93 Legacy Issues. Click Clackin Away!

[Sublimejoe]

When I bought my 93 Legacy yesterday the guy told me that the motor was knocking "really bad," and would need to be replaced. When I started it up to drive home it was very loud, but quieted down to this point after just a few minutes:

93 Subaru Legacy running smooth - YouTube

However, when I started it this morning it was super loud again and didn't quiet down much after warming up. Here is a video of how it sounded this morning:

93 Subaru Legacy Click Clackin' - YouTube

I happened to be near my parents house so I took it by there for my dad to check out. He said it sounds to him like an issue with the lifters on the right side of the motor, with some slight noise coming from the timing cover.

Anyone want to offer some insight? The car only has 109k miles, oil is clean.


Fake Edit Update:

So I replaced all eight lifters on one side and it seemed to be fine, but after a 20 minute test drive the motor seems to be knocking or something.

Anything that could have happened with the lifter install that would cause an issue like that?

[robertpaige]

The noise in the 2nd video sounds like a knock. I have never heard lifters sound like that. The lifters will 'tick', that is a deeper knocking sound. I definitely would not drive it like that. I had a bunch of stuck lifters in my car for a while, it sounds like someone tapping metal with a quarter. It's not a deep sound like that. But maybe the camera mic makes it sound different. Pull the valve cover off and see if you can move the rocker assembly by hand.

[Sublimejoe]

The noise in the 2nd video sounds like a knock. I have never heard lifters sound like that. The lifters will 'tick', that is a deeper knocking sound. I definitely would not drive it like that. I had a bunch of stuck lifters in my car for a while, it sounds like someone tapping metal with a quarter. It's not a deep sound like that. But maybe the camera mic makes it sound different. Pull the valve cover off and see if you can move the rocker assembly by hand.

Will that indicate a bad rod?

[robertpaige]

Yes, bad rod, spun bearing, etc. Something failed internally.

[Sublimejoe]

Ok, compression test done. Three of the cylinders had around 150psi, one cylinder had 90psi.

Roommate said his thoughts is that a valve or valve spring broke. Leakdown test tomorrow.

UGH!

[Legacy777]

I agree, that noise sounds a bit deeper thank just the lifters ticking. Let us know how the leak down test goes.

[Sublimejoe]

Leakdown test complete. Looks like the pressure is leaking into the crankcase and according to my roommate "Piston is Fucked"

I am starting to get a bit of an unsettling feeling from his abilities. The car needed lifters for sure, as soon as he replaced them and started the car back up it starts knocking ten minutes later.

Could he have messed something up or is this just a very coincidental issue?

[robertpaige]

There is no way replacing lifters would cause a rod knock, unfortunately it sounds like just a coincidence. When you dropped the valve cover, you may have leaked enough oil to cause some oil starvation if you didn't top back up.


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[robertpaige]

There is no way replacing lifters would cause a rod knock, unfortunately it sounds like just a coincidence. At the very most, if somehow you didn't put the rocker arm in correctly, it could have maybe damaged some valves. But that's not the case. When you removed the valve cover, you may have leaked enough oil to cause some oil starvation if you didn't top back up before you started it. That's my best guess.

Is the car an automatic or manual? A loose flywheel/broken pressure plate can sound like an engine knock. See if the sound comes from the back of the engine, where the transmission bell housing meets.


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[Sublimejoe]

There is no way replacing lifters would cause a rod knock, unfortunately it sounds like just a coincidence. At the very most, if somehow you didn't put the rocker arm in correctly, it could have maybe damaged some valves. But that's not the case. When you removed the valve cover, you may have leaked enough oil to cause some oil starvation if you didn't top back up before you started it. That's my best guess.

Is the car an automatic or manual? A loose flywheel/broken pressure plate can sound like an engine knock. See if the sound comes from the back of the engine, where the transmission bell housing meets.


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Ok, so it looks like it was just a terribly inconveniently timed coincidence. The knock noise is coming from the side opposite the lifters were replaced on.

The car is an automatic.

[robertpaige]

Take another video of the engine bay, and include the car starting up and give it a few light revs as well. Then turn the car off, we don't want to keep it on for very long.