'96 Outback 2.5 lifter problems???

[A. & G. Reiswig]

Hi, all,
A brief google of the 'net and newsgroups didn't get me what I wanted,
so I'm hoping that you all might be able to help me.
My wife's '96 Outback with the 2.5L DOHC engine is making a fair amount
of noise when idling at operating temperature. It is pretty clearly one of
the lifters:
1. A couple of mechanics listened to it, too, and verified that they
thought a lifter was the problem, too.
2. Out of desperation, I drained some oil from the pan, and in its
place put some Marvel Mystery Oil. I then went somewhere where I could
manually downshift and get the engine RPM's up to somewhat under redline.
After that, the noise went away for awhile.

But now it's back. One of the mechanics I spoke to suggested that
lifters were a known problem for this year Subarus, and that it would be a
mere $1000 to replace them all.

Now, on to the questions for you experts:

- I've done a fair amount of engine repair in my day, but I'm still
intimidated at the prospect of checking the plugs on that engine! Trying to
squeeze my hands into the right position to do that was murder. In order to
work on the lifters, I assume I'd basically have to pull the engine. Right?

- Consumer Reports indicates that the engine for '96s was considerably less
reliable than either the '95 or '97 engines were. Is that *because* of the
lifters, or is there something else waiting in the engine to fail?

- Has anyone else successfully dealt with these hydraulic lifters in a
long-term situation?

Thank you!

George Reiswig

 

[Jim Stewart]

Hi, all,
A brief google of the 'net and newsgroups didn't get me what I wanted,
so I'm hoping that you all might be able to help me.
My wife's '96 Outback with the 2.5L DOHC engine is making a fair amount
of noise when idling at operating temperature. It is pretty clearly one of
the lifters:

I have a '99 OB Legacy with a 2.5L engine. Whether it
is the same engine as yours, I do not know.

Speaking from experience, it is possible to remove the
valve covers and camshafts in your driveway with the
engine in place. You have to remove lots of other things
first though and it isn't a job for the timid.

I'm a bit confused about what you're calling "lifters".
My engine does not have hydraulic lifters in the normal
sense. There are cups with shims that are used to set
valve clearance. These appear to fill with oil to
dampen the tapping noise.

If this is the same design as your engine, have you
considered getting the valve clearances set? That
may fix your problem.

 

[A. & G. Reiswig]

Thanks for the reply, Jim. Nope...mine are hydraulic. There is probably a
reason that Subaru went back to solid lifters after this year, and I suspect
I'm running into that reason. ;-)

George Reiswig

 

[Rick Courtright]

Thanks for the reply, Jim. Nope...mine are hydraulic. There is probably a
reason that Subaru went back to solid lifters after this year, and I suspect
I'm running into that reason. ;-)

Hi,

As I'm sure you found in your googling, noisy lifters are a "family
trait" with Subies of most years. I suspect a friend who ran Corvairs
years ago (first flat engine with hydraulic lifters either of us
remember) was right when he said flat engines with hydraulics are an
invitation for trouble. Probably has something to do with the oil
draining out of them at rest?

Anyway, if MMO seemed to help, you might want to step up a notch to
Rislone. It's a bit more aggressive cleaner than MMO, but not so bad as
to knock loose big chunks of stuff like those five minute cleaners can
do, unless, of course, the engine's been badly neglected WRT oil
changes. I run Rislone about every 4th oil change (using 3,000 mile
intervals most of the time) and started using MMO in between. It's made
a difference in my engine. Noise is still there (but there are 340k
miles on the clock, too!) though nothing like when I got the car: the
previous owner seemed to be less than religious about some maintenance.
(As an aside on MMO, Bill Putney planted the bug in my ear about MMO,
and IIRC he says it's taken up to a year to really clean out some of his
engines, depending somewhat on initial mileage and how much the car is
driven. Moral of the story--be patient?)

HTH,

Rick

 

[Rob Munach]

Hi, all,
A brief google of the 'net and newsgroups didn't get me what I wanted,
so I'm hoping that you all might be able to help me.
My wife's '96 Outback with the 2.5L DOHC engine is making a fair amount
of noise when idling at operating temperature. It is pretty clearly one of
the lifters:
1. A couple of mechanics listened to it, too, and verified that they
thought a lifter was the problem, too.
2. Out of desperation, I drained some oil from the pan, and in its
place put some Marvel Mystery Oil. I then went somewhere where I could
manually downshift and get the engine RPM's up to somewhat under redline.
After that, the noise went away for awhile.

But now it's back. One of the mechanics I spoke to suggested that
lifters were a known problem for this year Subarus, and that it would be a
mere $1000 to replace them all.

Now, on to the questions for you experts:

- I've done a fair amount of engine repair in my day, but I'm still
intimidated at the prospect of checking the plugs on that engine! Trying to
squeeze my hands into the right position to do that was murder. In order to
work on the lifters, I assume I'd basically have to pull the engine. Right?

- Consumer Reports indicates that the engine for '96s was considerably less
reliable than either the '95 or '97 engines were. Is that *because* of the
lifters, or is there something else waiting in the engine to fail?

- Has anyone else successfully dealt with these hydraulic lifters in a
long-term situation?

Thank you!

George Reiswig

You may want to try running synthetic oil as it has a tendancy to clean
out the engine over time.

 

[A. & G. Reiswig]

Thanks, all, for your input. If the noise is just that, and not a process
where the noisy lifter is eating up the cam, I'm inclined to leave it. I
have used the Rislone stuff, and it does seem to help, but I'm not sure it
does so by cleaning.

One thing that kinda surprised me (and this is a response to your input,
too, Rob) is that I've used Mobil 1 in this engine since we bought it used
at 18k miles. It now has about 100k on it, which is what I would regard as
midlife for the Subaru engines I'm familiar with.

Thanks again, folks.

George Reiswig
North by Northwest Expedition
http://www.4x4wire.com/mercedes/nnw/intro.htm