My MY98 turbo has piston slap. I took my motor in for it's 90,000 mile service(Ouch!,mucho beer tokens!!!) with a subaru dealer and asked them to check it out. Everything was confirmed. i have piston slap on No.4 but still had a bit when No. 4 was dissconnected. So they advised of a probable Short block change. Ok fair enough.
Took my car away then booked it in with the dealer again for the Warranty people to have a gander. The dealer told me to send my Service history which i did. Then the next day he phones and says the warranty people have said that they can't do it cause i have had 3 services done by a third party servicer: Is this right??

AND does piston slap harm my engine in the long run or is it just a noise that i will have to live with when i start from cold

Jon

 

Piston slap shouldn't do any damage other than make the noise and make the car more difficult to sell on.

I think unfortunatly they can refuse due to the 3 services, although you might be able to argue/prove they used genuine parts..

JGM

 

Piston slap here too mate. MY 97 with 90,000 on clock. As long as you Start the car up, and drive it sensibly untill its properly hot. ie not temperature gauge , but say when its done about 5 to 6 miles it will be ok. Only problem u have is when you sell it on. Had a quote to do it by Subaru and the Bill was going to be about £1400 and that was for no4 piston only. If it worries you that much, either try scoobyclinic or David at API engines.. Mines uses no Oil and goes quite after its got hot.

1, You can put up with it, and drive accordingly untill temp is up to optimum. And then keep oil changes frequent etc

2, You can get just no4 piston replaced. But may Come back ?
3, You can go for another bottom end (Nnew or second hand)

4, Go for bottom end rebuild. ie rebore on all 4 , new pistons etc. Which is the option i will take later on in year courtesy of David at API engines.

Choice is your my friend

 

Yep got it on my MY99 too , lots of it about eh ?

 

Why a short block change... ? We only normally replace piston No 4 as long as there is no sign of Cylinder scoring.. Job done the Problem goes away...

Yes there is a lot of it about..

Dealer Scooby Tech

 

The dealer said i had it on No.4 and when he dissconnected it there was still some noise in the engine so a short block was probably best!?!

I'll just have to suffer the bag of spanners sound when i start from cold

 

It would be best to get the engine out and get them to check the condition of No 4 Bore first before slamming you with a bill for a new short block..

As the heads have got to come off anyway there shouldn't be any real extra labour involved to dio a few checks..

That means any sign of scoring etc and the bore diameter/shape... Note that scoring is noticable.. If you can still see the Honing marks all round then the cylinder then the block should be reusable..
If it is OK, then the piston change only takes 30 mins or So

Dealer Scooby Tech