mikec03

SOLVED. SEE POST #6 I have 95 subaru, 170K miles. I'm losing a small amount of coolant. Preliminarily, maybe 8 oz/ week. There are no hose leaks. I've looked carefully at each and every one. No green stains. No drips. No smell in the car. My question: Is it possible to have a leak in the middle radiator and have it evaporate so that there is no drips? I guess I'll be going over the radiator with a magnifying glass. Yes, I know that it could be going into the cylinder. No there is no white smoke, but maybe it could be.

Yes, two problems. On old cars like yours, the starters fail all the time. Either rebuild it as suggested or, do as I do, go to advanced auto and get a rebuilt one. Cost is about $100. Stalling or near stalling while driving is not very common. It has happened to me a couple of times on a 2.2. One time it was a failure of the TPS and the second time it was the MAF. I got a code for the first but not the second. Otherwise, there are a lot of sensors and equipment that could cause such a failure. Without a code, you will have a lot of trouble figuring it out.

Of course, replace the intake temp sensor immediately. That should be obvious. I'm surprised that the car runs OK with a defective sensor. Your car doesn't have a MAF. So the computer calculates the air flow based on the rpms temp and pressure. To reassure the OP, I have an 02 and I don't get codes but once in a few years so he should be able to clear them and get approval. My sympathies with having to live in New York state. But aside from taxes, there are wonderful places to live there and I hope the OP is lucky enough to live in one of them.

LOL Thanks for the good laugh this morning. Actually I should thank your dealership. The problem is that some nomnuts will drain your CVT instead of your oil pan. Or they won't use a new compression gasket. Or they will over torque the drain plug. I change my oil in my driveway. Of course, for a lot of people live in apartments and can't change their own oil. It is kind of scary to have it changed at someplace like Walmart. I can't deny that. You could eliminate most of the problem by telling the manager that you need to show the mechanic before he starts. Boy, I'll bet they would love your for that! Just for the record, I reuse the compression gasket often, and I put as much force as I can with a 8/9" wrench, and I add a couple of jecks even after it's full tight. I never have had a problem.

The 95 does have the OBC2 so the OP can check for codes. I get and have gotten 20-24 mpg on the three 95's that I have had especially in the winter, so I don't look at your mileage as anything exceptional. When you say that you checked the alternator and battery, you should supply specific data that you observed. It might help someone guess at the problem. Alternators on the 90's subarus fail at old age. It wouldn't be surprising. The OP should loosen, rotate, and then tighten the ground connection at the frame as well as the battery post connections. It's a long shot but it won't do any harm.

I think that you are very fortunate to get a code. You should pursue the actions recommended by Bushwick. I've never had a fluctuating idle with any of my 2.2's so I can't really help. However on my 2002 2.5, I've had it, and it is very very difficult to correct without a code. In that case, I eliminated 95% of it by replacing the knock sensor with new OEM.

If you read the posts, you would have realized that knocking at idle is not the problem.

Thanks for all the replies. I've updated the link at Message 9 on this thread so that it works. The noise I experienced is very similar to the noise starting at 1:55 on the youtube video. Notice how loud it is our side the car. I've done some research on the internet. But it's impossible to figure out anything since everyone contradicts each other, although there are a lot of youtube videos on subaru noises. It can't be tensioner noise since I have heard that myself. It can't be rod knock because the 97 has put on 20K since the noise stopped, and I doubt that a bad bearing would last that long. It certainly could be lifter noise especially on the 95 since it has hydraulic adjustment which could get plugged and then later unplug. But the 97 has fixed lifter adjustment and, as I posted before, I adjusted each valve very carefully, but didn't stop the noise or even tone it down. In any case, I've been driving the 95 for the last two weeks. What a great car! The engine is nice and quiet, at least for a subaru. It's quick and feels like it has great acceleration. I'll bet that it accelerates faster then my 2.5 2014. I'll have to set up a drag race when my son returns with it. I will be keeping these 90's cars for a lot of years and will update this thread in a year or two if anything develops to explain the sound, other then piston slap.

Thanks for the replies. I notice that Hartless also has a 2.2 engine, a 95, and it is making noise! Something is causing it. I agree with her comment that it shouldn't go away if it's piston slap, hence the reason that I started this thread! The 95 has hydraulic valve adjustment so the noise could be a collapsed adjuster, and hence the noise could be from that. However, my 97 [2.2 engine] does not have hydraulic lifters, and I spent an afternoon adjusting the lash so it was just perfect. It didn't reduce the noise at all! Besides the noise from a maladjusted lifter is sharp and metallic which doesn't fit. Here is something from the internet that sounds like the noise that I had on my two subarus.

I was going to mention that the noise on my two cars was, indeed, very loud. You could easily hear it when someone else was driving the car 100 ft away after starting. When inside the car, if you kept the radio on, it was tolerable, after warming up. In regard to the lifters, on one of my cars, the 95, the lifter adjustment is automatic. But on my 97, they are adjustable with a wrench and screwdriver. And I did take time to make sure that the gap was perfect. It didn't any difference. I appreciate the comments. It's just a mystery. Especially in view of the post by heartless about the noise level, it has to have been piston slap.

Thanks GD. Both of the 90's subarus in question are 2.2's. The noise in both was the typically described sowing machine sound. The sound matches the RPM's and got somewhat quieter when the car heated up. When the first one started to make the noise, I took it to both, a local guy who offered to listen to it, and the best dealership for maintenance in the area. Both said that it wasn't bearings. In all the comments about piston slap, I never read about it not applying to the 2.2 engine! If I had, I would have been much more worried. I always change the oil every 3-3.5K miles with Penzoil 5w30. I didn't do anything different in either before or after the sound developed. It's a mystery. One car now has 170K and the other 250K miles. They both sound good and ride just fine. The 95 uses oil but the 97 doesn't use a drop.

I have two 90's subarus that developed piston slap at plus 150K miles. The slap went away on both cars after 10-20K miles. I didn't change the type oil or put in any additives. I just wonder if anyone can explain why it went away? It was very laud and annoying on my 95. And for extra credit, how is it that no one has posted any problem with piston slap on 2000+ years. Did subaru lengthen the piston?

I've used automobivetouchup for years. Always a good match on 5-6 different cars. http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

That's an unusual code/ problem. I never had or read of that one on 90's subarus. Just replace it. Get a used IACV from the junk yard. After all, if the maf doesn't sense a air flow, there wouldn't be any gas injection.

Sounds like the problem is solved. Great.

I think it's very unusual that with the 2.5 engine that you have exceeded 270K miles. Congratulations. And in Fairbanks too. Don't they use salt up there? i'm not sure the forester is exactly the same, but on the 97 legacy wagon, the P0440, I think usually means that the purge valve has failed and it is located above the canister behind the passenger rear wheel. But if the light it keeps going off, why bother fixing it. In a lot of the states, however, the check engine light prevents getting new registration so it's a problem that needs fixing immediately. Get that car over 300K and you will lot's of admiration on this site.

Yes, the dealership has to charge for the building, heat and ights, administration personal, snow removal, etc, etc. That's why it pays to read out the codes and do the easy stuff yourself. Replacing the crank sensor is the easy stuff. Unfortunately, if there is no definitive code, and you take it to the dealer, they can't figure out the problem and they just replace something that may be involved in the problem, but usually not. Also, that's why these forums are here.

You should always post your car year, engine, and mileage. I'm sure that you get a ton of answers. But for me, the first thing I would do is make sure that the plug on the crank sensor is solid and no apparent problem on the wiring, and, second, go get a replacement crank position sensor. Even a used one would be fine if you are close to a junk yard.

I would go with the 2.2. I've have/had four 90's subarus with the 2.2 engine. It's a little surprising that the 2.2 had the trans changed [they are usually bulletproof] but if it is shifting fine when you test drive it, then buy it. Just check for bubbles in the coolant reservoir while it idles after driving it which checks for internal HG leaks. External leaks won't be a problem for you since you won't have much invested in it. Otherwise, there is no problem with paying $2000 for the car with 240K+ miles. I would never buy a 90's 2.5 engine unless it only cost $100.

No, no no. If it burns 1/3 qt or 10.7 oz per 1200 miles, then surbaru will replace your short block. The Op should easily pass that test if his data is correct. It's not entirely clear that OP car suddenly started to burn so much oil. Although I have to say that my 2014 doubled the oil consumption at about 15K miles to about 9 oz/1200 mi. It's held steady, up to the current 35K miles, which is about 1.1-1.2 qt/5k miles. I measure the oil consumption very carefully when I change oil at 5K intervals.

Pretty common for starters to fail intermittently. Over the years, I have/had 5 subarus, models 1995 to 2002, and I think that I replaced the starters in each of them. I've used the Advanced Auto starters and haven't had any problems with them.

I've had 4 90's subarus. I must admit that I haven't had this exact problem. I have had problems with the MAF and the knock sensor. So the question is: did you use OEM with the MAF and the KS replacement? It's probably something else, but tit still needs to be settled. By the way, I have had no problems with used MAF or KS. They don't fail that often so that one taken from a wreck would be likely to be defective..

I have a 95 subaru, auto wirth 109Kmiles. I'm getting sounds from the passenger side of the engine which could be piston slap but which sound different. This car has hydraulic valve lifters. So is there any point on taking off the valve cover? I couldn't check the valve clearance could I, since they adjust every time I drive the car. The sound is much louder on acceleration and quites slightly when hot. It's in sinc with the RPM of course.

Its almost always a bad idea to buy a car from a used car lot. This is not to say that one can get a lemon from a private owner because I have done it. I think the best advice about buying a used car is to 1] limit yourself to a specific mgf and small set of years, and 2] research those cars on the internet. I hope that you are able to squeeze yourself out from under their $10,000 billing.

The fuel pump will run for 1-2 sec when you first turn the key to on. You said no fuel, but you didn't say how you know or whether the pump runs.