I'm looking at an 2000 Impreza wagon with 194k miles. It seems to have either lifter or valve racket, not sure though. It just seems to have a ticking in the engine. The guy is selling it for $800 but I offered him $650 and he's getting back to me on it. Could be a timing belt? I'm not sure when that was changed last.

Three potential sources:

 

Timing Belt Tensioner

Valve Train (These engines are supposed to be adjusted every 100k so it's due for the second, and may have never had the first)

Engine Knock - Yes it could still be a knock.

 

What's the condition of the car itself?  How much rust, body, interior, etc...?  

 

Belt should have been done around 100k and is basically due again as well.

Edited August 9, 201510 yr by lstevens76

How much does that cost? And is that why the check engine light could be on?

How much does that cost? And is that why the check engine light could be on?

 

The check engine light could be related or could be a separate issue.  Sometimes a rod bearing knock or timing belt tensioner knock can set off the knock sensor.  I have heard of valve train noise doing it as well.

 

As for cost, it depends on what the problem is.  If you have a smart phone try taking a video of the engine running to capture the noise and post it  up here.

 

Now, the question is are you going to do the work yourself or pay someone to do it?  This car has a Phase 2 2.2L.  It will take a Phase 2 2.2L or a Phase 2 SOHC 2.5L as a replacement engine, if it comes to that.

 

If your doing the work yourself:

 

Timing Belt Change and Reseal of the front end your looking at around $250 to $300 in parts.

 

Valve Adjustment your looking at tools you may or may not own.  A valve adjustment at a good shop that knows Subaru's shouldn't take more than 2 hours in car, and realistically should be done in an hour.

 

Engine swap will be around $700 to $1000 in parts I suspect.  When you swap an engine like these your going to want to replacing the Timing Belt/Water pump in a kit (as above), reseal the front end of the engine, adjust the valves, put a new separator plate on it, and check the rear main for leaks.

 

But take the video.  When doing so move the phone slowly from one side of the engine to the other so the noise can be better heard as to where it is at possibly.  That will tell us a lot more.  I'm throwing worst case scenarios at you.