is piston slap a wear and tear thing or is it due to mistreating the engine, also is what year of engine was in on

 

Related to poor quality materials and common in 97\98 most people who have seem to have it get no probs

 

what is it ?does it mean u need to get a new piston?

 

it means if a piston is notty, the engine slaps it about lol!!!

Eventually, i'm sure pistonslap will lead to engine failure, you will most likely hear this on start up...

 

is it a knock or a tick noise

 

more of a knocking noise.... if it's not that serious it will calm down, on warm up...

 

Phew! Mine seems to knock for the first minute or so, then the noise dissappears.
MY99 UK Turbo. 277bhp, running castrol rs 10w60. (will be swaping back to mobil 1 15w50 on next service)

 

Mine (97) has been slapping away for 40,000 miles and I give it death every day. Just make sure you drive carefully with no boost until warm else it may damage the bore and will definately make the slapping worse. I found the best oil with regards to keeping the slapping quiet is the Silkolene.

Luke

 

Piston slap is a result of wide bore clearance which can occur, over time with wear. Some new engines are slappy from the start if they have forged pistons and a deliberate large bore clearance.
O/E subaru that were particularly affected were M/Y 97+98.
It seems to be more an annoyance than a problem.
Drive the car gently until fully warmed up.

 

Always do! As said, mine goes within 2 minutes of start up.