motor noise

[mr930]

There was a modification that was done by Subaru to fix this problem. I can't remember what it was but someone that has worked on these should know it. I had mine fixed by Taree Mechanical Services a few years back in a Subaru Wagon, there is new owners there now thou, he did it for the Subaru dealer as well.

[bazza]

wynns engine oil stop leak usually works well as my son put me on to it and what do you know "no more leaks"

[Agroeureka]

Hi

I have found that larger sound system will help with the motor noise 100-500 watts rms you will not hear it and yes I have been drinking

Andrew

[CyCo]

The amount of oil leak, if any, is negligible. I certainly don't see any on the floor of my garage. Other than what I spilled when I changed the oil. I've yet to try the lifter free yet, I did the oil change on saturday, and decided to leave the lifter free until this weekend. Maybe. lol

And yes, I know a loud sound system will 'fix' the noisy lifter. That's how I survived the trip home from Bathurst. lol   

[the phantom mechanic]

Hey guys,

A few thoughts b4 the kids find me. The thicker oil for older engines has a cushioning effect on valves, etc. I would also check valve clearances before replacing parts. Fun job for those who like to play and generally you shouldn't need to replace parts. Access is probably also a lot better than when in a suby.

Cyco in your second picture you show a banjo fitting which should have a copper washer on either side of banjo. Otherwise its not uncommon for suby's to be a bit wet for one reason or another but if its not dripping noticeably than it should have no effect on oil pressure. Given though that its noisy when warm I would say easy fix is the 10w40 or even 20w50. Don't forget that even in good condition these engines are still old.

Time to go...kids on loose.

[CyCo]

Ah, never noticed that! Thanks for pointing that out. I don't' know if it's been like that since I've had it, or it's one of the several mechanics that didn't fit the copper washers. I'll have to get some and rectify that. And yeah, I'm well aware that my engine is over 20 years old. I've got the 15w/40 in it now, but I probably won't get around to trying the lifter free until next weekend when I got 4 days off.

[mjm]

hi all changed the oil with the thicker stuff +Addative still makes a bit of noise but i cant drive it so it may go away with a good run had a hell of a time getting the sump bolt and filter off took me all day should have taken 20 minutes, i noticed CYCO also had dramas, i think it maybe the tappets that need ajusting the noise seems to be coming from the drivers side head, might pull the rocker covers off and a have look when i get a chance not sure if they are hydraluic or ajustable anyway oil pressure sits a lot better on the guage so maybe the pump is ok after all just need to fix the steering and the roof then it should be back on the road.

Cheers MJM

[CyCo]

Yeah, I have no idea how my sump plug got so damn tight as well, took way too long to get the damn thing off. The lifters/tappets are hydraulic on these Scoobie motors, relying on oil pressure to adjust themselves. I haven't tried the lifter free stuff yet, planning on that for next weekend.

One other suggestion I've read is to use 500ml of Automatic Transmission fluid in with the oil. The theory being that there is oily sludge in the oil galleries, and the ATF helps dilute/fluch it out. I would have thought that is kinda what the Oil Flush would do.

[the phantom mechanic]

Hi again lads, if you have hydraulic lifters than you will more than likely need to remove them, clean them and reassemble again to fix the problem. Basically over time the oil ends up gluing the lifter together. Not hard to do just takes some time. Rocker cover gasket may need to be replaced but often not necessary. I would suggest getting a manual just to familiarise yourself with the job before you start. The problem with adding any sort of additive to rectify the problem may also cause other problems. If you use something that will remove carbon (as someone suggested), then your engine will more than likely start burning oil and therefore blow smoke. Just remember the lifter sticks because the oil turns to something like a varnish. If hot oil under pressure won't clear it. Thinner oil at the same temp and pressure more than likely won't clear it also. Hydraulic tappets for subarus (and other manufacturers) have been a short lived exercise for good reason.

For mjm, if you don't have hydraulic lifters then go the adjustment, its often skipped/overlooked by mechanics if the engine runs ok to save time when doing major services. If your engine is old it probably hasn't been done in a while, if its been recently reconditioned than things may have bedded in and need nipping up. Generally now they use head bolts that don't need retensioning but sometimes they do! If you can't drive your car, running the engine for a while is still a good idea. Stick it in the back yard and run it a bit above idle just to get it warm, get the thermostat open, etc. You could always block up the back end as well just to turn the trans and diff too if its going to be a while between drives.

Keep us posted about how it goes.

[the phantom mechanic]

Any progress on this lads?

Cheers

[CyCo]

Not yet. I haven't touched the car since the last post. I'm planning on hitting the car with the lifter free stuff this weekend, then hopefully taking it for a series of road trips to see what happens.

The ea82 series of Scooby motors has hydraulic lifters, and are not manually adjustable. The engines on either side of it (the ea81 and the entire EJ line) didn't have the hydraulic lifters as I understand it. Almost seems like the ea82 was kind of experiment, and as they didn't pan out as promised, dropped the idea.

I'm really hoping that the lifter free works, as I can't really afford to get the lifters done. I'm going to go with a lifter additive and not the ATF, the ATF is meant to do the same thing the proper lifter additive does, but at a probable expense of thinning the oil and maybe starving the bearings and cylinder walls. Not something I'd really want to do.

[CyCo]

Been looking for this topic, somehow I couldn't find it for ages. And now I look at the last post, and it was december last year! lol

Well, I've barely done the 500klm... I haven't driven it much this year at all. My bad. I took it to a local mechanic I've been told is good with Scoobys, and he's had it for a couple of weeks. The reason I took it to the mechanic, was because on the last couple of runs in the car, I had a engine problem. A loss of power. Engine still running, just no go. So with that coupled with the sticky lifter, I figured someone should sort it out, so I can then do my usual, and try and get everything done at the last minute (gearbox/fuel tank/exhaust). lol

And then found out, it's not a sticky lifter. You stick your head in the engine bay when the engine is running and tapping away, and you can pick the lifter making the noise. One of my work mates who's handy with cars also came to the same conclusion, he's a panel beater by trade, and rallied for a few years and modified his own cars.

It's a dodgy fuel pump. But for some reason, I have two fuel pumps in series. So it's taken some time for the mechanic to test the fuel pressure. In the end he asked me to take it for a run with a fuel pressure gauge  running into the car so I could keep an eye on it. Went for a 2 hours drive friday, and it performed normally (if not 'tappy'), and then had a loss of fuel pressure less than a k from the mechanics workshop. Not a full loss of power, but it dropped from around 220kp (that the right abbreviation?) to about 150kp. And was a tad jerky.

In short, we think it's just the dodgy fuel pump and replace it. Hopefully that's the cause of both my 'noisy lifter' and the loss of power.

Hopefully I can pick the car up next week. But I think I'm really pushing it to get the car done by the meet (and rego!).

[barsted]

Pick the car up next week?  You bin workn out or sumting?

[CyCo]

lol Yeah, I'm well huge.