil return, or maybe valve cover.

Or Cam seal

 

I've seen that same leak, but it was the turbo return line. Turns out it wasn't on the turbo oil outlet pipe quite right. Reseated the line with a new hose clamp and all was good.

 

Valve Cover Gasket.

 

For the one on the exhaust manifold :
This^ I'd check the valve cover breather gasket. I can almost guarantee you on any suby with over 40k miles will have at least a slight leak from the valve cover breather gasket (not entirely sure if it's an actual gasket or if subaru just used silicon). My suby has the same oil leak. It can be traced from the passenger side valve cover vent/breather cover and goes down the back of the head along the valve cover gasket and down around the exhaust manifold. If you change your valve cover gaskets be sure to change the breather cover gasket as well or you'll likely end up with the same problem.

For the oil on the up-pipe:
Check both oil lines to the turbo as mentioned already in previous posts. Also, check your turbo inlet. If you still have the stock inlet and a lot of miles, blow-by might be taking it's toll on your turbo inlet to the point that it could be deteriorating and leaking oil from blow-by out of a pcv line or the turbo inlet.