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I was stuck in a tight spot in some sand and when trying to reverse, she started to smoke and hence have a oil burning smell. Is this normal ?

It got out fine, but the smell is a bit worrying.

Have a forester x 96 model. Was fine in forward gears, I think I may have overdone it.

Any advice?

Sounds like clutch to me.

First off , is it manual ?

Mike.

Manual Yes 5 speed.

Two possible areas to look at:

1. front inner CV boot tear and CV grease dripping onto the hot exhaust. (once smelt never forgotten).

2. Riding the clutch pedal and letting smoke leak out of the clutch plate.

There was smoke comming out from the bonnet.

My vote for oil on the exhaust or grease as Jack said , clutch smell is very distinctive , dosnt smell like oil.

Mike.

yes sounds like a clutch getting a little too warm

dallas, stick your head under the engine bay and have a look at the front CV boots, particularly the right inner boot. If there is grease visible on the boot, then you've most likely got a hole in the rubber.

Also look on the underside of the gearbox and the area to the rear underside of the engine. If you've got fresh engine oil stains, then your rear main seal may have failed.

Discount the obvious things that may have gone wrong before you start looking for the expensive problems.

CV boots are fine. not oil leaks at all.

clutch...almost positively.

alex

I took the car to the Subaru repair and asked them to have a look as it was still under warranty. They have told me that it's the fuel? Thatcould be the reason for the smell. They said I should not be using regular unleaded as it should be premium only. They aslo stated that BP Ultimate is the best for the car. I told them that this was not explained in the manual, and it was one of the issues that I raised when I was considering purchasing the veh. Any thoughts

Fuel??? thats the best anwser they could come up with

I was under the impression that when fuel burns, it produces a violent yellow/orange flame and lots of black smoke.

I rekon your clutch

Dallas, Mate, the dealership is trying to dodge the warranty by putting the blame back on you with a made up story. They may as well have told you the smoke was caused by water dripping onto the left tailgate hinge...

Go back and demand they take you seriously and investigate the problem. If they don't seem interested in helping you, I'm sure the Office of Fair Trading will be keen to know (and mention this to the dealership).

Good luck matey...