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I have a 2002 Forester. This morning, I accelerated strongly from a stand-still, and heard a knocking noise coming from the engine. It only lasted for a second but knocked several times. There are no engine lights on and the temperature is fine. The car is not leaking any fluids onto the ground. Our oil was changed about 2,000 miles ago. We had it at a shop last month for a CV boot issue, and the dude there told us our head gaskets were leaking. I spoke with another shop, and they said we would definitely see oil leaking and high engine temperatures if this was the case. The first shop also quoted us $3000 for this work, which we simply could not do. Now that I hear this knocking I'm starting to get really worried. Can someone please tell me what range of problems I could be looking at? I plan on taking it to a third shop this weekend, but I don't plan on telling this shop what the other mechanic told me, in case that influences his evaluation.
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Apr 21, 2011 14:36
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| # ? May 14, 2024 02:37 |
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Hopefully it's not the rod bearings - that's quite the expensive overhaul.
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Apr 21, 2011 15:46
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Around what RPM did you hear the noise and was it lock step with the engine? Edit: Doesn't leaky head gasket = oil contamination = poor oil performance = starvation = bye bye rods 
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Apr 21, 2011 16:25
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Thanks for the guidance - it's really appreciated. This is making me queasy thinking about the money involved. If it's over $2000 we will likely consider trading it in for a new used car. The Forester has about 99k miles on it and we put about 30k of those miles on it. JayKay posted:Around what RPM did you hear the noise and was it lock step with the engine? I wasn't paying attention to the RPM. I wouldn't even want to guess, as I could be way off. I had the pedal pushed down about two-thirds of the way and the noise occurred after I traveled about a car length. It stopped as soon as I let off the gas and didn't happen again. Of course, after the first time I was very aware of how strongly I accelerated. I'm not sure what you mean by "lock step with the engine".
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Apr 21, 2011 17:30
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How warm was the engine? There's a known issue with the timing belt tensioner knocking after cold startups when it's starting to go bad. At 99k miles, you are only 5k away from the change. I believe that year only suffered from external head gasket leaks, not internal like the earlier models. So, it's annoying, but less catastrophic. It's easy to tell if your oil is contaminated by coolant as it will have a milkshake color and consistency.
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Apr 21, 2011 17:51
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We're also having locally what appears to be a chronic string of failures of the A/C pulley and belts now that the spring is returning. Do you have the air conditioner on when the problem is exposed? If you do a used oil analysis after your oil change (sending your old oil away to a place like Blackstone Labs) you might be able to determine if your head gasket has indeed failed and your engine's bottom end is at risk.
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Apr 21, 2011 17:53
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jamal posted:nm's wagon showed up today so I'll have some pictures for the horrible mechanical failures thread soon. clearly I need to learn how to drive (serious)
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Apr 21, 2011 18:26
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bull3964 posted:I believe that year only suffered from external head gasket leaks, not internal like the earlier models. So, it's annoying, but less catastrophic. Mine was an "external leak" only year too.   You can see the reflection of my rod bearing bits
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Apr 21, 2011 19:10
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Perhaps it would be better to say, in general?
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Apr 21, 2011 19:31
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bull3964 posted:How warm was the engine? I had been driving for about 15 minutes when it occurred so the engine was warmed up. I checked the oil but it looked fine - not noticeably light colored or thick. Seat Safety Switch posted:Do you have the air conditioner on when the problem is exposed? No - the AC wasn't on when the noise occurred. I'm afraid the timing won't work out for the oil inspection. I'll be dropping it off Saturday for another mechanic's opinion. I'll try to remember to update here once I hear back from him.
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Apr 21, 2011 20:40
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Can I join the family?  Just order accepted from the factory the last of the 2011 Legacys. No vin yet, but Azurite blue pearl. Production in the next week or so. Delivery probably early June. Seems that the Japan parts shortage is reeking havoc with the Indiana Legacy/Outback factory. Production is down with 2012s likely not shipping until the Fall.
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Apr 22, 2011 17:02
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slidebite posted:Can I join the family? Only if that Legacy is a GT 
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Apr 22, 2011 20:27
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Yeah. All the Japanese are having a hard time, and even Ford and GM source Japanese parts. Congratulations though 
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Apr 22, 2011 21:13
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2 part question I shouldn't have any fitment issues with putting stock WRX 17x7.5 Subaru wheels on my 9-2x, right? Also, will I be able to reuse my stock centercaps from my 17x7 9-2x's wheels on the stock Subarus?
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Apr 23, 2011 13:25
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To the first, no, they should fit. Note that subaru wagons have notoriously narrow rear wheel wells, don't expect to fit more than a 225 tire. I don't know about the second.
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Apr 24, 2011 00:05
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Which WRX are you taking the wheels off of? I'm pretty sure mine are only 7" wide. As previously stated you'll probably need to roll the fenders for 235+. I'm hoping I can get away with moving up to a 225 with my Konis.
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Apr 24, 2011 01:14
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Bah I might just go ahead and order the same model replacements for my current bent and curbed 9-2x wheels. They're only about $75 more Expected life for wheel bearings and struts are 100k and 75k respectively, right? Any idea on how much replacement for both might run me? Would probably be getting GR-2's which are Edit: it looks like new struts and all 4 bearings will be $800 in parts. Guessing labor might be around $500? JayKay fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Apr 24, 2011 |
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Apr 24, 2011 05:34
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nm posted:Woo, broken gears and motor pics That would be bad enough, but I looked at the tires -- RE92s. My two thoughts: 1. They still make those? 2. Toyota's cheapest car and Subaru's turbo cars (excepting STIs), came with the same tires (I think Subaru no longer uses them on WRXs and LGTs) (Fix my car quickly, the yaris sucks.)
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Apr 24, 2011 21:48
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gently caress spending time with crazy family on Easter, I escaped to the garage and finished my light upgrade. 1:2 - And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  1:3 - And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  1:4 - And God saw the light, and it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. These things are going to be a PITA to aim due to how I set the bar up. might use a grinder to notch the bar for easier light adjustment. I had two brackets for two lights, with the plans to throw down a crossbar to add more lights. I was going to wait and get some good pencil beams, but a buddy was selling a second set of 500's for el cheap, so I said why not. When I do get pencil beams, I plan to make a better crossbar and reinforce the main brackets. The sweet thing about this bar setup, two nut/bolts to pull the bar off the brackets and the wiring is connected using a trailer wiring connector, so the bar comes off super easy.
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Apr 24, 2011 22:11
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God knows I have no need for rally lights. But poo poo I want some.
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Apr 24, 2011 22:13
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nm posted:God knows I have no need for rally lights. I live literally out in bumble gently caress, have poor vision at night, and often times am coming/going from civilization at odd hours. Last fall a deer creamed my dad's mustang:  Lights are cheap insurance out here. My first set of 500's have already paid for themselves lighting up deer eyes a few times down the road at night. That and my stock lights suck, are hazed over, and even when polished are lovely.
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Apr 24, 2011 22:17
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My lights suck -- has subaru ever made good halogens? I drive rural roads a lot (CA-1), but almost never at night. I still want some.
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Apr 24, 2011 22:24
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nm posted:My lights suck -- has subaru ever made good halogens? What year car? If its a bugeye, 15 dollars in flat stock steel + 65 dollar hella 500's = good enough for most. Other front end styles are possible to fab brackets for, but not as stupid easy as bugeyes are. That's what I started out with, but the thirst for more lighting never ends.
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Apr 24, 2011 22:31
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Slow is Fast posted:What year car? If its a bugeye, 15 dollars in flat stock steel + 65 dollar hella 500's = good enough for most. Other front end styles are possible to fab brackets for, but not as stupid easy as bugeyes are. That's what I started out with, but the thirst for more lighting never ends. I also think it would look less awesome than on an impreza
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Apr 25, 2011 00:02
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nm posted:Its a 2005 legacy GT, I suspect that is a touch less easy. Oh, that's why it's in the shop. (I blew the motor in a shortly owned 05 wagon). You know you want to: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/auxiliary-lighting-setups-150451.html http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/pics-diyand-painted-grills-86186p7.html?highlight=DIY+grills https://picasaweb.google.com/outahere2/Grille1#5152261225877345314 I was going to do the FF50's like the last link on my GT wagon, but instead of deleting the winglets, I was just going to clearance them for the lights. I ended up blowing the motor and returning the car to the dealer on a trailer in under 30 days though. So I didn't really into modding a GT
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Apr 25, 2011 00:46
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So I tried removing the control arm bushings from my GC STI control arms so that I could pop in some GD Whiteline bushings and have them fit up (apparently, the GC STI bushings are ~5mm shorter than the GD ones). I was afraid to push the hydraulic press too much out of fear of bending the arms, so gave up at ~5 tons of force and decided to burn out the bushings with a propane torch. This probably took five years off my life but was loving cool as hell. I forced the first concentric split-ring out because it was split on both sides and just needed a flathead screwdriver and mallet to get it out. The only problem now is that the steel bushing ring is still inside the control arms. I started to hacksaw into it in hope that I could just collapse it, but I got pretty far through it without any measurable effect, and I'm not sure that I'm not hitting the inside of the control arm now. I really don't want to damage these things. Any tips for how to get the ring out? I might just drop it off at a machine shop and tell them to do whatever as long as they do it away from me being able to see it. edit: Pictures    I was told (after asking everyone I know personally) that there is some kind of galvanic interaction between aluminum and steel which causes aluminum to be weakened after being together for a long time; apparently it happened in porsche 944 heads where the steel head bolts would strip out their aluminum threads super easily. Did I just gently caress up some pricey control arms? Diagram: 
Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Apr 25, 2011 |
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Apr 25, 2011 04:53
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fear of bending the arms? how do you have it on the press? with the right press tools you can put a lot of force into that and not worry about it. I have one that is perfect for that bushing, even on the steel arms that also works great for the rear lateral link bushings. Also nm's teardown starts today:
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Apr 25, 2011 23:51
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jamal posted:fear of bending the arms? how do you have it on the press? with the right press tools you can put a lot of force into that and not worry about it. I have one that is perfect for that bushing, even on the steel arms that also works great for the rear lateral link bushings. I was just leaning it up against the brace of the press by the arm that contains that cylinder, like this:  It's the smallest part of the control arm so I didn't want to snap or bend it. I'm not averse to "just going for it" but the rubbing against the brace was starting to brighten the metal (probably just polishing off the old dirt) so I was afraid I was about to cause damage. I'll probably just head to a shop and get them to do it right. I didn't expect it to take so much force to dislodge the bushing/race in the first place. In retrospect pretty much everything I did was incredibly dumb. edit: After looking at pictures of actual presses, I have determined that this crappy second hand press was actually missing pressing blocks that it was supposed to come with. That's probably why this didn't go so well despite having "a press." Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Apr 26, 2011 |
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Apr 25, 2011 23:59
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yeah, definitely don't do that. a big vice and two sockets/sections of pipe might be a better option if your press isn't big enough or well equipped. I have to use a bunch of stuff to raise the arm and then the arm sticks through the two rails.
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Apr 26, 2011 00:22
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also, progress:
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Apr 26, 2011 01:08
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That engine bay is loving filthy. What kind of animal keeps their car like that?
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Apr 26, 2011 05:04
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As an update to my Forester knocking noise - dude at the shop I took it to thinks it's a bad front-left axle. I just had that axle replaced in March so it's still warrantied. I'm taking it back to the shop which did the work, in hopes that they agree with the other shop.
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Apr 26, 2011 11:49
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nm posted:That engine bay is loving filthy. What kind of animal keeps their car like that? so here's your problem:  make that two:  Here's everything apart:  bearings were in good shape, pistons have some nasty deposits on them likely from all the oil being consumed. transmission is next. jamal fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Apr 26, 2011 |
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Apr 26, 2011 19:31
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Piston ring land go boom. (Get a compression test when you buy your cars) nm fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Apr 26, 2011 |
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Apr 26, 2011 19:50
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on one hand it pisses me off that subaru continues to put garbage pistons in the cars, on the other it gives us something to do. But now pretty much everything else on the motor will break before these things:  
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Apr 26, 2011 19:58
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Slow is Fast posted:What year car? If its a bugeye, 15 dollars in flat stock steel + 65 dollar hella 500's = good enough for most. Other front end styles are possible to fab brackets for, but not as stupid easy as bugeyes are. That's what I started out with, but the thirst for more lighting never ends. Won't FF1000s and others also fit in the fogeye locations? I'm not big on putting driving lamps that low though. I'm hoping to do 100W fogs in the stock locations and do a bixenon retrofit in the stock bugeyes... 
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Apr 26, 2011 21:13
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Are the rear lateral links the same on Legacies and Imprezas? I just saw that my drivers side is bent and there aren't any imprezas in the junkyards right now.
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Apr 27, 2011 03:21
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NinjaTech posted:Are the rear lateral links the same on Legacies and Imprezas? I just saw that my drivers side is bent and there aren't any imprezas in the junkyards right now. The rear on -2007 Imprezas are strut and 2008+ is multilink, but I don't know if they share parts
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Apr 27, 2011 03:28
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nm posted:The rear suspension on the 2005-2009 Legacy is multi-link I guess I should have said older legacies. like early 90's. my impreza is a 98 L wagon.
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Apr 27, 2011 03:58
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| # ? May 14, 2024 02:37 |
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90-99 legacy, 93-01 impreza, and some 02-07 imprezas (wagons, and non-turbo) all have the same lateral links and trailing arms. well, some of the cars don't have a rear swaybar, and some have "taco" front links instead of the tubular ones. The wrx sedan, 04 sti, and 05-07 sti all have slightly different links (05+ is aluminum), which are longer than the older links.
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Apr 27, 2011 04:38
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