Knock in 92 Loyale engine

[ishmail]

My daughter's 1992 Loyale with about 70,000 miles has always had an
occasional engine knock. It sounds like lifters knocking and is not
consistent. It is more prone to do it when cold but can do it when hot as
well. I have had my mechanic check it (works on Subarus mostly) and he
cleaned several oil lube ports feeding the lifters and changed one lifter.
He says it is fairly common in this engine (2.2L I believe) and don't worry
about it. It is really annoying. I try to get the engine oil changed
routinely and the car is well maintained. Can anyone give me some insight
on this problem?

TJG

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

My daughter's 1992 Loyale with about 70,000 miles has always had an
occasional engine knock. It sounds like lifters knocking and is not
consistent. It is more prone to do it when cold but can do it when hot as
well. I have had my mechanic check it (works on Subarus mostly) and he
cleaned several oil lube ports feeding the lifters and changed one lifter.
He says it is fairly common in this engine (2.2L I believe) and don't worry
about it. It is really annoying. I try to get the engine oil changed
routinely and the car is well maintained. Can anyone give me some insight
on this problem?

TJG

Some soobs experience piston slap. Different (often higher viscosity)
oil can help. Subaru has always mainataned it is a non-issue.
Sometimes a bad timing belt tensioner can make a sound. Your mechanic
should confirm it is 'only' piston slap.

Carl

 

[Charles Augustus Milverton]

Thanks Carl, I'll have him check it out again.

 

[Grumby]

It is more likely the EA82 engine in that vehicle and those engine can
rattle when the oil seal on the front of the oil pump fails and allows
airation of the oil supply supplying the hydraulic lifters.
Cheers
Kim W

 

[ishmail]

Kim, That is probably the likely cause. I thought the mechanic had checked
that out but not sure. It is almost always a knock that appears at low
engine RPM and NOT at high RPM (road speeds above 35MPH). TJG

 

[AS]

There is a lil forgotten o-ring on this engine, that no one seems to
mention, but replacing it solved the noisy lifter problem for me.

In the engine, the oil pump pick up (strainer) is attached to the engine
block using 2 screws on a flange. Right there, there is a lil red
o-ring, that was completely flat. When looking at the pick up flange
surface with a square, it was not flat either.

Replacing the seal was a b*%#$ having to remove the oil pan. Replacing
this o-ring and doing nothing else to the engine, made that baby quiet
as when it was new.

Good luck!

 

[Charles Augustus Milverton]

My subaru mechanic mentioned something about this and in the same breath
said it was an expensive labor intensive job. I'm sure it was something
about this O ring he was talking about. Thanks to all for the ideas. TJG

 

[Sheldon]

My daughter's 1992 Loyale with about 70,000 miles has always had an
occasional engine knock. It sounds like lifters knocking and is not
consistent. It is more prone to do it when cold but can do it when hot as
well. I have had my mechanic check it (works on Subarus mostly) and he
cleaned several oil lube ports feeding the lifters and changed one lifter.
He says it is fairly common in this engine (2.2L I believe) and don't
worry about it. It is really annoying. I try to get the engine oil
changed routinely and the car is well maintained. Can anyone give me some
insight on this problem?

TJG

I had one about that vintage. Knocked under load, and the solution was to
use mid grade fuel instead of regular -- especially when the weather was
hot. Of course, I may be talking about a different knock then you have.

 

[Rick Courtright]

occasional engine knock. It sounds like lifters knocking and is not
consistent. It is more prone to do it when cold but can do it when hot as

Hi,

Some thoughts in addition to what's already been suggested:

EA-82 engines were prone to lifter noise. Especially when cold. My
owners' manual even said something about "If the noise doesn't go away
after about five minutes, get it checked." (Or wording to that effect.)
Not sure about the 2.2s, though.

A very simple fix often involved nothing more exotic than use of a
Subaru OEM oil filter. Don't ask me why: I've never seen another engine
that was as picky about filters as my Subie!

I've also had good luck running a can of Rislone every 10k miles or
so--it gets rid of varnish and such in a relatively mild fashion as you
drive. I think these engines suffer from pretty minimal oil passages in
some areas to start with, so it doesn't take much flow restriction to
start causing some grief (and consequent noise.) Add that boxer engines
can be pretty tough on hydraulic lifters cuz of the design's flow
patterns anyway. I've even heard a couple of the boys w/ the 'spensive
Porsches mention complaints since hydraulics were introduced.

Good luck!

Rick