Lets test your abilities

[GarrettKoonsman]

So i had an issue with my car today, and though i know what is wrong as well as the solution, im interested in if any of you could have diagnosed this (without seeing it obviously). So here is what happened.

Drove to school..... 45 minute drive. Car was driving perfectly fine, temperature normal, no CEL, no bad signs at all. Got to school and parked. A small amount of thin white smoke starts coming out of the hood scoop. Pop the hood, smoke is coming from under my turbo heat shield, only lasts 30 seconds or so. No sprayed fluids anywhere. There is an oily substance on the frame directly underneath the turbo and small amounts on the hoses in that same area. Coolant level is perfect, oil level is perfect. Car was boosting fine, no strange noises. So.... who can even get close to diagnosing this?

Ready...set....Go


note: yes i know if you could see the car you could diagnose it, thats not the point. I want to see how good you guys are at diagnosis over the internet. All of my car info is in my signature and mod list.

[mudferret]

Here's my shot in the dark; your coolant filler tank cap wasn't tightened all the way, or is bad.

[SeattleJeremy]

What color was the oily substance?
Did you touch it? If so was it very thick? If so, CV joint failure.

Edit:

Pop the hood, smoke is coming from under my turbo heat shield, only lasts 30 seconds or so. No sprayed fluids anywhere. There is an oily substance on the frame directly underneath the turbo and small amounts on the hoses in that same area. Coolant level is perfect, oil level is perfect.

Although, after re-reading this I'm starting to suspect the turbo seals are going.

[wrxlaunch]

Bad turbo seal, next you'll notice blue smoke on start up... Or if u let it idle too long and try to rev... Blue smoke

[GarrettKoonsman]

all of these are great answers that i suspected initially, however they are all wrong. Turbo seals are perfectly fine, turbo itself is fine. No coolant issues at all, oil was very thin. So thin in fact i had to get a full finger covered to realize it wasnt coolant but another, more oil like fluid.

edit: as for the color of the fluid, it was mostly clear in small amounts as coolant is but when i got a larger amount it was much darker (partially due to dirt partially the fluid itself). And i'll give you a hint, not engine oil and not coolant.

[GarrettKoonsman]

I'll give this thread till tomorow so some more of the guys and girls can give there guess. Then i'll reveal the shocking truth.

And by shocking truth i mean really boring but had me stumped for 30 minutes of staring at it.

If someone can guess it they get a $1 prize sent to them via paypal. Yes you heard right an entire dollar, i'll even add 6% or whatever the hell paypal charges so the whole dollar goes to you

[Dos-fivewagon]

Check your transmission fluid lately? You didn't get it snapped in all the way when you put the dip stick back in?

[GarrettKoonsman]

Check your transmission fluid lately? You didn't get it snapped in all the way when you put the dip stick back in?

i had a feeling this would be the next guess, but no...incorrect again. This is fun, we should play this game more often

[Dos-fivewagon]

your enjoying this way too much.

[Sinister]

a frog crawled under the turbo heat shield and popped when the turbo got hot enough to expand the air in the frog's stomach. The oily clear substance is from inside the stomach of the frog because earlier that day the frog was drinking hydrazine. The smoke was because hydrazine is a hypergolic fuel.

/thread

Next please?

[Anub1s]

I'm guessing either brake or power steering line leak, perhaps some of the fluid was flung up onto the turbo heatshield by the axle?

[Scuba2708]

um...ran over some nasty road slush???

[T0rque]

power steering fluid.

If im wrong and it is brake fluid get water on that **** after your fix asap. (water kills brake fluid..)

[GarrettKoonsman]

Sinister...That was the best answer my little imagination can handle, for that you get a dollar.

Anub1s and LPPTundWRX...power steering fluid is the correct answer. One of the lines has a leak in the compression connection. Nothing major but enough that a drop or two got onto the downpipe causing the smoke. Usually i would replace with genuine subaru parts, but at $281.00 for just the hose before labor, i chose otherwise. I Have a shop that custom makes all their hoses doing it tomorow morning, should be about $150 with labor to take off and put on.

The 3 of you...im serious about the dollar, if you pm me your paypal i will send each of you a dollar. Thats a small price to pay for a few minutes of entertainment.

[Sinister]

meh... I'd rather get a group together to go for a drive. We need to do that in the upcoming months