soobynooby Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 New owner of a '98 outback, n.a., 2.5, auto trans, 125K. Rather noisy, and poor mileage (ave 18). I know the boxers are supposed to make some noise, but I heard a '99 running the other day, it purrs compared to mine. Seems to have pretty good power, just noisy and crummy mileage. Replaced plugs (ngk), wires, pcv valve, all fluids, trans flush and new filter. Lots of carbon in the EGR valve, but cleaned up nice. Ran a few tanks of injector cleaner and some Sea Foam to clean the throttle body and carbon. Pulled a fuel rail, the injectors are quite clean. Had the timing belt replaced, had a broken tooth on a sprocket and a leaky and nearly shot hydraulic tensioner. The timing belt and related items quieted it up a bit, but still a lot of rattle when cold, pretty quiet when warm. No engine codes. Anybody had any similar problems, or got any useful ideas??? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc0032 Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 No clue but free bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_c_the_light Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Is it making a ticking noise when it's still cold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low_suby_wagon Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I think the sound you are refering to is the cold start valve, it clicks when cold but should quiet down after it reaches operating temp. It will depend how long this takes depending you climate and altitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobynooby Posted November 4, 2005 Author Share Posted November 4, 2005 Thanks for the replies. Yes, it ticks when cold. Much like the sound of rattling lifters on the old pushrod engines. It does go away (mostly) after warm, but the engine warm still seems awfully noisy to me. Maybe just the boxer getting a bit long in the tooth. Will replacing the cold start valve make any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low_suby_wagon Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 No this is normal, the cold start valve clatters in our cars. what velocity oil are you using. Pending you climate, in the summer I run 20W 50, and in the cold months (when it gets below 40 at night) I run 10w 40. my wagon has 217k and my wifes 98 has 83k both very quiet with this set up except the cold start valve when its cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobynooby Posted November 5, 2005 Author Share Posted November 5, 2005 I run 5w30. Thats recommended in my manual as well as at many manufacturers websites. In the WARM weather here it gets near 40 at nite. When it gets cold we're lucky to see a HIGH of 40 between December and April. Maybe I'll try a slightly heavier oil next change. I heard a 99 outback running the other day, very quiet, I'll just learn to deal. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 I just recently bought a 2000 Subaru Legacy GT. The car was owned by my girlfriends daughter and has almost 87000 miles. I also hear the "ticking" sound when cold. I'd described it as a kind of knocking noise that I thought perhaps might be the lifters when the car was started cold in the morning. I've never owned a subaru before and was not sure what this sound might be but it concerned me a little. I came across a link on this forum to some TSBs and one of them concerned the timing belt tensioner bracket making a knocking noise so I thought perhaps this might be the noise I was hearing so was thinking I should take it into the dealer. After reading this now I'm wondering if that is not the case. Hoping its not actually. I've been driving the car less than a week and am loving it. I'd not considered buying a subaru before but the timing was right as she was selling and I was in the market for something else to drive besides my old Toyota 4x4. This owners group forum has been an incredible source of information for me. I'm not much of a mechanic an know little about subaru's in particular so it has been very helpful to me. Thanks to all for posting. I have one question, if it is the timing chain tensioner is the sound much louder than the cold start noise I hear? When a part defect is mentioned in a TSB does the dealer fix that, I'm totally unfamiliar with such things and a total noob to subarus, any help and info is very much appreciated. Thanks Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 That tensioner belt TSB is for the 2005 LGT> TSBs for the MY2000 LGT, http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/ixSearchKwBu.jsp?model_year=2000&vehicle_line=Legacy&publication_type=16&text_keyword=&keyword=&bulletin=3 , make sure you're sitting down. I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobynooby Posted November 13, 2005 Author Share Posted November 13, 2005 Hey, Clyde, welcome to another newbie. In response to your post, I did have the timing belt replaced, and the hydraulic tensioner was leaking, so,they replaced it as well along with a cog which was missing a tooth. Car much qiueter now, bit still the cold start ticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Thanks for the link melayout. Looks like a lot of good info there, for a price. Quick scanned through the list and didn't see one for the timing chain tensioner but perhaps I missed it. Will have to take more time to get familiar with that web site. Looks like one used by the pros judging from the subscription costs. Thanks also Soobynooby for your reply. I will probably be taking the car in to the service dept. at the dealer she bought it from and get some of the history on it if I can , she has some of the paper work as well. The more I drive the car the more I like it so think it is worth some investment to make sure everthings in as good a shape as possible. I know its had all its required maintenance etc. The car is truly a pleasure to drive for me, the only thing I wish it had was the turbo! Thinking about how nice it would be to have one of the new ones now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red beast Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 tick, tick, tick, is normal no hydraulic valve lifters in you engine. they were taken out for better gas mileage years ago. had it in the outback sport and wrx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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