Adge,
My UK 97MY is going in for it's 30K on Thursday.

One of the few points I have ready for them is a slightly tappety/cammy sound from cold, till close to middle temperature.

Lets post the results.

cheers,
Rob.

 

I took my UK MY 98 in for its 37.5K service and complained that the engine was rattley on starting from cold. The garage(Subaru dealership) said that it was "Piston Slap" and it would have to come in to be looked at and would probably need a new No.4 piston as this was what they had found with all the others!!!! they had looked at. Any one out there had or know of this problenm with the MY98. Its a good job its a UK spec with the full warranty or my pocket could be feeling rather empty.

 

Adge

I they are going to replace one piston, get them to replace them all. Pistons can be classed as disposable items once you open up the motor.

Ben

 

Yup - my MY98 does that too.

It makes a ticking/light knocking noise until it has warmed up properly.

I thought they all did that to some extent, so I haven't worried about it until reading that your dealer was suggesting a new short engine or piston replacement - Gulp!.

Do post to let us know what happens when you get it done. Is your dealer saying that this is a known problem with MY98 engines?. I wonder if this is a problem on MY97/98 cars since they fitted 'low friction' pistons. I presume they have a shorter skirt, so too large a clearance when cold could give a piston slap type noise. Would that mean that there is really a wear issue, or is that a characteristic which doesn't necessarily indicate a problem?.

I don't think I could face another 1000 mile running in period

Cheers,

Alex

P.S. My old R5 turbo had horrible piston slap when cold - maybe cold clearances on turbo have to be greater than on an NA engine to allow for the higher piston temperatures.




[This message has been edited by AlexM (edited 07-11-1999).]

 

For race/rally engine ... the noise is common when is cold but not for road car.

Yes .. the Piston Skirt is shorter and Subaru should have spray the piston skirt with Dry Lube(Black in colour)to protect the skirt from rubbing against the cylinder wall.

Subaru did Spray the Piston skirt for the STi version 3 onwards .... but not for the WRX...*sigh*

 

I'll keep you all posted as to what happens, as far as I'm concerned they can replace all the pistons/liners?, as why should only one cause the problem. The dealership has only been selling scoobies since April 98 as I had the first one and so will only have had 98MY ones in for serviceing. The impression was that they had had several in for this problem, which would seem to indicate a reasonable percentage of cars sold, also not all will have done the mileage I have. So AlexM if yours is under warrenty take it in and see what they say. Let me know. Cheers for now Adge.

 

Only just spotted this thread..I have UK MY96

I too went through the same 'cold start tappety noise' in Feb this year. Wondered if it was hydraulic lifters expandingm, etc. My dealer took it in and had a listen, decided that yes - it was piston slap.

They took the motor out, measured things up and one of the pistons was undersized ever-so-slightly (apparently from the factory). First-off my dealer put in to IM for a new motor, but were told that only a set of pistons would be needed. Having chewed it over, IM called back and said they would be sending a new motor instead. Still in warranty at the time..*phew

So, my '96 now has a '99 short-motor and very nice / quiet it is too. Have done around 10k miles since the install and all is fine / fast

Hope you get yours sorted okay. My dealer only took around 3/4 days to rebuild the engine when the motor arrived.

Chris.

 

Rang the garage today to see how my scooby is getting on and when I might get it back. Well I should have it back middle of next week, as the new block and modified pistons arrive on monday and they have to change the lot. Sports also suffer from the same problem but they can be cured by changing 1 piston, while the Turbo has to have a new short motor fitted, so i'm told. Thank god for the warranty. It seems to be a commom problem on the MY98. I can't wait to get it back after driving around in a Legacy Auto, although I'll have to run it in again *SIGH*

 

Hmmmmm......
I've noticed a louder tappety noise when I rev my car up to about 1000 revs. Doesn't seem to go when the engine's warm.
Could this be what you guys have experienced? I too have a MY98.

Stef.

 

Hi Adge

Imports come with warranties as well.

 

Before I started Driving Development I was a researcher into Piston Slap - amongst other engine related things.
Of itself Piston Slap is simply a cause of noise - it doesn't matter as long as it's not caused by huge wear. It is actually present in most engines when they are cold and it gets quieter as the piston skirt expands with increasing temperature. It is normally only heard at tickover and should not normally be a cause for concern.
On the other hand significantly increasing noise due to piston slap is a likely precurser to piston failure.
The most effective thing anyone can do to an engine is to put good oil in it. Full Stop.

I have driven a BMW325i with 1,000,000 miles on the clock - it ran on Mobil 1 and on dismantling there was very little wear measurable on any moving parts. Needless to say I always use a fully synthetic oil in My engines.

 

Well its been in for 2 weeks now and I still haven't got it back, apparantly they have the new short motor but are waiting for new manifold studs which don't arrive until tuesday 30th so I guess wednesday at the earliest. I getting fed up with the legacy Auto courtesy car and want my scooby back. Just glad I did'nt buy an import with no warranty.

 

YIPES!!!!
Off I go then!

Stef.

 

Stephans noise sounds more serious. Typical of sticking hydraulic tappet I have to confess to being ignorant about Subaru engines tappet design. So I can't comment on specifics of his engine.
In general hydraulic tappet failure is rare and nearly always due to dirt in the oil gallery that feeds the tappet - not a good sign or high leakage from the oil chamber in the tappet itself not much better. Low oil flow at low engine speed exaserbates the problem.
A trip to the engine guru is recommended.

 

If it is the tappets....Sticky tappets can be a problem..

Chances are a good flush and new decent oil will help.... but if you have a noise you might never get rid of it... depends if it is the tappets....and how bad the noise is...

You still have warranty

J.

 

Boxer motors are normally tappy sounding
when they are cold.
When they start sounding like a VW Beetle
you know you have problems.
If they dont sound that loud don't worry especially if the sound is less when hot.

 

Well at long last its back, picked my scooby back up yesterday after 2 and 1/2 weeks in the garage and now it doesn't sound like a bag of nails when cold, only trouble is I've got to run it in again, still that will only take a couple of weeks. Mind you I could give it a thrashing as my MY00 should arrive early next year, but that wouldn't be fair on who ever buy's it, so I'll have to put up with 3000 revs for a couple of weeks.