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1992 subaru is knocking


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My subaru didn't start knocking till recently and I haven't been beating on the motor at all sense I got it so I'm not sure why it is knocking and I checked the oil and it dosnt got any bearing material in it at all and I got great oil pressure any help would be greatly appreciated 

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Can you describe the sound more precisely? When did it start? Mid-drive? On cold start? Does it go away or change when the engine reaches temperature? How does it change with RPM?

If possible take a video with the best possible audio you can. Post it here, or post it on YouTube and post tbe link for us. That will help us give you better answers. 

How many miles?

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That sounds like a lifter. Rod knock gets worst under load. Lifters are loud when cold, stays the same with rpm/load, and can go way when warm.

 

Try doing an oil change. If you're using -30, try upping to a -40 oil. I run Rotella T6 15W-40, but thats hard to get right now.

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Quick video but I would say you should be sure you have good oil pressure and even then don’t think that the oil always makes it to each and every lifter and fills it. 
 

Even after a new oil pump and of course fresh seals you can still hear that last lifter in the oil trail making noise. Solution is to rev it up and don’t be fearful - go up towards the redline but of course don’t exceed it , just maybe hold it at 5k until you hear that lifter quiet down. 
 

Best of luck. Enjoy! 

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Got on top of the lifter tick rather than just run with it. If you leave it be you wear them out and will never get rid of the lifter tick without replacing lifters. 

Other things you can try doing - placing a spacer behind the spring in the oil pressure relief valve. I can’t remember, but there might be a restrictor in the main oil passage in the head, if so pull it out and clean it up. 

This was over a decade ago when my lifters went noisy. It lasted two weeks then they went quiet again. Dunno why as I didn’t change anything between noise and no noise. The lifter tick is one of the reasons why I went EJ too: 

 All a good bit of fun. 

Cheers 

Bennie

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I have 45 pounds at high idle and when it idols  down I got about 10 so pulling the valve cover off and look for the oil restricter and inspect everything seems like the best course of action thanks for the help

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1 hour ago, Issac said:

I have 45 pounds at high idle and when it idols  down I got about 10 so pulling the valve cover off and look for the oil restricter and inspect everything seems like the best course of action thanks for the help

It should be higher than that at idle. I would say you need an oil pump oring or thicker oil because the pump is worn out. You aren't getting enough oil to the lifters to get them pumped up.

 

The oil pump o-ring "mickey mouse seal" is a super common weak point on these engines. It isn't hard to change if you can do a timing belt job.

B45702-ZZ1-10-09-14__ra_p.jpg

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On 4/14/2022 at 10:22 PM, moosens said:

Quick video but I would say you should be sure you have good oil pressure and even then don’t think that the oil always makes it to each and every lifter and fills it. 
 

Even after a new oil pump and of course fresh seals you can still hear that last lifter in the oil trail making noise. Solution is to rev it up and don’t be fearful - go up towards the redline but of course don’t exceed it , just maybe hold it at 5k until you hear that lifter quiet down. 
 

Best of luck. Enjoy! 

If you're going to try that, please let the engine be warmed up before going to high RPM.

Just my 2 bucks

 

Edited by NV Zeno
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