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Knock in 92 Loyale engine

My daughter's 1992 Loyale with about 70,000 miles has always had an occasional engine knock. It sounds like lifters knocking and is not consistent. It is more prone to do it when cold but can do it when hot as well. I have had my mechanic check it (works on Subarus mostly) and he cleaned several oil lube ports feeding the lifters and changed one lifter. He says it is fairly common in this engine (2.2L I believe) and don't worry about it. It is really annoying. I try to get the engine oil changed routinely and the car is well maintained. Can anyone give me some insight on this problem?

TJG

Reply to
ishmail
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Some soobs experience piston slap. Different (often higher viscosity) oil can help. Subaru has always mainataned it is a non-issue. Sometimes a bad timing belt tensioner can make a sound. Your mechanic should confirm it is 'only' piston slap.

Carl

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Thanks Carl, I'll have him check it out again.

Reply to
Charles Augustus Milverton

It is more likely the EA82 engine in that vehicle and those engine can rattle when the oil seal on the front of the oil pump fails and allows airation of the oil supply supplying the hydraulic lifters. Cheers Kim W

Reply to
Grumby

Kim, That is probably the likely cause. I thought the mechanic had checked that out but not sure. It is almost always a knock that appears at low engine RPM and NOT at high RPM (road speeds above 35MPH). TJG

Reply to
ishmail

There is a lil forgotten o-ring on this engine, that no one seems to mention, but replacing it solved the noisy lifter problem for me.

In the engine, the oil pump pick up (strainer) is attached to the engine block using 2 screws on a flange. Right there, there is a lil red o-ring, that was completely flat. When looking at the pick up flange surface with a square, it was not flat either.

Replacing the seal was a b*%#$ having to remove the oil pan. Replacing this o-ring and doing nothing else to the engine, made that baby quiet as when it was new.

Good luck!

ishmail wrote:

Reply to
AS

My subaru mechanic mentioned something about this and in the same breath said it was an expensive labor intensive job. I'm sure it was something about this O ring he was talking about. Thanks to all for the ideas. TJG

Reply to
Charles Augustus Milverton

I had one about that vintage. Knocked under load, and the solution was to use mid grade fuel instead of regular -- especially when the weather was hot. Of course, I may be talking about a different knock then you have.

Reply to
Sheldon

Hi,

Some thoughts in addition to what's already been suggested:

EA-82 engines were prone to lifter noise. Especially when cold. My owners' manual even said something about "If the noise doesn't go away after about five minutes, get it checked." (Or wording to that effect.) Not sure about the 2.2s, though.

A very simple fix often involved nothing more exotic than use of a Subaru OEM oil filter. Don't ask me why: I've never seen another engine that was as picky about filters as my Subie!

I've also had good luck running a can of Rislone every 10k miles or so--it gets rid of varnish and such in a relatively mild fashion as you drive. I think these engines suffer from pretty minimal oil passages in some areas to start with, so it doesn't take much flow restriction to start causing some grief (and consequent noise.) Add that boxer engines can be pretty tough on hydraulic lifters cuz of the design's flow patterns anyway. I've even heard a couple of the boys w/ the 'spensive Porsches mention complaints since hydraulics were introduced.

Good luck!

Rick

Reply to
Rick Courtright

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