The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

as the title states was driving home and my car blew up
i has filled up with petrol about 20km before hand and the car was servely lacking power and was surging. i thought is was the clutch so i thought i would just limp it home as i was on the highway when this happened. any how got to pentland hill near buccusmarsh for thoes in vic.
anyway going up the hill i noticed that it didnt feel like clutch slip so was getting very worried, now in fourth unable to do the speed limit i pulled over. poped the hood and it was idling like a pig. i needed to keep driving so i could over in a safer place so went about another 2km then all of sudden a lot of smoke behind me and a trail of oil . popped the bonnet oil every were, no power could take off at all to move the car any further so there it stays on the side of the highway not moving at inch with a trailer oil every were.
the car only has 165,000km on the clock i have always serviced regularly and didnt drive it hard, so i am very upset as you could imagine

now have the task of getting it back home which is 3.5hrs away FUN!

Any noises?

Oil everywhere? Both sides or one side of the engine bay?

been there , done that with brand new engine that kept eating oil pressure switches , in this way the light never came on until about six psi, almost only half a litre of oil left , and by this time had become powerless due to no oil in hydraulic lifters. A proper gauge and diet of Valvoline again, started hr up and has done almost 350,000km since ...... I did not check oil dip stick as thought the ticking was another blown extractor gasket.

So, will new gutful of oil help you ?

littlewhiteute wrote:Any noises?

Oil everywhere? Both sides or one side of the engine bay?

cant say were oil was coming from but it was dripping out of air filter also. was some rough noises but no bang

steptoe wrote:been there , done that with brand new engine that kept eating oil pressure switches , in this way the light never came on until about six psi, almost only half a litre of oil left , and by this time had become powerless due to no oil in hydraulic lifters. A proper gauge and diet of Valvoline again, started hr up and has done almost 350,000km since ...... I did not check oil dip stick as thought the ticking was another blown extractor gasket.

So, will new gutful of oil help you ?

no oil light has just lacking power. i would hope its just the oil pressure but some how i dont think i would be that lucky

and dip stick level ?

No power may be due to oil soaked air filter ??
Starting to sound like one of my EA82T's with blow by- went like the clappers so quietly until an up mountain drive, oil sloshing to back of sump where pressures must have helped oil up the rear PCV hose and into my air intakes.(EJ's have similar plate behind flywheel)
When you check oil level maybe see if you can pull breathers away from air intake side of things ??

If the hydraulic lifters in use have bled out you will lose power, so suggesting if you can ensure sump has corrct level, lifters should bleed up and maybe help limp home - piddling oil everywhere

steptoe wrote:and dip stick level ?

No power may be due to oil soaked air filter ??
Starting to sound like one of my EA82T's with blow by- went like the clappers so quietly until an up mountain drive, oil sloshing to back of sump where pressures must have helped oil up the rear PCV hose and into my air intakes.(EJ's have similar plate behind flywheel)
When you check oil level maybe see if you can pull breathers away from air intake side of things ??

steptoe wrote:If the hydraulic lifters in use have bled out you will lose power, so suggesting if you can ensure sump has corrct level, lifters should bleed up and maybe help limp home - piddling oil everywhere

so do think it could be oil pressure sensor letting go?
yes the air filter was soaked. i did how ever notice it first on the flat not up hill, but it eventually gave up on the uphill
cant tell u dip stick level i would imagine not good at the moment as there is a fair bit on the ground and every were else.

maybe the fuel was contaminated?

Point wrote:maybe the fuel was contaminated?

I doubt that. Even if it was, the worst it would do is knock a bit, but the ECU would retard the ignition and prevent any engine damage.

Seeing that there is oil everywhere, and there are nowhere for oil to spray from in the engine bay, it points to throwing a rod through the crankcase. But this is usually accompanied by lots of noise.

me no think contaminated fuel.

me still would think you could help you self if you actually pulled something out to measure oil, if not on the stick, refill it to full mark and , hey does it turn over, especially now that it has cooled down, or lock up on something broken?

If you imagine an air filter getting smothered in blow by oil coming up the air breathers, would be like you trying to breathe through an oil soaked dust mask.
If you are still camped by roadside, and need to try start and it turns over, try remove air filter and wrap it in an environmentally responsible way for disposal if its blocked up, and check oil supply.

How was temp gauge towards the end?

I wonder , does this EJ20 have a knock sensor for ECU to retard timing ? Question only relates to Gannons state,nt, not your oil mess.

steptoe wrote:me no think contaminated fuel.

me still would think you could help you self if you actually pulled something out to measure oil, if not on the stick, refill it to full mark and , hey does it turn over, especially now that it has cooled down, or lock up on something broken?

If you imagine an air filter getting smothered in blow by oil coming up the air breathers, would be like you trying to breathe through an oil soaked dust mask.
If you are still camped by roadside, and need to try start and it turns over, try remove air filter and wrap it in an environmentally responsible way for disposal if its blocked up, and check oil supply.

How was temp gauge towards the end?

I wonder , does this EJ20 have a knock sensor for ECU to retard timing ? Question only relates to Gannons state,nt, not your oil mess.

checked the dip stick still plenty of oil (not 100% full due to the loss) does start as i drove it on and off the trailer but very noisy and rattly in the engine so something is not right, the oil seems to be mainly coming from the back of the block. no coolant missing and isnt milky as isnt the oil.
temp gauge didnt change at all.
got the car home via trailer but can start and runs enough to get it on and off
have the machanic coming sometime this week to have a look and diagnose

Oil everywhere, engine rattle and loss of power points to something along the lines of this....

^i dont think its that bad. i had time to have a quick look around and it appears that the oil was coming from the air intake. so i assume it could be a few things, PVC issues or a piston issue? still loud rattle while running

Can you take a photo of your engine?

What part of the intake is the oil coming from? I cant imagine anywhere where it could be coming from

Gannon wrote:Can you take a photo of your engine?

What part of the intake is the oil coming from? I cant imagine anywhere where it could be coming from

i took some pics of the air intake, were the oil is. the heads look finds from what i have looked.

my brand new air filter lol

Sorry to say, but that looks terminal.

I'd say you have a cracked piston crown.

littlewhiteute wrote:Sorry to say, but that looks terminal.

I'd say you have a cracked piston crown.

i think it may also be fatal, but i still have hope
if it is terminal what could cause something like this?

Can you start it up with the air box open, see if you can see where the oil is coming from?

Gannon wrote:Can you start it up with the air box open, see if you can see where the oil is coming from?

i can start it, its dark at the moment so will have a look tomorrow, hopefully will be getting looked at tomorrow