Milkywitness Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Is it fuel injectors, some sort of strange resonating sound messing with materials vibrating against each other, something else? Ever since I bought my Legacy 2.5i at 28k miles (at 50k now) I have had this annoying clicking noise from the engine bay. It will get louder and more pronounce depending on rpm and the amount of gas I am giving the car. It is worse in the mornings when the engine is cold and is better after it is warmed up but very much still there. I am usually able to replicate the sound when I go into a low gear and just barely give it any gas and I get the obnoxious clicking sound. This first video is my dashcam and my car driving up a hill when the engine is cold, and particularly at around 43 seconds the click gets a bit louder and changes to more of a clacking sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WClsacgdRjY This video is not of my car, but if you go to 19 seconds you can hear this loud click. This is very similar to what I hear when I stick my head into my engine bay. Any thoughts on to what this may be? I keep reading it is just the sound Subaru boxer engines make, but I feel like other engines are quieter than mine so I'd like to dampen the noise or clean it up somehow..thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too40gawlf Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 The second video is perfectly normal engine noise to my ears. Your video is hard to tell, you have a relatively underpowered 4 banger pulling a relatively heavy vehicle uphill under load and you are trying to record the audio in the cabin under less than ideal conditions. If you are not using oil, have not noticed a drop in performance, and have no CELs, I would learn to live with it. Otherwise, you are still under powertrain warranty, take the car in and have a Subaru tech who hears 3 dozens of the same engine every day, diagnose it as opposed to internet yahoos, some of which couldnt tell you the difference between an oil filter and and a transmission mount if you shoved it up their ass sideways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkywitness Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 The second video is perfectly normal engine noise to my ears. Your video is hard to tell, you have a relatively underpowered 4 banger pulling a relatively heavy vehicle uphill under load and you are trying to record the audio in the cabin under less than ideal conditions. If you are not using oil, have not noticed a drop in performance, and have no CELs, I would learn to live with it. Otherwise, you are still under powertrain warranty, take the car in and have a Subaru tech who hears 3 dozens of the same engine every day, diagnose it as opposed to internet yahoos, some of which couldnt tell you the difference between an oil filter and and a transmission mount if you shoved it up their ass sideways. LOL thanks, I figured I would give the forums a try. I understand this is less than ideal conditions to diagnose an issue with a car. I will take it into the shop when I feel the will power to deal with that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too40gawlf Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 LOL thanks, I figured I would give the forums a try. I understand this is less than ideal conditions to diagnose an issue with a car. I will take it into the shop when I feel the will power to deal with that place. What oil are you running? Are you taking it to Jiffy Lube, the dealer, or are you doing your own oil changes? If you are not using the OEM grade and quantity of oil, make sure to do so. These small boxer motors have lots of little parts moving inside, and a certain amount of natural valve noise is normal operation. Sometimes the the difference between a 0w-20 and a 5w-20 is some valvetrain chatter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkywitness Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 What oil are you running? Are you taking it to Jiffy Lube, the dealer, or are you doing your own oil changes? If you are not using the OEM grade and quantity of oil, make sure to do so. These small boxer motors have lots of little parts moving inside, and a certain amount of natural valve noise is normal operation. Sometimes the the difference between a 0w-20 and a 5w-20 is some valvetrain chatter. I take it to my Subaru dealership. I've been in the past 6 months for a regular checkup and had the oil changed + filter change. I think I have had 3 oil/filter changes this year since they are free every time I take my car in so why not. Thats good to know oil quality can have an effect like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too40gawlf Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 I take it to my Subaru dealership. I've been in the past 6 months for a regular checkup and had the oil changed + filter change. I think I have had 3 oil/filter changes this year since they are free every time I take my car in so why not. Thats good to know oil quality can have an effect like that. Oil type, quality, and quantity can have a significant effect on things like this. I think your best course of action is to have the dealership check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTEASER Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Subaru's tend to have loud clackety motors when listened to from outside the car. The valves of an H4 motor are essentially at the bottom of the car and that valvetrain noise bounces off the pavement and out from under the car. Whereas in a typical inline 4 motor, the valves are between the block and hood and that noise gets dispersed around the engine compartment and never really makes it out. GTEASER's 2012 Legacy GT - Sold GTEASER's 2009 XTeaser - Sold GTEASER's 1992 Legacy SS - Sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicks1stLegacy Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 I was having a similar issue with a ticking noise it came an goes. Its does very on rpm and speed. Very pronounced at start up, low creeping parking lot speeds and low rpm. Not noticable at highway speeds at all. But it was due to a driving/serpentine belt being loose. It was removed and replaced and that fixed the problem. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vroten Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Wife and I are on our 7th Subaru, so I've heard them run for years and I agree they are not the quietest cars. The FB engine in my wife's current 2015 Legacy has been loud (clicky, clacky, you name it) when it's cold and under load. As it warms up it quiets down. I've found in my experience that there is a difference in noise depending on what oil I've run. This isn't a reflection on the oil quality as everything I've put in the car I would consider top notch, and I've experienced no oil usage with any oil I've run. Also for all oil changes I've used either the Wix 57055 or Napa 7055 filter (more or less identical products-spec'd at the right bypass pressure for our Subies) so I can rule out the filter, but for some reason I've noticed that: Mobil 1 0W-20 AFE is loud in the wife's car. Great oil just loud in her car. I ran Pennzoil Platinum 0W-20 for a couple of oil changes after Mobil 1 and it quieted it down some; great oil but still not making the car quiet. I am now running Valvoline SynPower 0W-20 and it is noticeably the quietest oil I have run. I have no scientific basis for my opinions, just seat of the pants and the comment from the wife, "What have you done that made my car so quiet in the morning?" So I have the official "honey notice" that validates my info. The car has never had the Subaru Idemitsu produced oil, so I can't compare to it. Maybe next time you do an oil change, switch brands. As far as noise goes I don't hear anything that sounds terrible. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda_One Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 [emoji101] science![emoji38] Laughing at Oneself and with Others is Good for the Soul [emoji847] Laughing at Oneself and with Other is good for the Soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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