Help! Last night my un-modded, regularly serviced 02 Bugeye WRX (55k miles) started making a knocking sound. It seemed to come from the engine, and gets faster as the revs increase including in neutral and (slightly) at idle. It's off the road now, but I don't know what to do.

I've been beating myself up cos I hadn't checked the oil for a while and sure enough when I checked it was dire. Not an excuse, but worth noting that no warning lamp had come on. It took about 2.5l to fill it up and the knocking noise was still there so I limped it to a trusted garage.

The guy at the independant garage reckoned that (based on the low oil, the noise and the fact that the new oil had burnt and broken down) the bearings on the top end had been worn away.

His plan is to do an oil pressure check and probably drop the sump to look for white metal. In the meantime he's suggested that I should do some research and find out where I can get a new engine or a short engine and approx costs. Also whether my model has a nickel silver crank and therefore whether it's repairable.

Any ideas or advice? I don't know where to start. Any good recommendations? Could the problem be something else?

 

might be worth a trip to a dealer to see about a goodwill claim from subaru as 55k is pretty poor for an engine to start knocking.
had you been doing a high speed run before it went as this seems common when big end bearings go?

 

I wondered about a goodwill claim too but thought it was unlikely since it was way out of warranty. Anyone got any experience of trying this? My local dealer (Quenby's in Baldock) has never been very helpful - they always 'do the job' but getting extra help/advice/support has been painful.

Yeah, I'd blown the cobwebs out just before I first heard the noise.

 

Speak to David @ API

Very knowledgeable and ready to discuss options re: supplying engine & parts etc.

 

if you've been doing a sustained (above 120-130) for a period of time this can cause it.

Subarus dont like it

 

I didn't know that...but that was not the case.

 

Second that!

You need to be very careful what you do now. Going to a local non-scooby specialist who offers you a seemingly great quote may seem like the thing to do in order to save you hundreds of pounds! A mechanic is a mechanic you reason, right? WRONG! More often than not this ends in tears, as the mechanic makes a pretty sub-standard job of the rebuild. His quote looks less reasonable when, 1 month later, you need to take it to a specialist to get it done properly on top of what you've already paid.

When you speak to APi you're talking to people who know these cars inside out and who can give you a proper quote, no hidden extras, no BS, and a re-build that will last and is backed by a warranty.

David is also a very nice chap and will offer you no-obligation advice even if you go elsewhere for your parts/build. I'd suggest you speak to him and look over your options.

Get the job done right first time, pay once!

All the best,

Ns04

 

not if it was very low on oil . . . . . .

As others have suggested, speak with API for some sound advice and different options

 

Hi Pad,
you now how I feel about your bad luck :-(

I've found Quenby to be mixed. They seem fairly unenthusiastic about Impreza's in general- I guess it is a dealership primarily.

However they did claim for me when my Belgian import went wrong. The other side to that was they misdiagnosed a faulty cam chain tensioner, and took the engine apart then sent it to an engineering company when they couldn't find a problem.

In the end I didn't pay a penny, BUT was left without a car for 6 weeks and the car stunk of engine oil inside (which wouldn't go away.....)

I'd prefer a highly regarded specialist.

Of course if you do sound them out about a warranty claim they may not read this forum! Although they used to :-0

My god did I buy my first scoob back in '99 ......seems like another lifetime.

 

Let's be honest! If it took 2.5 ltr to reach the full mark and the fact that the sump holds 4.5ltr, you had only approx. 2ltrs of oil doing all the work! Most of that would be flying around the engine and possibly under hard braking or acceleration the oil pick up in the sump would not be submerged, thus starving the bearings. Got a nasty feeling your woes may be self inflicted It takes all of 2 minutes to check the oil level every week?
JohnD

 

Cheers mate

Thanks to the folks who suggested calling Dave @ API. I took the advice and you're right - that's the place to get this sorted, he's the man.

Incidentally, I understand from API that this is not uncommon at high road speeds and although the oil level may not have helped, it probably wasn't the reason.