oil leak to clutch issue? HELP?

[Vecken]

long story short, my last subaru was on its 3rd motor when it sent a rod THROUGH the crank case rather extravagantly so i finally decided to let her go, (still drove it onto the trailer on 2 cylinders and no oil pressure!)

so now i got a KILLER deal on a loaded 97 outback with an EJ25D motor, fixed the timing issue (ALWAYS REPLACE THOSE IDLER PULLEYS!) and it purrs beautifully now. the engine overheated at one point (has had head gaskets fixed already) and it is leaking oil profusely between the bell housing and transmission. whenever I rev it above 4000RPM it vibrates pretty badly and i smell oil burning off the exhaust causing my clutch to slip and makes it difficult to shift so i think the clutch went out of alignment when it got soaked with oil. this leads me to believe its the typical plastic oil separator plate.

are there any other possible causes? i've never heard of the rear main seal failing catastrophically, and the car is still drivable if its by a grandma and I do not rev it above 3000. The Temperature is stable since i flushed the radiator properly and no signs of oil/coolant mixing.

I was also wondering if anyone in the greater portland area (gorham to brunswick) has an engine lift so i can pull it out and replace gaskets/clutch i could borrow/rent/buy?

i'm really tired of having to change the diaper on my subaru every time I drive it.

people here at mainelysubaru have been so helpful in the past so if you have a garage i could fix mine in i'm quite handy with a wrench to help you out on any projects.

i'd love to get a built motor into this car as the rest of it is in excellent shape, but i'll have to wait until i'm back from training in a few months.

 

[Meyagi]

sounds like the rear main to me. i see them dry out and go bad a lot

 

[Chris]

RMS would make more sense if it's getting the clutch wet, they're not particularly hard to replace. As long as it's not 10 deg in your garage and you can feel your fingers.... Hello Dan's RS.

I'd definitely replace the sep plate and have an RMS on hand incase that's an issue as well.

The clutch being wet shouldn't make it hard to shift, slipping or not, it should still disengage. It sounds like you may have a compounded issue with the master/slave cylinder.

 

[Vecken]

i originally thought it was the slave cylinder, i bled it using a syringe on some brake line and pulled out a LOT of air and crud and it is working much better now however it is still difficult to shift. I have gotten what i think is all of it but is there an easy technique for a complete clutch flush with fresh fluid?

is there a specific type of rear main seal to get? i know you are supposed to replace the oil separator plate with the upgraded metal one. Is there a special technique to making sure its in there properly? when i pull this engine i want no surprises to what i have to replace, i've done one engine pull before but that was to drop a perfectly good engine in its place (or so i thought).

 

[IBratmanI]

Could be the rear main, or the separator plate. when you do the clutch, definitely replace the rear main, and reseal the separator plate. If it has a plastic one, it may also be a good idea to replace it with a newer metal one.

 

[Matt]

Those plates leak all the time. Easy enough to pull the motor or trans and do everything while your in there