Runs terrible at start, or runs fine till next time. Very intermittent. No codes. When bad smoke from low engine billows.
2001 Subaru Legacy L, 2.5L, 4 Cyl Fuel Injected, 220K miles. Symptoms fit excess crank case pressure pushing oil out of the main seal, but symptoms never persist long enough when home to get under the very low car to be sure where the oil/smoke comes from. No engine codes initially, now just misfire codes for cyl 1,3,4. New PCV valve did not fix. Biggest clues are that if the car is good when it starts, then it is good for however long I drive it, but if it is bad when i start it, it is bad for as long as I drive it. Can the Vapor Canister Purge Valve do this? How about the EGR valve or MAP sensor or Vapor Pressure Control Valve?
Why your engine is just flat wearing out? It's throwing blow by because the piston rings are worn out. Cars just worn out. Piston rings will be very hard to start but once started they can run for a while. But when they cool off again of course then they're hard to start again. If you want to see how bad it is, do a wet and dry compression test of the engine or every mechanic do that and he can tell you exactly how worn it is
@scottykilmer It does have a lot of blow by, at least after changing to pure synthetic, but this is an intermittent problem. (I did change back now to standard 10W40 from full synthetic 5W30). The car either runs terrible from when I start, or good from when I start. Like one of the smog solenoids/valves gets set to open or closed only upon starting the car, and if it doesn't change, it doesn't try again later. I know the evap valves change state on whether the engine is running or not, but do they only try to change once, like a light switch, or does the current to the valve electromagnet get imposed continuously to try to maintain a state? The car has a few less miles than I stated by memory. I think 210K, not 240K.