tapping on start up

[fiaboi]

I get this tapping on start up and if the car has been sitting for awhile,goes away after a short time.tired lifter maybe? : drivers side.

[ben-jamminn]

do you have forged internals?

[Treecrusher]

If it goes away quickly, I would think sticky lifter or maybe tired oil pump. If it only reduces as the car warms up then maybe piston slap.

What kind of car do you have? Because if it has forged internals it probably doesn't have hydraulic lifters and vise versa.

[nickmcgill]

Is it quite a violent sounding tapping noise ?

I've had the same sounding with mine, There's the normal tappets sound then there was this massive whack whack sound that sounded like tappets but heaps louder.

Turned out it was more than likely just piston slap.

[Treecrusher]

or BEB.

[Guest DMSREX]

I vote for lifters, what car do you have ?

[ben-jamminn]

 nickmcgill said:

Is it quite a violent sounding tapping noise ?

I've had the same sounding with mine, There's the normal tappets sound then there was this massive whack whack sound that sounded like tappets but heaps louder.

Turned out it was more than likely just piston slap.

Massive whack whack, sounds more like a bearing shagged?

[Guest the_return_of_the_jedi]

if its fine once warm id say its a stuck lifter.. quite common its just theres not much oil up there while cold to lubricate it..

[fiaboi]

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

[Treecrusher]

 fiaboi said:

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

if it's not the gtb model then it won't have forged pistons and is most likely a lifter (or BEB). Next move is to get some mbl8 and do an oil change.

[Swindog]

YOu know how fridges have lil blue men in them who turn the light on when you open it up...i reckon its his cousin trying to get out or a lil blue man whose lost and tapping to tell you hes inside and needs help. You shouldnt drive your car anymore cos you might kill him.

[fiaboi]

okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay :

[Ninja8)]

 Treecrusher']

[quote name='fiaboi said:

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

/quote]

if it's not the gtb model then it won't have forged pistons and is most likely a lifter (or BEB). Next move is to get some mbl8 and do an oil change.

mbl8...can u find that in repco or supercheap??

[Treecrusher]

 GNEDEF']

[quote name='fiaboi said:

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

/quote]

if it's not the gtb model then it won't have forged pistons and is most likely a lifter (or BEB). Next move is to get some mbl8 and do an oil change.

mbl8...can u find that in repco or supercheap??

Most mitsi dealerships sell it to the public.......Cause mitsi's are sh!t and use so much of it

Repco doesn't sell it AFAIK.

And its made by prorama so you might be able to find their wholesaler on the internet (thats how I bought it last time, although its been a few years since I owned a subie with hydraulic lifters)

[Ninja8)]

Repco doesn't sell it AFAIK.

And its made by proma so you might be able to find their wholesaler on the internet (thats how I bought it last time, although its been a few years since I owned a subie with hydraulic lifters)

does a ver 3 wrx have hydraulic lifters??

[Treecrusher]

There will be others on here who know for sure, but if it's not an STi I think it does.

[infinite]

ive got it from repco befor.

[Hailz]

If its a GTB wouldnt it just be piston slap? Mines done it for whole time I've owned it (30,000kms) and it has'nt gotten any worse that I've noticed, the Subaru company in Chch that service it said "oh they all do it, its normal for these" if the noise goes away when it warm then wont be BEB I would have thought.

[Treecrusher]

 fiaboi']

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

[quote name='Hailz said:

If its a GTB wouldnt it just be piston slap? Mines done it for whole time I've owned it (30,000kms) and it has'nt gotten any worse that I've noticed, the Subaru company in Chch that service it said "oh they all do it, its normal for these" if the noise goes away when it warm then wont be BEB I would have thought.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is "normal" and not "all" of them do it. A GTB with decent piston slap needs to be driven accordingly (you could probably make the engine fail with a few consecutive redline gear shifts). The writing for an engine with piston slap is on the wall, If it doesn't crack the piston or a ring landing it will blow a head gasket once the cylinder gets out of round enough.

If I was you I would start taking my car to a different mechanic and start saving for an inevitable rebuild.

[Hailz]

 Treecrusher']

thanks fellas.i have a 1996 legacy gt wagon.twin turbo.auto

[quote name='Hailz said:

If its a GTB wouldnt it just be piston slap? Mines done it for whole time I've owned it (30,000kms) and it has'nt gotten any worse that I've noticed, the Subaru company in Chch that service it said "oh they all do it, its normal for these" if the noise goes away when it warm then wont be BEB I would have thought.

/quote]

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is "normal" and not "all" of them do it. A GTB with decent piston slap needs to be driven accordingly (you could probably make the engine fail with a few consecutive redline gear shifts). The writing for an engine with piston slap is on the wall, If it doesn't crack the piston or a ring landing it will blow a head gasket once the cylinder gets out of round enough.

If I was you I would start taking my car to a different mechanic and start saving for an inevitable rebuild.

Well every GTB Leggy I've been in does it, my mates one has done it ever since he has had it, (about 50K) his now has 198k on it and doesnt burn a drop of oil and neither does mine, mine gets plenty of redline gear shifts and doesnt seem to complain, you may be right that an engine rebuild is inevitable but hey its a turbo subby! it gets warmed up, cooled down, serviced every 4-5K using good oil, and why on earth would I not trust Subaru factory trained mechanics? I'm no mechanic but hey thats my opinion.

[Treecrusher]

 Hailz said:

Well every GTB Leggy I've been in does it, my mates one has done it ever since he has had it, (about 50K) his now has 198k on it and doesnt burn a drop of oil and neither does mine, mine gets plenty of redline gear shifts and doesnt seem to complain, you may be right that an engine rebuild is inevitable but hey its a turbo subby! it gets warmed up, cooled down, serviced every 4-5K using good oil, and why on earth would I not trust Subaru factory trained mechanics? I'm no mechanic but hey thats my opinion.

Fair enough, each to their own. I've owned more than a few Subaru's in my time including a three GTBs. Only one of them ever had the dreaded piston slap. It wasn't even that bad (I've heard much much worse) but the piston and bore were in a very poor shape. It's probably just a testament to the robustness of the ej20 design, that it can function without any loss of performance with such a defect for so long without failing.