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engine noise

Featured Replies

there is a rattleing/ draging/scraping type sound in the front of the motor. i almost thought it was those covers on the exhaust but it sounds like timing belt area. it has 218,000 on it and i don't know when the belt was changed before.

  • Author

it sounds like its coming from the left side. i pulled the end cover off and the belt looked good. whats on the left side that could make noise.

All sorts of spinny things under there. If you dont know when the belt was changed, abd you like the car, think about chinging it.

Are you sure its not a heat sheild? when exactly does it make this noise, at what engine rpms and or speed

 

nipper

  • Author

i thought the belt was not to old because all the writing on top still looked good (not worn off). the noise is on the left side close to the cam.

 

one more thing but i don't know if it's related or not, the last 2 times i drove it, the car was warmed up and throwing good heat but when i stopped the air got cold until i started going again. but after a while this will stop and it will have good heat.

i thought the belt was not to old because all the writing on top still looked good (not worn off). the noise is on the left side close to the cam.

 

one more thing but i don't know if it's related or not, the last 2 times i drove it, the car was warmed up and throwing good heat but when i stopped the air got cold until i started going again. but after a while this will stop and it will have good heat.

usually when a heater acts like that it is low on coolant,may have to pull the cap off cold and fill radiator that way and then fill the overflow tank,not sure about your noise.
i thought the belt was not to old because all the writing on top still looked good (not worn off). the noise is on the left side close to the cam.

 

one more thing but i don't know if it's related or not, the last 2 times i drove it, the car was warmed up and throwing good heat but when i stopped the air got cold until i started going again. but after a while this will stop and it will have good heat.

 

The timing belt is in a very clean protected area. The printing can look as good as the belt was installed 90,000 miles ago. Thats not an indication.

Make sure all the fluids are toped off. remove the covers and run the car, see if you find the noise under the covers (if its there)

 

nipper

are your radiator cooling fans on all the time?

 

nipper

  • Author

no, only if the defrost button is pressed i had it on vent

 

what area is the water pump located . maybe the noise and this are related

could also be an idler bearing, or a tensioner pully, those seem to make funny noises when there about to let go, also check your oil level, which i'm sure you did as soon as you heard the funny noises.

 

I'd reccomend a technicians stethoscope, with the metal probe end, you can put it to different parts of the entine and determine where the sound is coming from, that way you can narrow down what the noise is from, and not replace parts that don't need it.

 

 

If you don't know when your timing belts have been replaced, now is a goot time to get in there and take care of them, along with the tensioners and pullys, as well as the water pump, and the seals in the oil pump. don't forget your cam and crank seals either, don't want to have it all together, only to take it apart in 3 months to do a front crank seal.

i had the same problem....and it was one of my idlers.....the noise went on for about a week then the bearing basically blew up and left me stranded althought the car started back up fine and ran i didnt wanna run it longer....so i had the mechanic put in a new timing belt and idler thats all i had money for...however now im experiences the same noise again not constant just everyso often....but sooner or later it will get worst and it'll break again

 

if i was u try and find someone that can do it for u for cheap and get the whole thing done...cuz now ill be taking my car back in to get all the tensioners,idlers, seals, and pump done...that way its done

 

of course im waiting for my tax refund before i do it all

water pump is under the timing belts towards the senter of the engine drivers side. Your heat problem doesnt make sense to me, i have to think about it.

 

 

nipper

  • Author

if i took the crank pulley and the covers off. could i start the car without the alt. belt on? all i know right now is the noise is coming from the left side and the heat prob just started shortly after the noise started.

 

if i put a breaker bar on the crank bolt and crank the car, where should i put the bar.

Taking the alt belt off and running for a minute is a common test method. Just don't run long.

Yes you can run the car without the alternator. In a healthy fully charged battery you can run a car for almost 50 minutes with all the accessories off. For what your doing all your going to run is about 2-5 minutes, which is not a problem. Would also be interesting to see if the noise goes away.

 

nipper

At least it knocks down the possibilities. One time I had an alternator that made noise and I never did figure out why. It seemed to spin quietly but squeaked under load.

Could it be the water pump?

Are you leaking any water?

 

Monk50

Left side, under timing cover, coolant problem- I'd check the water pump.

  • Author

it is now leaking coolant. it's dripping and the bottom of the timing cover is wet. i'm sure it's the water pump thats leaking and making noise.

 

i called the subie garage and they said over $200 labor and $200 for parts.

 

advance auto price is $71 for pump and $29-55 for belt depending on brand.

 

subaru genuine parts is $ 66 for pump and $43 for belt

I had a noisy waterpump (first one) that went on for a long time. Then one day the noise stopped.....5 minutes later the bearing and seal died and coolant started leaking out.

 

Don't cheap out on the waterpump. Get the Subaru pump. I cheaped out when the original died and ended up with a dead 2nd waterpump that killed my headgasket.

it is now leaking coolant. it's dripping and the bottom of the timing cover is wet. i'm sure it's the water pump thats leaking and making noise.

 

i called the subie garage and they said over $200 labor and $200 for parts.

 

advance auto price is $71 for pump and $29-55 for belt depending on brand.

 

subaru genuine parts is $ 66 for pump and $43 for belt

 

I have found it best to always use the sub parts. If you can change the belts you could also change out the pump. While in there most people also renew the cam seals the "o" ring behind the oil pump and the crank seal also.

These items are little extra while at that stage of the game. You will also want to change your thermostat and definitely use the sub part for that.

 

I made all those changes when I switched to synthetic oil on my 95 legacy to prevent oil leaks.

 

Good luck.

 

monk

  • Author

went to the soob dealer and got the parts 88 for pump and about 50 for belt. i droped it off at the local garage, it's to cold out for me to do it.

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