uniberp

I'm kinda surprised someone didn't call that "piston slap".

Is this a nutty idea? I got an intermittant rumble up front, I think right side, on my 2008 Forester. It vibrated one day on the expressway until i pulled off and made a few left and right turns, but I really have no idea what caused it. Since then I hear a bump like a loose shock mount over bumps on certain roads at certain speeds. Tires are Avid Ascents at 12k miles and 32 pressure. Anyhow I thought swapping the front axles side to side might be an interesting experiment, but since the noise or vibration only occurs sometimes, I don't know what the observed condition would be. Will I be able to tell if the axle joint is damaged if I remove the axle? No clicking or other symptoms. I'm not a "throw hardware at it" type of person.

I am going after that one right away, on my shed engine. I'll report back.

He said 1 qt every 300 miles, as I read it. Were the valves ground? In my experience, new heads (valves) on old rings often results in excess oil consumption. The combination of extra blowby and additional vacuum may both aspirate oil and draw it into the intake or up past the rings. I have an engine in the shed that has new heads, old bottom end, that used a quart per tank and has exces "piston slap" Seems to me tight rings would reduce that noise too.

I need some comparison data/opinions for the throttle behavior on my 2008 Forester. How I've trained my ECU: I am a mild driver. Commute at 68 everyday 50 mile round trip. That's about it. Use my truck on weekends. I noticed if I fully stab the throttle at road speed, say 50, and release, it goes into pretty hard engine braking for about a second after, much more so that if simply releasing the throttle. It was a little disconcerting. (I was wearing heavy boots, slipped and stomped it) Normal behavior for this car?

It takes hundreds of revolutions for the marks to line up again. Someone has done the math here, but it's not to the way to confirm it. Just take it off and start over.... BUT. I doubt it's the timing, unless you used the arrows instead of the marks to line it up.

For 10k you could buy 5 running imprezas and have enough left over for a new set of tires. But then you'd have to swap the tires to each car when you wanted to drive it, because Subarus are quite sensitive to having matching tire circumferences.

Salt is another story to you nwcoasters. It idn't pretty. It can actually weaken bolts.

"whacking with a big hammer" on the TIRE ONLY is what tire guys try first. Bottle jack with 4x4 next.

If you must have new: http://www.wholesaleimportparts.com/Subaru_Forester_Driveshaft_1999.php but i'd check www.car-part.com forst for a used.

I'd just replace the 3.3 quarts that drain when you open the drainplug. If it's brown, keep changing it or pump it out. If the fluid is clear, you may be in for more fixes, clutch packs and solenoids and such. Clear fluid has probably been changed inside 40k. A fluctuating temperature is discomfiting to me. I can stand it if it is steady an a little high, which means at least the thermostat is working and there are no air pockets. Fluctuations usually mean gas bubbles, which means a leak, if only intermittant under varying load conditions. Even so, 96,000 miles is nuthin.'

Run a tank of premium through it. Alcohol may evaporate off in the fuel lines or something.

^Best Answer. I believe I located the problem and fixed it. Very slightly loose banjo bolt on the front right caliper. It was not obviously damp, but comparison to the left side showed it was slightly darker in color with slightly more accumulated dust. I realized that the fluid capillaried all over the housing, and most of it likely evaporated from the high heat generated by a caliper. (How you like them apples... I used "capillaried" and "caliper" in the same sentence. May not be proper term. ) So I just tightened it a smidge, since it took only about 10 ft lbs (by feel). The hose was not damp at all, so I don't suspect the swedge. There's a copper crush washer on each side of the banjo, and I can't remember ever replacing the hose and it looks OEM. I don't wanna pull it all apart with my filthy hands and risk dirting the thing up. I sprayed it all with brake cleaner and will watch for the dampness to return. Come to think of it I put KYB's on it a few years back and may have disconnected the hose at that point and replaced it as matter of course. The through-body grommets are good and the lines ok. Easy to find the rear pass side one. Thanks everybody.

So how do I confirm this without complete disassembly? Would the booster fill with brake fluid? Could I drill a drain hole in the bottom of the atmospheric side and see if it drains? Seems like there would already be a weep hole. I want to tackle this this week, I want it off the list. I guess that means its the master cylinder, but I feel like I'm thowing parts at the problem, and I've never been too keen on remanufactured hydraulics. Again, there are no drips, stains or softness to the pedal. I suppose it could be that hidden over the tank line, but you'd think I'd seen a half pint on fluid leak somewhere.

Do you know what kind of gas mileage you got?

Fuel pump is electrically powered. Relay needs power too. Alternator diodes frequently fail intermittantly due to heat.

If thicker oil fixed it, it's rod knock. Matter of time. Could be a month, could be 2 years. You only risk ruining the core.

Any other rotating components swapped over during the engine changes? What does "known to be in good condition" mean? I have been irritated by the subaru "Piston slap/rod Knock" issue for a long time. FInally bought a complete rebuild and it is as good as my newer car. I think these engine are easily abused by consumers. ID if there are other all aluminum engines out there, and I will bet there are none with split blocks. Except porsches maybe, and those get rebuilt every 50k miles it seems. So I wouldn't be surprised if you had 3 bad engines. Ivans fix may work, but you need a knurler and a lathe to run it on. Seems like not an easy fix to me.

Swap axle shafts side to side .

...and it's not the arrow, it's the line, on the crank pulley.

Ok I still got this "top-end rebuilt" engine sitting on a enginestand and need to decide what to do with it. If it didn't burn oil (1qt/500m)I it would have been okay, but that pi**ed me off after trusting a local "enthusiast". He put new heads on an old block and I didn't trust my instincts. That combination often results in burning oil, due to tighter heads and loose rings, and it did. Yes I have a new PCV. 2 in fact. In order to make the "customer" happy I just bough a complete rebuilt for a few hundred more and that car is now done perfect., This one on the enginestand has "piston slap" AND burns oil. I'm thinking I would risk the cost of rings and headgaskets to put it right if there is a chance that will work. Maybe the new rings would reduce the "piston slap". Ever seen a broken/stuck ring in a subaru? Sorry about all the quotes, but I'm feeling very "ironic" about these mistakes.

Hang on. You were going up hill, how steep? Check your fluid level. Make sure the return line from the cooler is not plugged, that fluid is circulating. You shifted out of gear, and it didn't go seem to go back in. Check your linkage. I believe that when a car on blocks is in OTHER than park, there will be some forward rotation.

Start with short trips not far from your garage. The whole headgasket thing always bugs me. Often replaced after an overheat condition, an attempt to bandaid damaged warped heads block also. Almost worth it to salvage the new parts and put in a rebuild. Some people here say run it until it blows, but then you lose your core value. It seems to me the independent aftermarket rebuilders are getting better all the time, and although explaining to your friends that you put a vitrually new engine in the ugliest car possible may be a little awkward, it is rewarding in an odd way. But then you're the owner of a $3000 car. Kinda rich for some of this crowd. As long as the strut towers are not rusted out, the seat has enough cushion, and it shifts into 4th, I am happy with it. It's not like you ever get out of a muddy hole with the wheels cocked sideways anyhow. Brakes schmakes. They always sound like gravel to me anyhow.

But then you lose the core value.

If it is a recent and rapid development it is rod knock. "Be prepared" is my advice.