Noise Engine

[Subaru_Nation555]

Hey everyone. I'm a pround owner of a '94 Subaru Legacy Turbo with 117,000 miles. I got this car from my dad when I was 16 and have been driving it for over a year. I love to work on the car and it gets washed once a week. I've been browsing this forum for a couple of months and finally decided to sign up and start posting. Anyways for the last few months the car has been having its fair share of problems. But the one that concerns me the most is the fact that when the car is idling, whether its cold or hot, it is really loud. It sounds like there is a constant "clicking" that instantly goes away when the revs are raised from idle. I heard somewhere that it might be the lifters but I'm not sure. So I was wondering if anyone else has this problem and if so any info would be helpful. Thanks.

[fishbone79]

Does it sound like a sewing machine? Haha.. if so, then it's probalby just lifters. I wondered the same thing for a while untill I went to few meets and found that everyone's EJ22 sounded like a sewing machine at idle. If the noise is louder, than it might be something else... is it more of a single knock or a conglomerate of clatters?

[vrg3]

If it is the lifters, you should consider bleeding them. Even if the clacking goes away at higher revs, the valves may not be opening as much as they should, which will hurt performance and efficiency.

[Subaru_Nation555]

If it is the lifters, which I'm assuming that it is because it does sounds like a sewing machine, could someone walk me throught the process or is there already a post on here about it. Thanks.

[vrg3]

Do a search on here; it's been discussed before... but basically you take off the valve covers (which is apparently pretty easy) and then each lifter is held in by a bolt, and then you just submerge the lifter in motor oil and press it in to force the air out. I haven't done it myself, though.

Apparently you can check for trapped air by just removing the valve covers and pushing the lifters with your finger; if they move at all it means there's air in them.

[fishbone79]

Another trick I’ve used is to heat some straight 40w oil in a double boiler until it’s just warm enough to thin it down a bit, then squash the air out of the lifters while they are submerged, as per above. I don’t quite know the theory behind it, but it’s been around for a long time, and people still do it. Supposedly it helps keep the lifter a little better lubricated when you put them back in the motor (so all the oil doesn’t just drain out). In my experience (I’ve only done it once to my motor), it seems to work pretty well, and my clatter was substantially reduced. Does it seem unusually loud?

[Subaru_Nation555]

Great, thanks for the info. How does air get into the lifters anyway and is a common problem among other Subarus?

[WRXdan]

Do a search on here; it's been discussed before... but basically you take off the valve covers (which is apparently pretty easy) and then each lifter is held in by a bolt, and then you just submerge the lifter in motor oil and press it in to force the air out. I haven't done it myself, though.

Apparently you can check for trapped air by just removing the valve covers and pushing the lifters with your finger; if they move at all it means there's air in them.

You need to depress the check ball on the top of the lifter before you squeeze it. If you don't the air will still be in the lifter. The lifter is bad if it doesn't hold pressure.

Once you get the valve covers off press on the top of each rocker. The ones that compress need to be bled.

[WRXdan]

Great, thanks for the info. How does air get into the lifters anyway and is a common problem among other Subarus?

The check ball fails, which causes a loss of pressure.