The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi all.

I have very little mechanical knowledge myself so am unfortunately at the mercy of REPCO because I don't have a huge amount of spare time / money to learn either.

Car went in 2 months ago with movement in the engine bay - suspected cracked front engine mounts. There sure was movement because it cracked an exhaust mount under the body as well. Front mounts were replaced. other stuff fixed. $300.

Got it back to find it still had 'movement'. This is best described as a tactile and audible clunk when you press the accellerator or release, even in first gear in a carpark. Any time there's engine strain against stopped or slow motion basically. At one set of lights i was convinced I could hear the screech of metal on metal as something big shifted.

Went back recently and got the rear engine mounts done, $130.
Called them up today and he'd finished this job, taken it for a test drive and could STILL hear / feel clunking. "will have to investigate further".

Any ideas? wild guesses?

thanks in advance...

maybe check the engine stay rod thingy?

i love that technical description timmo I'll go consult my Gregory's manual.

yer that rod makes heaps of difference i drove round with out 1 for ages lots of noises from the engine

found a new1 got it lengthened to suit my lift kit heaps better

n the liberty i got had the same thing but found out 2day it had 2broken engine mounts

Check out your clutch, i pulled mine out with the rebuild recently and the "meat" disc was sheering off from the metal that attached it to the gearbox input shaft. The replacement wasn't much better but i didn't have the time or money for a new replacement...

How long since you did a clutch replacement anyway? Or do you know when it was last replaced?

My only other suggestion is that it is a CV joint knocking when load is applied or engine braking is applied...

I know there are a few different things here to look at, but i think it will be worth checking them all out. Also ask yourself where exactly you think the noise is coming from (left/right, it may help someone here identify a similar problem they had).

Cheers

i dont even have an engine stay rod with my ej

alex

i have the exact same problem at the moment slowly working my way down the list will post when fixed. am i wrong 2 think it could also be bushes on front sway/torsion bar just a thought

It could also be worn gears in the gearbox that give everything a jolt when the slack is taken up.

could be worn gears, could be clutch as El_Freddo noted..

I bought the car at 173k and it's now 230k (i think? or less) and have had nothing done to clutch or gearbox in that time. gearbox oil might have been replaced in a full service at some point, but not sure. I'd like to think i've been pretty kind to the clutch in that time - almost no offroad action and I'm what my want-to-die-young mates call a grandma driver.

Pretty satisfied it's not a CV as I have run the full gamut of different ways a buggered CV can sound/feel in my time. The FR cv is getting tired at the moment but I can tell the difference between that squelch/crunch and this lurching motion.

hope you have some luck 92_brumby.

Just to tidy up this thread..

The mech had it up on the hoist with a lad hitting the pedal for him, watching the rig underneath move and react to the G's.. and noticed that the big nut on the end of the axle with the big split pin (note the technical terms) on Front left, was loose enough that the shaft was turning just before the rest of the assembly... hence the 'clunk' feeling of slip and take-up. Or so he thought, so he tightened it up and had a drive and the difference was there.

I had a drive later in the arvo and had to agree, though i really was doubting that was the problem. Anyhoo.. 2 engine mounts and 2 engine/gearbox mounts and a tightened nut ... and it seems to be solved.

now get an odd squeak out of somewhere FL, which he thinks is some of the rubber bushes on control arm / radius rod assembly. Doesn't sound life threatening to me, so I'll live with it for a while and keep an ear on the noise.

thanks timmo, bennie, peejay for the advice. I'll know what to think of if it ever comes back.

Glad u found the problem... the remaining squeak could be a ball joint... if it is then it actually could turn out to be life threatening.

Im still confused to where the problem ended up being... can anyone give me a more technical name for it. lol

Dave

sounds like the frotn left driveshaft where the huge nut is thru the hub

dunno about that being the cause as the nut wulda still been there holding the end of the shaft thru the splines into the hub so maybe all the splines are worn and tightening the nut up mega tight stopped it from slipping slightly on the splines..

and yes with the ball joint maybe u shuld take a look at Subarinos pics and wt hapened with his then decide wether ull want it looked at lol

Wheel hub nut?? Castle nut thingo??

Dave

Yeah, sounds like the castle nut.

That squeaking sound could be a CV... i had the same sound, from inside the car it sounded like a sqeak sound but from out side it was a metal on metal grinding sound...

I've swapped my CV shafts from left to right to make them run in the opposite direction and that sound has gone along with many other nasty clicks from the CVs. I still have some clicking but not enough for me to say time for new shafts...

Cheers

I'll pay 'castle nut' cuz that's kinda what it looks like.. the biggest nut right in the middle of the hub.

And I'll pay Matatak's guess at worn splines because that's happened before

edit: not a constant squeak.. only occurs in the act of applying or removing pressure from the engine in a really jerky way.. eg put your foot down in 2nd for 3secs then take it off completely.. when the car rocks forward you get a tiny tiny squeak.