i'm looking at a 1997 legacy to buy and it seems to have a knock in the engine. i have read about "piston slap" but this noise remains after engine is warm. it is a 2.2 litre and my questions are these: what else could it be and do these engines have some noise issues?

thanks,

gregg

possible timing belt tensioner. Or a real internal problem.

 

 

Can you get the car to an experienced soob mech. before purchase?

Can you identify it? It might be wiser to just move on. What's the rest of the car like?

Can you identify it? It might be wiser to just move on. What's the rest of the car like?

rest of car is decent. 150k, a bit dirty but not bad. sound seems to be in the back pass side of the engine and the guy says "they all sound like that". price is $2500

rest of car is decent. 150k, a bit dirty but not bad. sound seems to be in the back pass side of the engine and the guy says "they all sound like that". price is $2500

 

ask yourself, if it needed another 2K spent on it in the first 6 months after you bought it - would still be a decent car? Better to skip it now or maybe spend $75 to have a mech give you a list of what it may need and do a compression test.

 

I dunno. There aren't too many used soobs where I live but there are a LOT of used cars. No need to get a questionable one to start with!

Could be a sticking lifter. But that sounds more like an aggressive tap. I wouldn't buy anything with a distinct knock. Could lead to something as nasty as a broken rod.

 

 

 

ask yourself, if it needed another 2K spent on it in the first 6 months after you bought it - would still be a decent car? Better to skip it now or maybe spend $75 to have a mech give you a list of what it may need and do a compression test.

 

I dunno. There aren't too many used soobs where I live but there are a LOT of used cars. No need to get a questionable one to start with!