chirping sound on deceleration, seems to be RPM related

[pleiadesfella]

hey fellas,

it was finally warm enough to warrant having my windows rolled down today, so I got the chance to hear what my spec b sounds like a bit better. while the exhaust tone with the little pops on each shift are great, I noticed a sound almost like a belt going bad and squealing/chirping on deceleration. its not audible at all with the windows up, which is why I noticed it today. its more noticeable on deceleration in gear but that's only because the engine loses speed slower while in gear. when revving the car in neutral while stopped, I can still hear the same chirping as the revs are dropping but for a very short time. it's not present at all when accelerating or idling. all values on my accessport are reading normal, and I don't feel a loss of power either.

I've seen people on other forums with similar noise issues mention that the chirping is most noticeable when the sound reverberates from walls or parked cars. this is exactly my case too, I could hear the chirping reverberate very loudly while driving by parked cars in a parking lot. I first noticed it while driving on a street with buildings on both sides, and it didn't seem as loud when there weren't buildings or cars around.

a quick google search on the issue leads me to believe that its one of these things:

-belt on the engine
-clutch master/slave cylinder (I did make a thread about crunchy shifts before and it was suggested that I get the master cylinder changed, but the mechanic I took the car to didn't say anything about it, not to mention the noise also happens in neutral with my foot off the clutch)
-clutch throwout bearing
-something exhaust related (maybe downpipe, wastegate or even exhaust hangers apparently)

with how many things it could be, I'm unsure if its safe to keep driving it as is. I will take definitely take the car to a mechanic, but it might be a week or two before it can be looked at - which is why I'm here. I want to be sure that its not going to cause something catastrophic with the engine before I continue driving it. I know its very paranoid behavior to be afraid of a little chirp possibly causing a massive engine issue, but it is a turbo subaru so I don't want to take any risks  

I'd appreciate any input on what this noise possibly could be, and if it would be okay to keep driving the car with this noise present.

thanks!

Edited June 29, 2023 by pleiadesfella

[silverton]

could be the baffling inside your muffler falling apart.  the tiny welds in there eventually fail

[pleiadesfella]

20 hours ago, silverton said:

could be the baffling inside your muffler falling apart.  the tiny welds in there eventually fail

that is very plausible since the mufflers and y-pipe are still OEM (despite the car having a catless downpipe from previous owner), they might be the original ones the car came with back in '08. but hearing this does comfort me, so I'll assume for the meantime that it's not a huge issue and keep driving the car. I'll be taking it to the mechanic soon, and it's a shop that specializes in exhaust work so if this is the case, it should be easy for them to sort it out.