Hello everyone - I've got a MY99 Impreza with 65k on the clock.

When it's cold there is a little rattle which occurs around about 1200rpm which goes away when its warm. It doesn't sound tinny..it sounds like a lollipop stick in the spokes of a bike wheel. It only occurs for a minute or two and then goes away again.

Secondly, this morning on start up, there was a cloud of white smoke which hasn't happened before.

Then it missed a few times when it was warm around the ton mark.

Basically - is the Turbo knackered? Or is it the Headgasket or what?

Its about to blow up innit? Go on - you can tell me............

I filled up yesterday with Esso Super Unleaded, though I normally use Optimax.

Any thoughts chaps?

Cheers,
S.

 

It's hard to say mate, white smoke can indicate head gasket problems,
How much smoke was there, did it go away?
If it was only a small ammount of smoke and went away fairly quickly it could be down to condensation in the exhaust.
can't help with the noises though

 

Yes the smoke did go away once warm, but it was just the huge cloud of smoke first thing this morning that concerned me, as its never done it before even when the weather is damp!

I note that it may be a little full of oil as well..........?

 

Was going to ask if you'd just topped up the oil. If you over-fill you will get a cloud of thick white smoke at startup that goes away after a few seconds. Doesn't reappear until you start from cold again.

If you change the oil (or just drain off a few hundred mills if you've just replaced it, it should stop, otherwise you may have a dodgy gasket.

 

Hi rochey,

My, MY96 started like that, it ended up with a melted piston. The startup noise could be piston slap?

If i were you i would get a compression test done.

Cheers red.

 

Overfilling with oil can be really bad for your engine, could cause damage to the crank shaft. You would be wise to drain some oil out.

Les