OK, so coming into work this morning getting off the highway, as I stopped at the top of the ramp, I noticed a small amount of white smoke coming out of my hood scoop (04 WRX)... I thought it was coming from the POS in front of me...so I drove about a 1/4 mile down the road, (car is riding fine mind you), and hit the donut shop for some coffee and noticed the same amount of small white smoke...so when I got to work a minute later, I popped the hood...

no white smoke coming out..a minute or two later, a slight gust of wind and little bit of white smoke...i check under the car and the under carriage looks like it has some oil on it...

I have not had an oil change recently so I know it's now left overs...

my question is, since i don't have access to a lift, how would you guys handle this...keep in mind, I have a short ram in the car, so if I take it back to the dealership, i have to put back the old filter...

I was considering taking it to my local performance shop, since they would do that the fastest anyway, and asking them to take a look...

let me know if you guys have heard of this, i'm pretty sure i should be worried, but if i shouldn't i need to know so I can stop freaking out!!

 

I've had this happen on my 03 WRX Sedan a couple of times during the first few months I owned it. The smoke originated somewhere low on the exhaust (near engine) and rose to curl up through the intercooler scoop. Looked real menacing at the stop light. I never figued it out to my satisfaction, but I have a couple of strong suspicions...

Hot weather: this was a contributor for my car. it was the warnest weather the WRX was in for a couple of week when it happened.

1. Oil splash from oil changes. It gets on exhaust componets and shielding, but may not smoke for several weeks until the engine gets hot enough.

2. Condensation: Not my favorite theory. Water condensation, maybe off of the AC or due entirely to weather mixes with oil and smokes off of hot parts.

3. Most likely for me... damn Fram oil filters. The nice anti-slip coating on the filter was overheating. It looked cracked and scorched. Use Subaru, Purolaror, Wix or NAPA oil filters.

 

So I got all the answers I needed from the DEALERSHIP of all places!! This is of course after I removed my short RAM and put the old air filter back in so they wouldn't tell me it wasn't under warranty...

Only to find out, that my last oil change, by a local Jiffy Lube that shal remain nameless, Naamans Rd. In Claymont Delaware, was done incorrectly!!

They didn't replace the oil plug and put a hole in the OIL FILTER!!! WTF...

They're lucky I have to work, otherwise I'd be over there right now demolishing the building so it wouldn't happen to anyone else...

Luckily enough, no damage was done and was an easy fix and clean up...but none the less...YOU WOULD EXPECT THAT A JIFFY LUBE WOULD KNOW WHAT'S UP...ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAVE PERFORMANCE CARS OUTSIDE AND THE MANAGER RUNS AT THE SAME TRACK AS YOU DO!!!....no more Jiffy Lubes...

F*ING BASTARDS!!