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Hello, Yesturday when i was driving my car I noticed a wierd noise sounding like the hydrolic lifters only alot more severe... It only knocks from 1000 to 3000 rpms and expecally under load. I checked the oil in a parking lot and saw that it was low. It took 2 quarts to fill it up. So in 1 week i went through 2 quarts of oil. I filled it up then drove it home (about 50 miles) still making the noise. Checked the oil again, 1 quart low... Took it to a local subaru specailist and they listend to it in the parking lot then brought it up on the lift. after looking at it for about 20 minutes they pulled it out and said that I had 2 problems... A blown head gasket, and some plate is about to sheer off the torque converter. They said that the exhaust was leaking into the antifreeze. Now when this happens i thought that antifreeze would leak into the exhaust creating white smoke. My antifreeze level wast too bad, the overflow was empty but the main radiator was ok. So.... i was wondering if anyone had any ideas.

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yeah that definitly sucks. My 90 subie blew a headgastget about a year ago and when it did i got some oil in my radiator. If u went through 1 Quart of oil though in 50 miles and it hasent burned oil before i would say u have a definite problem. I would watch out b/c if u are getting water passage from the water jacket to the cylinders u run the risk of really messing up your engine. Water in cylinders does not compress like air and can bend rods on the compression stroke. The one thing i have learned from my subi though is that it gets rid of oil in a magical way. as for the torque converter sorry cant help. good luck to u man.

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Hello, Yesturday when i was driving my car I noticed a wierd noise sounding like the hydrolic lifters only alot more severe... It only knocks from 1000 to 3000 rpms and expecally under load. I checked the oil in a parking lot and saw that it was low. It took 2 quarts to fill it up. So in 1 week i went through 2 quarts of oil. I filled it up then drove it home (about 50 miles) still making the noise. Checked the oil again, 1 quart low... Took it to a local subaru specailist and they listend to it in the parking lot then brought it up on the lift. after looking at it for about 20 minutes they pulled it out and said that I had 2 problems... A blown head gasket, and some plate is about to sheer off the torque converter. They said that the exhaust was leaking into the antifreeze. Now when this happens i thought that antifreeze would leak into the exhaust creating white smoke. My antifreeze level wast too bad, the overflow was empty but the main radiator was ok. So.... i was wondering if anyone had any ideas.

Using a lot of oil is a problem, and I would get the work done. the "some plate [that] is about to sheer off the torque converter" is a known issue. The originally made them out of plastic, and the one they will replace it with is metal. This is a likely cause of the oil loss, in fact. You did not say how many miles you have on the engine? also, has the car overheated (temp guage going way up) for any significant time in the past? That could cause the heads to warp, making a blown headgasket more likely. . . (just trying to sort out how the headgasket blew, as these engines do not do that as much as the later ones. . .

 

Yours is the second one that I have heard of. The first is owned by a friend and I'm going to be replacing the HG on it for him soon. . .

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sorry, it has 183000 miles on it. I had an issue with the radiator cap about 2 months ago and it got pretty hot, just about to the red line. i went through alot of water then. Also, its never been over filled with oil. I drive about 150 miles a day and this is the first issue i have had with it since the over heating issue. Before the noise it would however hesitate in the range of 2-4 grand of rpm it would drop 200 rpm real quick and sometime it would do it a few times in a row.

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A blown head gasket, and some plate is about to sheer off the torque converter.
My guess is that this is referring to the flex plate (which fastens the torque converter to the crankshaft I believe). If this starts to fail, it can make one heck of a noise I've been told. Similar to the bottom end going out on the engine.

 

Can't help you beyond that.

 

Commuter

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so about how many hours and how much would this job cost? should i pull the motor and leave the tranny since i have to do a head gasket job? anything else i should do besides timing belt/water pump?

If you pull the engine, it will make things easier to reach, but the job can be done in the car. If you decide to pull the engine (are you oing the work yourself?), I would also have the seals replaced at the same time, and you should also replace the O rings on the oil pump as well as retorquing the screws on the back of it. Also look for where the oil is going to see if there is a seal or gasket that is gone bad on you. . .

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Ok, given all of the above, with it being the flex plate, and the head gaskets are prob gone, do you guys think i should park it, or could i get by driving it for work, (about 130 miles a day) until the 16th of febuary... about 1000 miles... it has good compression, and a visual inspection of the flex plate didnt look bad... let me know, im in a pickle here... (also i can be 30 miles from my house for the tow truck)

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