Oil in exhaust manifold

Tiny
VICKRASNODEMSKY
  • MEMBER
  • 2018 SUBARU CROSSTREK
  • 2.0L
  • 4 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 24,000 MILES
Hello, I have the vehicle listed above that I have been working on and I came across a problem. There is oil leaking from the exhaust manifold and I am not sure if I should be worried or if it will just burn out and I'll be fine.

Here is the background to the engine and the car:

I bought the Crosstrek from and insurance auction site, it was hit pretty hard in the front end. When I brought the car to my garage and started taking it apart, I noticed that the timing cover was broken from the collision and I saw that the timing belt fell off the gears. Instead of trying to fix that engine, I opted with buying a used engine from a dismantler. I got the new engine to my house and was working on swapping the engine into the Crosstrek, before I could swap the engine in, I had to remove the torque converter from the old engine and bolt it onto the new one. I had a ratchet on the crankshaft pulley to keep the engine from turning while I tried to tighten the torque converter bolts. After I tightened each bolt, I'd turn the engine over using the ratchet on the crankshaft pulley until I had access to the next torque converter bolt. I kept doing this and I noticed oil began to drip out of the exhaust manifold ( the engine was out of the car, on the ground, and the exhaust wasn't connected) Every time I'd turn the engine over, a little more oil would drip out. I figured this might be happening because I was turning the engine over and there was pressure building up that cause oil to be moved around, I didn't remove the coils/spark plugs to release the pressure. I really have no idea if this is a small problem that I shouldn't be too worried about, or if this is a major problem that needs to be fixed. My plan was to take the coils/spark plugs out, drain the oil, turn the engine a few times over so that any oil stuck anywhere would drain out, put everything back together, fill the engine with new oil, and start the car and let any excess oil burn off.

Please let me know what I should do. Thank you for your time.

-Victor
Saturday, May 18th, 2019 AT 11:29 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

This sounds like you might have a problem with your engines valve guides or valve stem oil seals. These seal the oil from leaking into the combustion chamber. These should definitely be replaced before installing your engine otherwise you are going to burning oil in your combustion chambers and this will create more problems down the road. In the diagrams down below I have included the instructions on how to remove and install the valve guide oil seals in your engines cylinder head. Please go through this guide and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Saturday, May 18th, 2019 AT 4:03 PM

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