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Smell Issue

3K views 39 replies 8 participants last post by  ninefourteener 
#1 ·
I asked this question in a thread I created in the Car Purchasing forum, but since I'm still experiencing this issue, I thought I'd post it here. I'm new to all things WRX and most things cars-in-general, so I figured this would be the appropriate sub-forum for this thread. If not, I apologize.

Me said:
My first concern is that when I pulled it into my garage and popped the hood, I noticed a faint odor. My 1994 Toyota Corolla burns oil, and it didn't really smell like that, but there was definitely an odor coming from under the hood. Then I noticed what appeared to be steam (didn't seem thick enough to be smoke, and it dissipated quickly) coming from the area highlighted in the attached picture...
Here's the picture:


About the smell:
Like I said, it's doesn't really smell like burning oil to me. I could be wrong, but I don't think that's what it is. The closest comparison I can think of would be the smell of burning rubber. I've read that abusing the clutch can produce a distinct smell that one never forgets, but this smell doesn't seem all that shocking or memorable.

Since I'm relatively new to driving a standard, the clutch seems like the likely candidate, but the thing is, I can't really seem to correlate the times when I get the smell to times when I've been driving harder than normal or times when I've abused the transmission by making rookie mistakes.

The car seems to be running fine, but since I'm likely to attribute any abnormalities to my inexperience, I may not be the best judge of that.

My question is whether or not this is anything to be concerned about, and if it is, what I could check out in order to isolate the problem.
 
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#3 ·
Fml



I was going to say, "Ok, I'll see if I can find anything that looks leaky or not quite right around the coolant reservoir. Any tips on getting at all the things I would need to check out in that area?"

But then, on the way to church this morning, the check engine light came on.

I am not pleased.

I've only had this car since 7/18/2009, and I'm already getting CELs?!

I've already got a call into CarMax, since I'm still in their 30-day warranty period. Is there anything else I can look at/fiddle around with to keep myself busy until tomorrow morning...if not, I may go crazy sitting around waiting.
 
#4 ·
I drove my car into AutoZone to have them see what was causing the CEL. Their scanner came back with P0302, misfire on cylinder 2. I asked the AutoZone guy if he had any idea what would cause that, and he said he'd start by checking the spark plug.

Earlier today, when the CEL first came on, I had just shifted from 2nd to 3rd.

When I first started the car to drive it to AutoZone, it felt like the car might stall...it didn't stall, but it definitely wasn't as smooth as usual. When I started the car in the AutoZone parking lot, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary...no roughness or about-to-stall behaviour.

Other than the aforementioned roughness when idling and the CEL, I haven't noticed any problems. No stalling or hesitation of any sort on city streets or on the highway.

Like I said, I'll be getting my car to CarMax as soon as I can. In the mean time, though, should I be driving this car around?

PS: This is just a WAG, but would using gas containing ethanol cause a misfire? I've been buying premium gas for it (which is 91 around here), but I haven't been too careful about finding gas stations selling non-ethanol gas.
 
#7 ·
PS: This is just a WAG, but would using gas containing ethanol cause a misfire? I've been buying premium gas for it (which is 91 around here), but I haven't been too careful about finding gas stations selling non-ethanol gas.
No, won't hurt it.
 
#8 ·
Well I got a call from CarMax today, and they said they're going to replace an ignition coil. If I understand correctly what an ignition coil does, it seems reasonable to me that a faulty one could cause a CEL about a misfiring cylinder. What about you all? Does this pass your BS test?
 
#9 ·
I'm having the same issues as you! I just bought my 2003 wagon at the first of July. I put in new plugs last weekend and everything was great until today i had a CEL.... misfire on cylinder 1 & 3. I'm begining to wonder if mine is the same issue. Strange enough I'm going to be in OKC tomorrow...lol. Youth day at White Water. Hope you get your issue resolved, as I do mine. If I get mine figured out I will let you know.
 
#10 ·
I'm having the same issues as you! I just bought my 2003 wagon at the first of July. I put in new plugs last weekend and everything was great until today i had a CEL.... misfire on cylinder 1 & 3. I'm begining to wonder if mine is the same issue.
It sucks, don't it? Did you notice any weirdness going on with your car, or has it, like mine, been running mostly fine except for that blaring CEL staring you in the face while you drive, taunting you, calling your car-purchasing ability into question?

Strange enough I'm going to be in OKC tomorrow...lol. Youth day at White Water. Hope you get your issue resolved, as I do mine. If I get mine figured out I will let you know.
What?! Two WRXs in OKC at the same time?! I'm not sure that's allowed. Seriously, I don't see very many of them around these parts. I thought maybe I'd notice more of them once I bought one, but I just keep seeing the same 2 or 3.

Anyway, good luck with your car, and have fun at White Water. I haven't been there in ages, though when I was a teenager, me and my friends would buy season passes and go every other day.

Oh, and as an Oklahoman talking to a Texan, I am duty-bound to say the following: Our sports teams are awesome and yours all suck, which means we're better than you. ;)
 
#13 ·
My Baby's Back!

CarMax called this morning to let me know my WRX was ready! I picked it up during lunch, and the CEL is gone. Hopefully it stays that way.

They said they couldn't figure out what was causing the odd smell. The mechanic checked the coolant reservoir and the hoses attached to it and didn't find any leaks. They mentioned that it appeared maybe something had been spilled in that area though, so they cleaned it up. When I pulled into my garage this evening, I could still detect the smell, but it wasn't as strong as before. Hopefully it will continue to dissipate.

I'm not sure how to explain it, but the car feels different to me now. It doesn't feel any better or worse necessarily, just different. Maybe it's just the fact that I've been driving around in a Chevy Cobalt loaner car for the last couple days.
 
#17 ·
Well that didn't take long...

*sigh*

So I started my WRX this morning, and it was idling really rough. Then, the CEL started flashing. I turned it off, restarted, and the CEL was on solid. Drove it to Autozone to have them check the code, and it's P0302, cylinder 2 misfire, again.

To add insult to injury, the AC seems to have gone out as well. Looks like it's time for another trip to CarMax.

:mad:
 
#18 ·
Sucks. Might want to take it to a Subaru dealership just for a estimate. At least then you might have someone knowledgable in Subies find out whats wrong and then take it back to Carmax for repair. I doubt Carmax mechanics are that solid (but I could be wrong).
 
#19 · (Edited)
FML Again

So I'm driving along today, and I notice that in addition to having a CEL, my temperature gauge is all the way up to "OMFG I AM SO FREAKING HOT OUCH OUCH OUCH" I think, "Oh ****!" and immediately slow down as much as I can (I'm on the highway when this happened), and turn off the AC. I limp along until I can pull into a parking lot and turn the car off. I let it rest for a bit, and then start it... the temperature gauge seems fine at idle. So I decide to head back to my hotel.

On the way back to the hotel, the temperature gauge is going nuts out of its mind. Sometimes it's fine, other times its up as high as it can go. I can sometimes seem to coax it down a little by driving gingerly, but over all it seems to have a mind of its own.

So here I am in Tulsa, 100 miles away from my home in Oklahoma City, with a car just out of the shop that may or may not be melting itself.
 
#21 ·
Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. After you buy a car from CarMax, you get a 5-day period during which you can return it no questions asked. You also get a separate 30-day warranty period during which they fix most anything that goes wrong with it for free.

Their 30-day warranty does include some text that says that, at their sole discretion, they can take the car back and give the customer a refund.

So, I'm stuck with this turd unless CarMax, out of the goodness of their hearts, decides to take it back from me and give me a refund. At this point, I don't really care either way. If they can fix it, then great. If not, though, I'd be happy for them to take it back. Somehow I doubt they'll do that though.
 
#22 ·
On a related note, I finally got the title and other paperwork in the mail from CarMax. The title indicates that this car only had one previous owner, which I knew from the Carfax report I ran on it back when I was trying to decide whether or not to purchase it. The title lists the name and address of the previous owner.

After a little work on Google, I found an email address for the previous owner. I've sent him an email politely asking for a little bit of history on the car. I made sure to stress that I understand that the issues I'm having are between me and CarMax, and not between me and him...I don't want him to feel like I'm trying to blame him for the troubles I'm having, because I really do understand that none of this is his fault. I'm honestly hoping he replies back saying something like,

"Yeah, man, I was barely able to drive that car to CarMax to sell it. That car was a total piece of crap. I told the CarMax people all about all the engine problems it had."

That way, I'd be able to go to CarMax and say, "Listen, I know you all just washed this thing and slapped a 'MaxWorthy' sticker on it and hoped no one would notice. So, how about you just give me my money back and we all forget this ever happened."

I realize the chances of things working out that way are slim...but a guy can hope, can't he? :)
 
#23 ·
Some of your issues sound like mine, however I don't think we have the same problem. Sorry for you luck, man. You really can't go back and say look, this is too much for it to be going wrong within the 30 days after you've checked it thoroughly?
 
#26 ·
Cracked Piston

Still haven't heard anything from the original owner. That disappoints me, but I can't say that I blame him. I might not want to get involved in this sort of thing if I were in his shoes.

I did however, get a call back from CarMax. They sent the car to a Subaru dealer to see what the heck the problem was.

Diagnosis: Cracked #2 piston.

Oi.

Does this sound consistent with the problems I've been having? Some guys at work are saying that the overheating would have caused the cracked piston, not the other way around. So, if that's the case, it's great that they're going to replace the piston, but what was causing the car to overheat and that piston to misfire in the first place?

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do now. CarMax has been good to me so far, fixing all of these problems for free, and they're extending my 30 day warranty, but I just don't really know what to do next.

I did drive it when it was over heating, but not much, and the temperature gauge was acting so erratically, I didn't really know whether to believe it or not. I feel bad if I did this to the car, but it has had misfire problems in cylinder 2 all along, and it did start overheating pretty much just after I got it back from CarMax for the first CEL (for the cylinder 2 misfire).

Oi.

Oi.
 
#29 ·
"Everything will be just fine. They'll replace the cracked piston with a shiny new one and everything will be wonderful. And since you've been driving around with a cracked piston all this time, when you get it back, the driving experience will be mind-blowingly better than before" would help. :tongue:

Seriously, though, I understand that a cracked piston indicates a serious issue with the engine. It likely indicates that the previous owner drove the piss out of it, which is generally bad.

That said, is it even conceivable that they'll replace the piston and everything will be more-or-less ok? Or is this the type of thing where, once you get a cracked piston, it's pretty much over for the car?

I'm not sure I really want to know the answer to that question, but go ahead; I'll brace myself.
 
#30 ·
Well, I got my car back yesterday, after about a week and a half in the shop.

Here's a list of what they did to it, from the dealership's (the one CarMax sent it to, not CarMax) receipt
(this is all quoted as I'm not sure I could paraphrase it without screwing it up):

MISC Replaced #2 & #4 Piston. Resurfaced Head.

1 Ring Set-Piston
1 Piston Set
1 Gasket Cylinder Head
2 Gasket Intake Manifold
2 EXH Manifold Gasket
2 GSKT Rocker Cover No 20
1 Gasket Rocker Cover LH
5 Washer Rocker Cover
1 Coolant
1 Elem CP Oil Filter
1 Gasket
5 10W30 Mobil Oil
3 Guide Timing Belt
6 Bolt Socket

Total cost from CarMax, including labor, parts, and towing: $1986.57

Total amount I paid: $0

Does this all seems reasonable to you all? I'm not sure what half of the stuff on that list even means, so any help you all could provide in explaining it would be much appreciated, especially if something seems odd enough that I should give them a call about it.

So far, the car runs fine, and I'm glad to have it back. We'll see how it treats me over the next 30 days (that's how much CarMax has extended the original free 30-day warranty).
 
#31 ·
Wow, that's a great price coming from a dealership. I bet they would have charged you another grand if you took to them yourself.

Take it easy on the car for a while until the new parts break in, just like it says in the manual. Don't go over 4K RPM.
 
#33 ·
Take it easy on the car for a while until the new parts break in, just like it says in the manual. Don't go over 4K RPM.
Will do, though I did accidentally go over 4k once on the way home from CarMax because I'm a moron and missed a shift, like a moron. Moron! It doesn't help that the loaner cars they've given me have been automatics, which kinda messes up the progress I've been making relearning to drive a manual.
 
#37 ·
Anyway, back to the issue that started this thread: that of smell.

I'm still getting the same smell whenever I park the car after driving around for a bit. I had hoped that with all the jacking around they had to do with the engine to replace the piston, this original issue would have just sorted itself out. No such luck, I guess.

But, there's a new wrinkle:

I was out running some errands this afternoon, and I was curious test out the difference in performance with the AC on vs the AC off. I drove around a bit with the AC off, but then I thought, "Holy damn it's hot! I gotta get some AC going in here." When I first turned on the AC, I got that same smell coming in through the vents. It didn't last for more than a second or two, but it was definitely there, and it was definitely the same smell. So, I'm thinking if there is an issue here at all, it has something to do with the AC.

Any ideas?
 
#38 ·
Hey, I dont know if this might help. I saw you mentioned about temps going all over the place, etc, etc.

You might want to take your car for C02 testing. The headgsket might be on the way out. The funny smell and crazy temps could be a result of this. It is better to catch it before it's too late.

I might be wrong though...

EDIT, I am blonde. Didnt see your service post.
 
#39 ·
For crying out loud

Seeing as how this was the last day of the extra 30-day warranty Carmax gave me, I took it in to their shop to have them try one more time to figure out what was causing the smell.

They just called back to say that they found oil and coolant leaking around the head gasket.

For. ****s. Sake.

It's back at the Subaru dealer. Mr. Carmax told me the Subaru dealer that fixed the cracked piston will cover the repairs under their 12-month service warranty, so it looks like I won't be out any money. Still though...what the crappin' hell?!

Aside from the missed shift that I mentioned earlier, I never got this thing over 4k RPM. The 1000-mile break-in period just ended yesterday, in fact. Since then, I've gotten it over about 5k RPM all of twice. I'm not racing this thing, I'm just driving it to the store and back for crying out loud. Sure sure, I like to feel the acceleration sometimes, but you don't even have to get it above 4k RPM to feel that on a 40 MPH road.

Maybe this time they'll replace the head gasket with something other than glass or paper.

****!
 
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