New Legacy & Concerns about it

[x3n0d3ath]

Ok well hello everyone proud new owner of a Subaru Legacy Outback 96 Auto. runs and drives great, 199000 miles got it for 900 and my old about to fall apart 1999 Saturn SL1. Great Deal so what do i do? of course i take it to the local Midas and ask em how it looks and sounds yada yada yada right? well atypical maintenance stuff needs brake fluid, trans fluid, oil change all needed, figured as much when i checked it all before i took it off the lot, some suspension suggested but not end of the world stuff. exhaust issues but again not end of the world, after my last car its quiet as heck ( flex pipe was a smaller diameter than the exhaust manifold).

But what the kind gentleman tells me is there is some strange tick coming from the engine. Easily heard, doesn't sound threatening, but you never know. Now I'm not a mechanical idiot, but by no means do i know a ton, just enough to typically understand the jargon. He told me that this is most likely something to do with the valve train and if it gets worse the best option would be to just yank the whole pretty little boxer out and drop a new/used one in vs parts and labor on figuring out the problem. My main concern is that he said it could just sound like that forever and not have a problem, or it could get worse in a few months. Thoughts?

FYI Had this vehicle for less than a day and don't regret it, even though its a wagon. LOVE IT!

[ctrlaltstartx]

Welcome, and grats on joining the club! I have a 3rd gen wagon and I love it to death. And when it finally dies, I will resurrect it and keep driving it haha.

Subarus in general are known for their noisy valvetrains (ESPECIALLY when cold), so I wouldn't stress about it too much unless it gets significantly worse. Maybe another forum-goer with more experience than I can chime in with further information on this? It might be as simple as the type of oil that was used.

[x3n0d3ath]

Well much thanks for the input, it doesn't sound life threatening to the engine so I'm fairly certain it should be good. Plus it is COLD 10-30f, gotta love Ohio, so that might be the ticking on its own. There are only 2 spots of body rust and they are just starting and I want that fixed before anything else. Assumed having been in the north for this long I'm surprised there isn't more, but I'm fairly happy

But also do want to hear more from other members, should they be so kind to share with me. I figured with what I was getting into (Subie) I should probably locate a huge group of knowledgeable folks with the willingness to help out the noobs with an urge to learn.

[d1giPhux]

Yup.. ticking sound from the engine is normal on Subaru's. Welcome to the world of subaru! :smt006

Also, other sounds such as throw out bearing squealing (MT transmission) is normal too. I had that going on before I had the clutch / TOB changed. What a racket it made. HAHA.

If you want to hear less of the ticking in your engine, you can use a lighter weight oil, like 5w-30 in the winter as opposed to 10w-30, but honestly it doesn't make much difference that I've ever noticed. If you change your oil more often, it will help the problem as well (so I've heard). Id just stick with 10w-30 though and realize its a normal subaru sound :lol:

Also, you can try using a different brand of filter. Don't use cheap crap like FRAM, etc. Get either a dealership OEM filter, or NAPA gold / WIX filter. Also purolator PUREONE filters are also very good.

[x3n0d3ath]

See I knew signing up here was smart. Tons of people with more experience to answer my noobaru questions.

[Huffer]

Does the noise go away when it's warmed up? If it does then you have normal "piston slap".
Also, the 96 engine had valve lash adjustment - if you search around you should find some posts on that too.

My advice is to drain the fluids and refill - at least do oil, trans fluid and coolant. It helps to check the thermostat too, and make sure it's a genuine Subaru one as they work best.

[unsullied_spy]

*Have a mechanic check it out for valve adjustment

*Run good oil (my engine seems to like Red Line 5w-30, Mobil 1 0w-40, and the cheap part's store 5w-30)

*Get a block heater and an outdoor timer. Set it to 2-3 hours before you need to go to save power and keep from burning up your heater quickly. I recommend an OE block heater from the dealer, aftermarket ones seem to only last a year or two.

*Let it idle for 1-2 minutes before you drive, even with the block heater

These things should keep the noise to a minimum but you will always have valvetrain noise and that engine you've got will have some piston slap when it's cold. Just make sure it's had a chance to warm up a little before you drive (and keep in mind even if the engine temp is coming up your transmission is still cold). Overall though these engines make a lot of noise and that's typical.