Turbo noise when cold - normal?

[Ledge`]

Hi there gents, well here goes my first Subaru owning querrie.

Thought I\'d see what my engine sounded like starting cold today in the engine bay. Starts fine, give it a little rev, notice a wee whine or whistle noise on the spool down (letting the revs return to idle, not turning the car off). Stand for for a bit and it continues, every time I give a little rev, a whistle or whine noise on the spool down.

SO, I go for a drive, get the car at temp and come home. Do the same again and the noise is gone. I struggle to hear anything .. Should I be concerned?

Not having owned a turbo charged vehicle before, it\'s fair to say I\'m over cautious with this sort of thing. I do however have a couple of theories.

1) A small boost leak, when the car warms up the metal expands and seals the leak (but do leaks make a noise on the spool down?).

2) The whistle is the turbo(s) bearings are just taking their time to get fully lubricated before the tolerances become normal.

Car is factory standard everything btw. 2001 E-Tune Legacy.

Anyone hexperienced this before? Thanks!

[twinturboboy]

how many kms has the car done? my old BG legacy used to whine like a jet plane at idle, that was when it was hot too though

[Ledge`]

133 thou k\'s. I\'ts nowhere near jet plane sounding. It\'s just a slight whistle or whine if you will on the downspool when it\'s cold (giving her little revs). Sound is basically non-existent after driving for a bit if I pull over and get in the engine bay and listen for it.

Seems quite common to have a little noise on a cold start after doing some research on the net. Just wondering if anyone here has experienced it before.

The first Legacy I test drove when I was in the market for mine sounded like a jet plane from one of the turbo chargers. I then had to pretend I was still interested in the car and do a full inspection just not to be rude. :-\

[twinturboboy]

hmm, I also currently own a 2001 Legacy E-tune, its done 145,000kms and the engine is smooth as silk.

Its weird that you say it stops when its warm, if it didn\'t I would say the turbo bearings were stuffed, can you tell which turbo its coming from?

[Ledge`]

I honestly can\'t, it\'s really not loud enough. I only know it\'s there because I went looking for a sound and found one lol ..

Mine is smooth as silk like yours. Runs absolutely mint. Out of curiosity, what oil and rating do you run in you\'rs?

[twinturboboy]

Castrol Edge 5W30, this is what is reccomended by Subaru as well

[Kiwi_Fozze]

A lot of guys over 150k run slightly thicker oil. 10w40 seems to be favoured. I ran 5w30 edge in my forester at 170k and christ it made a lot of noise. Running 10w40 magnatec in my v7 sti, and while it\'s a little thicker cold, just drive it really gently for a while and you are all good.

[twinturboboy]

I dont want to detract from Ledges problem or start another Oil argument , but my legacys tappits make a real faint tap if I put a thicker oil in would this help?

[Ledge`]

I did an oil change with Penrite Synthetic 5W40 when I first got the car. Always good to get others opinions.

The search function in this forum isn\'t the greatest when looking for things like who uses what oil and why. Or do 2 worded searches not work well?

[Kiwi_Fozze]

 twinturboboy said:

I dont want to detract from Ledges problem or start another Oil argument , but my legacys tappits make a real faint tap if I put a thicker oil in would this help?

Yes, a little...

[Eight_dollar]

 twinturboboy said:

hmm, I also currently own a 2001 Legacy E-tune, its done 145,000kms and the engine is smooth as silk.

Its weird that you say it stops when its warm, if it didn\'t I would say the turbo bearings were stuffed, can you tell which turbo its coming from?

only one turbo used from idle to approx 4200rpm

[Ledge`]

Back on topic, anyone experienced this before?