Is it spose to do that?

newguy · Post by **newguy** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:14 pm

Heya,

Looking for some advice from RS owners. I'm looking at buying a 2004 Subaru RS Manual from a private seller. I took the car for a drive today and it was really nice to drive and its really what i've been looking for there were a two key points in the engine and transmission the department that i was unsure about.

First off... when changing down to second from third, to take a suburban corner for example i noticed it "groaned" a bit, a bit like the engine was under revved. I may just not have had enough revs up to change gears, but i'd like someone to say that i'm just a newbie driver rather than find out later down the track that its gonna be a problem.

Second thing i picked up was a slight ticking noise in the top left corner of the engine bay, (still learning about this boxer engine) this was only noticeable when the engine was revved up or when traveling at around 100kmh, motorway speeds. The guy selling the car said that his mechanic told him it was a loose bearing and that he just tightened it up, and not to worry bout it.

Now i'm gonna get it pre-buy inspected sometime during the week. Is there anything i need the mobile mechanic to have a look at specifically?

And finally any thing else i should look at common faults wise before putting my saved up cash on the line here?

Thanks
Tim

spike · Post by **spike** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:02 pm

third gear clunk??
it was a common problem with all subarus when the oil got hot i noticed in all, including a 2004 foz, but the latest subaru, a 2008(?) forester turbo, we have i happen. from what i know it doesnt matter and cant be fixed.

the second part of your question i cant help with sorry, but to clarify to you mean further back to the car? or on top of the main engine??
it could be so many things but deffinatly get a mechanic to check it over before you purchase.

my family has owned over 20 subarus ovr the years and they really are brilliant cars. the biggest downfall they have are that mechanics dont usually know what thheyre doing with them. the dealers in south aus are pretty useless, possibly cause they dontt get to work much cause the cars never break down. =D

newguy · Post by **newguy** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:20 pm

Yea sorry its a bit vauge but in the time i was looking at it i couldn't narrow it any further down than to that general area. No third gear clunk... only seemed to be from 3rd to 2nd, but if its a common thing then im not to worried now.

SUBYDAZZ · Post by **SUBYDAZZ** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 6:24 pm

First of all, what model Subaru RS is it? Can I assume an Impreza RS?

I owned a 2004 (MY05) model Impreza RS until last week.

I've not come across the groan you speak of on 3rd to 2nd downshift, can you be more specific about the actual noise. A normal downshift (ie not at high revs) should be quiet as any other. Although an inexperienced driver in an unfamiliar car might just not drive it quite right I guess?

Re: the bearing that has been tightened - I'm not aware of any bearing that can actually be tightened in any Subaru and I'd be immediately suspicious if this was the claim. Bearings don't tend to tick either. It is usually a sign of the hydraulic lifters not getting enough oil, which is fairly common but on much older and high mileage Subarus. There are numerous alleged causes - incorrect oil grade, insufficient oil level, poor oil pump pressure. I would not expect this on a 2003 model unless it had a lot of km on it.

Speaking of which, how many does it have, and does it have a full service history?

The best idea is to test drive another of the same model (if you can find one that someone is selling) then you have a better idea whether what one does is right or not.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:24 pm

ask him for his mechanics number to explain the bearing tick - this could be amusing

try the groan test on both left and right corners to see if any difference - baffled here too

get the examner to look specifically at these two ponts you raise, he will be in best position to feel it, hear the other
As with all cars one thing to inspect is look or feel for hard carbon crud under oil fill cap and if safe to stick finger in t feel under rocker cover or scrape for hard crud black stuff - steer clear as it indicates of over extended oil changes or over heated BAD NEWS

newguy · Post by **newguy** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:54 pm

Yea, it is an impreza, slipped my mind to enter that part. Its not a noise more of a groan that you'd get if you didn't have the right revs up when taking off. Which makes me think its just the inexperience driver. And it was only 3rd to 2nd as i'd do before taking any corner. I'll drive it again before deciding on it. Its done 130,000km and claimed to be mostly highway kms, between west Sydney and Canberra, with its clutch replaced at 110,000.

I'm gonna try some more cars on weds (Another one i drove had his clutch replaced recently and was taking it back cause it had of sticking the leaver to the firewall =/ ). And i'll be ringing the assessor on Wednesday morning to take a close look at the two points of interest.

Subydazz: Pretty sure i considered your RS on carsales but the trip was a little much on my little buzz box Kawasaki. But now i see your interest in Subarus it may have been worth it. meh

SUBYDAZZ · Post by **SUBYDAZZ** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 7:53 am

Dang. It was a really good one too.

newguy · Post by **newguy** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 1:50 pm

I know it was.

So i got the call back from the inspector, from his report he said that the knocking is coming from the main bearings within the crankshaft. I missed some of the details as i was thinking to my self "ah damn!" but he basically said that the engine could fail at anytime and that the repair job would be in the $5000 mark as the whole engine would need to be pulled out and rebuilt... not the result i wanted... he explained that it could of been as simple as not keeping up with services and oil changes.

He also made note of the the clutch shuddering which could be fixed by machining the flywheel.

I'm off to look at a couple more today. Hopefully i have better luck!

jamesd · Post by **jamesd** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:03 am

One thing I have read and heard of consistently abt subys is that they need fresh oil kept up to them, so ask for the service history and look for oil changes at 5000km or not much more.

Do the CV test: find a carpark and put the steering on full lock (do both sides), any clicking from front wheels is the CV joints which can be expensive to replace. A new clutch is also expensive, as is a new timing belt which is due every 100 000ks.

But of course bvefore buying any car I always set aside abt 20% of the purchase price for immediate maintenance - take it to my mechanic and get him to look it over throughly. Even if there's nothing really to do (unlikely) you can use the $$ to do stuff like clean up the ignition/injectors, get a wheel alignment, new stereo/wheels/tyres/shocks or whatever. There is nothing like new shocks to improve the feel and handling of a car.

BTW I think $5k is a high estimate for rebuilding the engine, you could probably put in a replacement one for $2k or less. But of course why buy a car that could blow on you at any moment.

Oh, and if you have a regular mechanic why not get them to check the car for you, you'll probably get the best advice from someone you have an existing relationship with. I asked here abt recommended sydney suby mechanics (as they are a bit different) and a place in wollongong was suggested; too far for me so I'm using my regular guy in Alexandria (Central Autohaus) - not cheap or expensive but good advice and the main guy there worked on subys when he was starting out yrs ago.

Cheers and good luck.

SUBYDAZZ · Post by **SUBYDAZZ** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 1:59 pm

jamesd wrote:One thing I have read and heard of consistently abt subys is that they need fresh oil kept up to them, so ask for the service history and look for oil changes at 5000km or not much more.

5000km for turbos perhaps but 10-12,500km oil changes are fine for non-turbos. As long as they are regular. I've always done mine at 10,000km and had no engine problems. The factory services are generally 12,000 for most models. In Europe apparently they go every 15k. Changing oil and filters every 5000km adds significantly to your running costs remember.

jamesd wrote: A new clutch is also expensive, as is a new timing belt which is due every 100 000ks.

Labour is the big cost component here. The parts are about the same prices as other makes.

jamesd wrote: BTW I think $5k is a high estimate for rebuilding the engine, you could probably put in a replacement one for $2k or less. But of course why buy a car that could blow on you at any moment.

If you do it yourself, yeah. but if someone else does it then $5k isn't far off the mark, drive in drive out it's $4400 for an EJ22 exchange rebuilt motor to be fitted. The EJ25 would be a little more I'd imagine. $2k would be lucky to get you a second hand motor installed with a mystery mileage / condition. Labour again is the big component.