What sort of tappets are fitted to a 94 impreza?? Are they hydraulic?? As my engine sounds to be tapping... havent had it up to operating temp yet... so couldnt tell whether it goes away when its warm..

Just wondering what sort of tappets they are to determine whether its them...

David

 

My MY94 WRX has (had) hydraulic tappets. They are about £16 each I've been told, and if you replace one, you mights as well do the lot, as you don't know which one(s) have gone, and you have to drop the engine to replace them, so £16 x 16 = 256 plus labour, ouch.

 

I am sort of hoping that just the oil has drained out of them or that this problem will go away once the car has been run for a bit...

I have now sorted wheel allignment so will ring for insurance and book mot.. and hope the problem can be sorted... will also book rolling road session to check fueling etc.. Suppose cat test will show that though?

If they do need replacing I will do them my self... would probably strip engine down... heads off... at same time just to have a look to see what condition it is in...

I'm Hoping that it will be ok though... but it is quite loud...

David

 

This is a familiar problem on high mileage legacy's. You'll find lots of articles on the net searching for 'lash adjusters'. On my 92 legacy you could quieten them down for a while by flushing the oil during a change. Several causes are mentioned in these articles, the favourites being blocked oil channels and weak oil pump (worn seals).

Try a flush for now and see what happens..

 

Your model should be hydraulic, only the 1996 and on models had solid lifters as a standard, some STI models will have solid lifters in your year.

You may even need to do a couple of flushes close together. Are you using Synthetic oils? because Subarus tappets get noisier with Synthetic oils, if they have been run on Mineral oils most of there life.

Dan

 

I have run it up to temp and the noise went... will try starting it tonight to see how it sounds... just had its 60thousand mile service by scoob garage.... so unsure what oil is in.

David

 

Started it last night.... ran fine no tapping.. well no more than I would expect from a 60,000 mile impreza... I think the oil must have just drained out of the tappets....

David