Old Subaru GL Coupe AWD...

I'll go ask her tomorrow (my band plays "White Rabbit"...)

Beats me. Maybe Alice knows.

Could this be 'knocking' going on? maybe the timing is off or ???

Running lean and 'pinging' ??

Oh, no. This is deep in the bowels of the engine. A few here and at home, locally have suggested it has something to do with hydraulic lash adjusters.

I wish it were the cat. That's EASY!

Gonna start that again?

BTW, oil pressure is a little higher than it was.

No, it does that as well.

This has something to do with the valvetrain...

It is quite astounding how quickly the "HORRIBLE clacking noise" in your engine turned from a bad thing to a good thing by simply changing the brand of filter.

-jim

Find out where the noise is coming from. My guess is that it's the catalytic converter. Check for an external component that my be loose on the engine. I once had a Dodge Colt that had a disturbing rapping noise that turned out to be from the oil filler cap losing it's gasket. If you have the clacking noise without any loss in performance, my guess is that your MPG calculations are probably mistaken.

Not at all. It's a 'mechanic's stethoscope' and they actually make a piece called that...

ooops....wrong pic!

that's a little better...

The real deal isn't much more...

But, you don't need a stethoscope to hear this noise! I have a simialr problem with a Mazda 626 I have, where the hydraulic lash adjusters collapse after sitting a while and make a similar noise. I bought 4 HLA's and was not looking forward to doing this job, when I changed the oil using QS Hi-mileage oil with Slick 50...and it STOPPED.

That didn't work on the Subaru. Once it starts, the temp has to get above

35 degrees...

I was in a 'rush' to put it on the road November 31 last year (er, 2008 that is...). Everything that went wrong, could. The insurance co sent the wrong form, so naturally RMV would't accept it. A phone call to the ins co got the right form, with the wrong town. It was a PDF, and a biotch to edit. When I finally got the editing done, the printer kept jamming the paper. After about 1.5 hours editing and printing, I went back to the RMV and got the reg transferred. Something told me not to drive the car, but what the hell?!?!

I went down to pick up the parts for the day's jobs (I'm a field tech for Dell), and 2 blocks from the place the car coasts to a stop. I call the DHL office to find out...NONE of my parts came in. I sat for 45 minutes waiting in 38 degree cloudy weather for AAA to tow the thing. Luckily the next three days were above 50 degrees and sunny, so I did my first timing belt change. And marked the mileage so I know 50,000 miles later (if the car LASTS that long) to change them BEFORE getting stuck!

And I know just the niose you're talking about!

I like the car. I wish it had the 4 speed AT, because on the highway...UGH! But the tranny is the BEST thing in the car! The engine's good when it's not clacking, but the body is going pretty quickly. I'm debating whether to fix it or just let it go in the spring...when my Supra goes back on the road... :)

Done all that... :( MMO was the first thing, ATF next, and then something like Oilzum or something was the last resort. Then I flushed all that crap out and just put oil in...and the clacking went away for a while...

The only snake oil that worked on this car was the "head gasket in the bottle" stuff. One gasket was leaking, and it sealed it up! I was amazed...

DIDN'T work on my 97 2.2 Legacy, though... :(

THAT'S what I used!

This noise, is it there at idle ? If so do the old screwdriver (or piece of wood) in the ear trick to identify exactly where it is coming from.

Sounds like you already know what the problem is. My guess is that you don't want to spend the money to fix it. I wouldn't. I disliked the Subaru wagon I used to have. That engine on that one was a dog. Every time I would turn on the weak AC, the engine felt like it was losing half it's power. Come to think of it, it probably was. Fortunately the AC system went south soon after bringing an end to that little problem. My gas mileage was something like 21 MPG tops. That sucks!

It broke one of the timing belts at 61K miles which was quite a remarkable feat of engineering considering that they recommend that the belts be changed at 60K. BTW, if your engine makes a funny scrapping noise, my bet is that it's a frayed timing belt giving you some warning. The later models probably have chains. Good idea.

To those who have never heard of it and thought I was being a smartarse.

Take one large screwdriver. (preferably wooden handled) Place the handle end 'against' your ear. Place the blade end against the engine block where you 'think' the problem is. Move the blade to other places on the engine to check you've isolated the right faulty component.

Take the usual precautions...hair and fanbelts don't mix.

(works effectively in other areas. Used it to fine tune the Ajax valve on the hot water system)

Try another dose of Slick 50 it should take care of that.

Might be time to try some "snake oil" and see if it's gunk in the lifters. Marvel Mystery Oil, ATF, or maybe try Auto-RX. The guys on BITOG seem to think the latter is one of the few snake oil type products that is actually worthwhile.

nate

'89 1.8...um, EA82?