"subaru knock" 97 Outback

If a mechanic familiar with Subarus said it was 'classic' piston slap noise - then I might consider it. If you do have a mechanic examine the car - have him also check for exhaust gasses in the radiator and check for 'torque bind' in the transmission.

good luck

Carl

If the timing belt was flopping around because that hydraulic tensioner was failing, I wonder what it would sound like? As for buying this car, can't recommend it. Paying someone to work on a car can get very expensive.

Unless it's real cheap like $200 and the OP can get 12,000 miles out of it.

A car like that I'd run till it blows. Sometimes I have run $200 for

40-50,000 miles...

Subaru piston slap (knock) will diminish as the car warms up, so if the noise is constant I would be very leery of this car. Could be something in the timing belt area- have this car inspected by a good subaru shop.

As someone else mentioned, unless the car is real inexpensive, and/or you are capable of performing engine work yourself, I'd pass on it; there are plenty of good ones out there. A slight tic-tic-tic from a cold engine is fairly typical, and this should go away as the engine warms to operating temperature. A knocking sound is nearly always a bad sign.

I'll give you a real world example: I have a '99 Forry that I purchased last year for the princely sum of $2500. It had an issue similar to what you are describing, a pronounced knock in the engine block. The previous owners' mechanic had diagnosed a failing rod bearing (basically the engine is history at this point), and after a careful listen with a stethoscope, I had to agree. The car was in great condition otherwise, with only 107K miles.

Since I _had_ a perfectly good EJ22 Legacy motor sitting in the garage, I figured to graft this engine into the Forry, and went ahead with the deal.

As it turned out, the knocking noise was coming from one of the timing belt pulleys (the cogged one FWIW), the bearing had disintegrated, and the bearing shell was hammering against the inner race as the timing belt turned. Simply amazing that it didn't toss the belt, but there you have it; a perfectly good Forester for $2500, plus about $300 for timing belt parts, fresh waterpump, new hoses and such, and a weekend to install everything.

If the same job had gone to a shop, the cost would probably have been a grand or more; still a pretty good deal for the car, but you get the picture.

I will add a comment for those of you who might be interested: When I serviced the timing belt on my wifes' '02 Forester at about

120K (yea, yea, I know; the book sez 105K. sue me ;-), that same cogged pulley was failing, and the rest of them were marginal at best. Do keep an eye on those idlers, folks; they work hard for their money and are easily overlooked during a timing belt job. Unless they are absolutely perfect, I'd highly advise installing new ones along with the timing belt; cheap insurance in my book.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

I have a '97 Outback and it does not make this noise, so it's definitely not normal. However, as others have said, if the car is cheap enough, and the body is sound, it might be worth it. Personally, if this is meant to be sound transportation, or is your only car, I'd pass on it. Outbacks in those years are not expensive, still look good and you can probably find one in better shape for under $5000 -- a hell of a bargain when compared to new car payments.

Good luck.