I have a 2004 Forester 2.5X, auto tranny, ~14,000 miles; I've had it for about 14 months since it was new, and I do not drive it hard.
It has a troubling noise: I can hear valve chatter, or tappet noise, or pinging, under moderate acceleration. At least, that's what I think it is. I can hear it more easily with the windows open. It's not terribly loud; in fact it's almost masked by the overall noise of the vehicle.
Do other people experience this?
Subaru switched to solid lifters in their latest engines, so valve adjustment is necessary periodically. The procedure is covered in the service manual. On my '02 Legacy there is barely enough clearance between the heads and the inner fender to pull the cam covers and make the adjustment. I did mine after ~3,000 miles and they're still good at ~33,000. The clearance wasn't outside the service spec, but setting them properly eliminated the noise.
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