I have an '88 DL Wagon with about 220K miles. It has an EA82, SPFI. I have noticed a loud ticking from the left rear side of the engine for quite some time. Other than a little rough on the idle, it has been running fine up until lately. I noticed that I did not hear the ticking and the idle was very rough, almost to a stall at times. It seems that when I have the RPM over say maybe 1000 (no tach) it runs smooth. I replaced all vacuum hoses, didn't help. I did a compression test on the cylinders and they all were at about 150psi except for the left rear which was around 60psi. I pulled the valve lash adjusters & checked for gunk ect... I disassembleled them to clean them but they were spotless & felt like they were working normally. I am just a shade tree mechanic so I am not really sure how an adjuster can fail other than the oil holes getting clogged. My Factory SRM says there should be only .02" travel in the plunger. Mine seemed to have much more than that, maybe up to 3/4". I presume that could have been that they were not completely filled with oil at the time. Upon reassembly & installation, I did a compression test prior to starting the car. The cylinder in question showed 150+psi. When I started the car, it idled perfectly, but was ticking really bad. I took it for a test drive & ran great for a short time. Then upon coming to an idle again, the ticking was gone and the very rough idle was back. The compression check on the left rear shows only around 30psi. Can these thing fail so that they would cause either or both valves to stay open? They are spring loaded shut aren't they. What else could cause symptoms like this. If an adjuster is replaced, should the adjacent one be replaced as well? Any other info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

jimkup

It could not be a valvetrain problem at all. Subarus are known to tick sometimes, it's not always detrimental.

 

Here's a way to check for bad rings...

 

Squit a little bit of oil in through the spark plug hole, then compression test. If the compression jumps up to normal, then you know there's a problem on the bottom end of the engine. The high compression before running the car could be a result of some oil seeping into the cylinder while the car was sitting.

ok, I dumped a small amount of 3 in 1 down the plug hole & ditto, only 60psi. Once again can these things (the valve adjusters) fail so that they would cause either or both valves to stay open? They are spring loaded shut aren't they. What else could cause symptoms like this. If an adjuster is replaced, should the adjacent one be replaced as well? Any other info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

jimkup

Jimkup, I have never heard of one holding the valve open, but what if it will not let the intake open at all, this may cause the cylinder to not fill properly on the intake stroke - very far fetched

 

You could leave the cam cover off and watch the valve/cam follower.

A burnt valve is a possibility but not heard of often.

Maybe you have the common crack between the valves and it has progessed to loosen a valve seat

If you question this crack and it's commoness please do a search (small box lower corner of main page) for "heads"

 

The oil pressure relieve valve in the lifter gallery may want cleaning also

ok, that may well be the problem.

But, after I disassembled the adjusters & reinstalled them yesterday & did a compression test, I had 150+psi. Also, the engine ran without the rough idle for a short time but then it returned. Would the crack in the head, if there is one, be visible you think.

Additionally, I would have to pull the head to verify this wouldn't I.

Just trying to get as much info as possible before I tear into it. Anything else to consider or be aware of as I am very much a rookie & would be up the creek without my FSM.

Thanks Again!

jimkup

Bump

Looking for any additional info or tips about this.

Nice article about crack in the heads.

Planning on pulling the head this pm.

Thanks!

i know when my left side timming belt went out and threw off the cam timing i had low compression due to valves opening at the wrong time