EA82 Ticking Noise

[Salty]

I just picked up a 91 Loyale with 75k miles that has a slight ticking noise close to no 4 cylinder. Is it usually valve lash or are there other causes? Thanks.

[86subaru]

this may not be a real fix, but it does work, run 20-w50 or 15-40 oil, + a good filter

[idosubaru]

search the site for extensive information...probably the most posted about problem around for soobs.

 

if it is always isolated to one cylinder, excellent diagnosis. this is probably a sticking hydraulic valve lash adjuster (HLA). if the tickign moves around more and is on random cylinders then it's usually oil pump seal related (just need a new seal/gasket).

 

the ideal solution is to replace a sticking HLA with a good one. Mitzpah Engineering sells newly rebuilt ones for like 6 dollars each or pay 20/25 to the dealer. they will also rebuild yours for like $4. look them up on the internet. at that price i think i'd just replace them all since you're already in that far to the motor. if one got dirty enough to seize then the others could be dirty as well.

 

if you don't want to replace then cleaning agents can and do work. MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil), Seafoam and ATF (automatic transmission fluid) all work well for this. Seafoam seems to garner lots of support and some excellent results for some people. Even frequentl oil changes over time can help, high quality cleaner expediates the process though. For MMO and seafoam, try one bottle of which ever you'd like to use added to your oil. See if it helps. If not, try two bottles at the next oil change. Or add one quart of ATF and the rest oil. I've used more than one quart before to expeidate the process but at that point be very careful and i wouldn't drive it around long with more than one quart of ATF in the oil. also my XT6's have a larger oil capacity i think...so i have more room to work with i think. I could be wrong though on capacity. i had 220,000 miles on mine that had ATF run in it after i first got it at 105,000 miles. engine ran fine at 220,000 until i ran it without oil by accident.

 

whatever you choose to do, i'd pull a valve cover (p/s is easiest) and see how dirty it looks. if it's caked black with build up inside, then i'd plan on changing your oil often and add cleaners regularly (MMO or seafoam a couple times a year). If the previous owner didn't change oil often then that's why the motor is dirty. i've pulled motors with 100,000 miles that were caked black and in terrible shape due to poor maintenance and i've pulled them with 196,000 miles in excellent shape with the valve train/heads looking shiney new...i'd suspect those had very regular oil changes (that car came from the original owner, no surprise). that being said - be sure to change your oil often in a subaru. that might seem annoying compared to honda's where people neglect them to hell and back and have no issues like the tapping we have. but we also never need to have our valve adjusted like they do, due to the hydraulic valve lash adjusters.

 

good luck and have fun

[Subarian]

Here's a simple fix that works most of the time. Change the oil and filter. Put in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Run the engine at high RPMs. Going down the road at 4000-5000 RPMs for a while will usually get it loosened up.

[Salty]

Here's a simple fix that works most of the time. Change the oil and filter. Put in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Run the engine at high RPMs. Going down the road at 4000-5000 RPMs for a while will usually get it loosened up.

 

It looks like I got lucky. The car had been sitting over 6 months and the noise went away after driving it 5 miles.