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I've only owned the car for about 100 miles (since Monday). It's got 149K miles and the transmission was just replaced with a 89K one, AT. Anyways today I get home around 5. As I leave for CarToys (wiring harness...again), about an hour later. I notice a new clicking sound coming from the engine, that I've never heard before. As I rev the engine it gets faster. Anyways the entire ~15 mile trip, it's clicking away. 3 blocks away from my house, as randomly as it came, it went away. I did check the oil last night and it was above full.

I realize this is a really vague question with no technical information, but what could that be? Last thing I need before leaving for school is to have my new car dying...

When was the oil last changed? My motor likes to tick when my oil filter goes into bypass. It takes a while for it to go away. Its gone when I chane the filter and give it fresh oil.

not a bad idea anyway to change it before you head
back to oregon.

It could be you lifters, they are filled with oil.
Sometimes they will not fill right away on start up and make a ticking noise. especially if the car has been sitting a while.

Just my 2 cents.

But would've I heard this sound before in the past week if the lifters was a problem? The car was still fairly warm when I took off for CarToys, so not like it was a cold start issue.

I'll try changing the oil tonight/tomorrow before I leave. 10W-30 dino oil is the recommended stuff right? I'll be Klamath Falls, OR which is at an elevation ~4300ft. The Winter months hovers around freezing too.

5w 30 is the recommended oil if i am not mistaken.

No, the manual clearly states that 5W-30 is not recommended.

I changed the oil and the sound is still there. Here is a crappy sound recording of it. Thoughts? http://bsod2600.home.comcast.net/subaru ... _noise.zip

It's almost certainly the lifters. Mine would click if I was late on changing the oil occasionally. Even after being warmed up. I use 10W-30. After changing the oil, it takes a while for them to quiet down.

I listened to your clip. It could very well be the flexplate. When they replaced the transmission recently (how rececent) they could have cracked the flexplate if they didnt do it right. Who replaced the transmission: subaru shop or someone not familiar with subarus?)

When my flexplate was cracked, it made a very similar noise like yours, until the day near when it completely broke. It got a lot louder, more clanging, and then no more movement of car when in gear when it finally broke. When it broke, it also melted the pilot shaft of the Torque Converter to the rear of my crankshaft. Ruined the torque converter, had to drill out the hole where the pilot shaft welded, so i could get in the different TC. definitely you could have a flexplate on the way out, especially since they swapped transmissions recently. If they didn't unbolt the old torque converter from the flexplate before they removed the tranny, then that is how it would have gotten cracked. not good.

I actually bought the car from Keith of Frantic Four Motors, who apparently bought it from a friend who had it sitting around. The transmission was swapped last weekend (by another shop Keith knows) because it had a "bad reverse gear".

i listened again to the sound clip. it was the exact sound of when my flexplate was bad. kind of a whirring sound that was dependant on engine speed. sometimes it was more noisy on a cold start, and kind of quieted. The sound was not always there. I drove it for a month or two. Then, clang clang clang a few days. it would go away.
Then, BANG BANG BANG, and the flexplate broke.

Lovely. I've got a 500 mile drive ahead of me Saturday to college. Last thing I need is the damn thing breaking on the way there...

well, i got a couple months out of mine or more.

oh, and sorry about the problem.

This morning it was still making the clicking noise. I took a long screwdriver and placed it on each cylinder. The sound was obviously coming from the back right one (is that the #2?). On my way to work, I stopped by two Subaru mechanic shops. The first one was Smart Service (http://www.smart-service.com). A mechanic listened to the noise and told me it was most likely the lifter. Said it might be stuck / not fully opening. Said I could try running some engine cleaner stuff in the oil to see if that fixes it, if not then he would have to take it apart and clean them. The other mechanic place I took it to was Suburb Service. Once again, the mechanic said it was lifter noise. She also said that it could be the oil pump that could be going out (and putting air in the oil?) or the rubber ring around some hold was sucking itself in. Both said that it wouldn’t be bad to drive the 500 miles to school – I’d notice the sound getting louder, worse gas mileage and a rougher idle.

Since I drove to work around 8am, no auto store was open. During lunch, I plan to run out and get some Seafoam to put in the oil. *Hopefully* that’ll fix the problem. If not, then I plan on driving to school and taking it to a mechanic the first week. Anyone know a reputable mechanic in Klamath Falls, OR?

BSOD2600 wrote:This morning it was still making the clicking noise. I took a long screwdriver and placed it on each cylinder. The sound was obviously coming from the back right one (is that the #2?). On my way to work, I stopped by two Subaru mechanic shops. The first one was Smart Service (http://www.smart-service.com). A mechanic listened to the noise and told me it was most likely the lifter. Said it might be stuck / not fully opening. Said I could try running some engine cleaner stuff in the oil to see if that fixes it, if not then he would have to take it apart and clean them. The other mechanic place I took it to was Suburb Service. Once again, the mechanic said it was lifter noise. She also said that it could be the oil pump that could be going out (and putting air in the oil?) or the rubber ring around some hold was sucking itself in. Both said that it wouldn’t be bad to drive the 500 miles to school – I’d notice the sound getting louder, worse gas mileage and a rougher idle.

Since I drove to work around 8am, no auto store was open. During lunch, I plan to run out and get some Seafoam to put in the oil. *Hopefully* that’ll fix the problem. If not, then I plan on driving to school and taking it to a mechanic the first week. Anyone know a reputable mechanic in Klamath Falls, OR?

The procedure for seafoam is change the oil
put in necessary ammount of seafoam
drive NO MORE THAN 100 miles
change oil

For my lunch break today, I drove ~2 mi to Schucks to pick up some SeaFoam and more oil. The entire way it was clicking. Dumped in half the can of seafoam into the oil and then drove ~1 mi to Kid Valley for lunch (mmmmm!). Returning to work, I didn’t hear the clicking anymore! I won’t called it fixed just yet, but it’s sounding good. Got to do some errands tonight and then I’ll change the oil again. My 94 turbo legacy came with a 93 manual which states it takes 4.2 Qts / 4L of oil – it still should be the same for my 94, right?

I changed the oil tonight -- WOW, talk about being dirty for only being in there for 24 hours. The clicking still hasn't returned so I'm calling SeaFoam the cure. Guess that SeaFoam cleaned some crap up.





While I was under there last night and tonight, I noticed I've got an oil leak from somewhere. Sprayed some cleaner on the whole area, let it soak and then hosed it off. Here is what it looks like before (no after pics because it's too dark now):

looks like the oil seperator cover is leaking. Subaru just uses gasket maker on it, and is prone to leak. It is located right behind the flex plate on the block. Get the cover new and a new rear main seal while your back there. I had to take a weekend and pull my engine to fix it. Also did the timing belt, and pullies while it was out.

It was easy to do, thanks to this forum. But that is a bummer indeed, mine was in the same shape as yours when I first got it. Lots of little stuff to be done to it. But now it is great!

Looks like you'll be able to check out that flex plate now. Can't believe that shop that changed the tranny didn't spot that.

That is some DIRTY oil. I think I should do that to mine too if it cleaned that much crap out.

sea foam is good stuff. i use it in all my vehicles through the intake usually. it looks like it pulled a lot of crap out of your engine.

also when i said 5w30 might have been what was rcommended, i was wrong, it is 10w30 for the subarus. i have 5 vehicles and indeed the 95 sable does recommend the 5w30 as the best. my mind just shorted out, sorry.

hope it is only a lifter.

Glad you found an easy fix, if it is indeed fixed. I would suspect it is. How long was it before you last changed your oil?

dzx wrote:Glad you found an easy fix, if it is indeed fixed. I would suspect it is. How long was it before you last changed your oil?

he picked up the car a few days before and changed the oil promptly. and then again after the seafoam..

Well I drove 500 miles to college and the car seemed to work fine with no knocking. yay.

Possibly a new problem this morning though. Started to car up and there is a buzzing/humming sound, that changes with engine speed. Think of the sound a bee makes and then very that with speed of the engine. I'm guessing it has something to do when the turbo kicks on? Anyways, everything seems to work fine, just a new sound. Ideas?

BSOD2600 wrote:Well I drove 500 miles to college and the car seemed to work fine with no knocking. yay.

Possibly a new problem this morning though. Started to car up and there is a buzzing/humming sound, that changes with engine speed. Think of the sound a bee makes and then very that with speed of the engine. I'm guessing it has something to do when the turbo kicks on? Anyways, everything seems to work fine, just a new sound. Ideas?

Keep an ear on it, you may just be hearing the turbocharger (though AFAIK you shouldn't hear it in a stock car)

then again, you may not have heard it before because you were hearing the clicking noise, but if it's loud like, you could hear it 50 foot away with the hood up, it's worth another look.


I'm willing to bet the clicking was clogged lifters.

No, I'm not hearing the turbo. I heard the turbo the day I bought the car and I've heard others (like my friends '04 wrx wagon), so I know what that sounds like.

Well the clicking noise returned yesterday. I've got to drive 250 miles today too. Should I put in some more Seafoam now and drive that distance, or do it once again before changing the oil?