Engine knock problem, PLEASE HELP WITH INFO AND OPINIONS!

[ivananan]

Hello Everyone, I am wondering if anyone out there has experienced the same Subaru Legacy engine knock as my 2001 GTB Etune II has in the video link below? I have taken it to two separate mechanics here in the north of Japan and both mechanics say that it would be a massively costly job to actually locate the problem let alone fix it. I was hoping by posting this someone out there may be familiar with the sound and could point me in the right direction, maybe let me know if you think it is worth finding.

Kind of a hard one as the cars body and interior is in amazing condition, it is pearl white all over, has black 18" wheels, sti genome muffler, 4pot breaks on the front and a heap of other stuff. I am an Australian who lives in Japan and have had trouble getting the mechanics to give me a clear answer on the car, their recommendation is sell it for scrap metal and neither mechanic will actually tell me what they think the knock may be. I am not a mechanic and in Japan my 2001 GTB Etune II is worth about $200.00 to scrap, I can't bring my self to do it, seeing that the leather interior alone would be worth more than that in my home country!

Anyway to those who reply, thank you, your help is greatly appreciated! Im at a total loss as to what to do here!

Rhys in Japan.

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqNRNwA0r8M

[Thomistopheles]

Scrap it?! They've got no idea what they're talking about.

Sounds like piston slap to me, it's a pretty common thing with subarus and a lot of other manufacturers as well. It can sound pretty obnoxious, and it's worst when the engine is cold since the pistons haven't heated up and expanded in the bore... but your engine has heaps of life left in it. It'll just sound like a sewing machine when it's cold. :lol: I'm sure others will chime in on this.

[Huffer]

Rebuild the engine with the single turbo setup. Easy. And way more potential and reliability.

[mike-tracy]

Swap in a used shortblock

[Reason]

I dont think that is piston slap. I wondering if a bearing is starting to go, how many miles on this?

[Dead91silvia]

I dont think that is piston slap. I wondering if a bearing is starting to go, how many miles on this?

I must agree... My car has piston slap bad, but it does not sound like that. If you can take a vid of it revved up a bit, that should tell the tail.

I know the motors over there are not too spendy since we can get them here in the states imported for $2500 USD as a half cut. If you do need a motor, I would think one would only cost you maybe like $500-800 USD... I would think anyway...

Too nice of a car to scrap also... Even at that, if you did parts it out and then scrap it. Many people here I'm sure would love to buy some of those parts... But try and save here first... :smt023

[hansvonaxion]

Why do you think you can get half cuts for $2500 over there? Because people are scrapping cars like this here.

Here's one for $140...

http://exchange.goo-net.com/usedcars/SU ... index.html (http://exchange.goo-net.com/usedcars/SUBARU/LEGACY_TOURING_WAGON/700020647620120705002/index.html)

It will cost more than replacement value to source and swap an engine or even find, diagnose and repair the problem if it's anything major. My timing belt service cost me $1500 and when I got a dent the size of a golf ball in my tailgate they wrote my car off at a value of $2300.

Ivananan, sorry I can't help with the diagnosis but my advice would be to get JAF (or any insurance company) roadside assistance cover and drive it until it dies.

[Cervantes]

I had the same issue with mne, but it was worse. It was much cheaper to buy a new engine and have it put in. Check your local junkyards or used car lots. You can usually find cheap engines at those places.