PlaneDriver

I found the source of the noise when I was rebuilding the engine over the past week. The heat shield to the outside of the turbo under the spare tire holder had a few small cracks in it. I drilled a hole near them and put some washers and nut/bolt through it. This prevented the parts from moving together and now there is no noise at any point on the rev range.

We finished the rebuild today and the car is driving again! We ended up leaving the engine in the car which made reassembly quite difficult. We did everything in my initial post except replace the oil pan seal. The engine itself was extremely clean on the inside (not so much on the outside as you can see in the pictures below). The injectors were beautiful and the cylinders perfect. (The crap you see in the #3 cylinder in the picture came when we removed the head. It wasn't there previously.) Not a complete surprise since the car has less than 80,000 miles, but very nice to see. We didn't keep track of which pipes were which when we took some of them off and ended up putting a cooling tube for the turbo in the bottom and not out the front. The front pipe is smaller than the bottom one and was extremely difficult to put on the bottom of the turbo. We only discovered this when we tried to put the other pipe on the front and it wasn't long enough. Not wanting to take the turbo off after how hard we tried to put it on, I went and bought some new pipe to use on the front. It's always the little things like the wrong pipe or a bolt that isn't tight enough that get you. The car started perfectly on the first try this morning and is running great. We spilled some of the power steering fluid (which is actually auto tranny fluid for this car, strangely) so I bought some more to pour in. There was quite a bit of white smoke during the first run we did. It mainly came from near the turbo and the exhaust gaskets. It definitely wasn't burning oil. Probably antifreeze or any sealant stuff on the newly installed gaskets. I've stopped seeing the smoke so I'm not worried. I also eliminated the noise I posted about here. The heat shield below the spare tire holder had some small cracks in it so I drilled a hole and clamped them with washers and a nut/bolt. No rattling noise anywhere in the rev range. Some pictures:

Since winter is here and I have a month between semesters, I decided that now would be a great time to replace the engine seals and some other parts in my '89 RX. The parts I currently have on my list are: Head Gaskets Valve Cover Seals Cam Seals Timing Belts and Tensioners Water Pump Oil Pan Gasket I see that RockAuto has a Fel-Pro head gasket and seal set (part # HS9392PT). The PT means perma-torque which is what I want, correct? This set comes with valve cover seals and a bunch of other seals. It appears to come with cam seals as well. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1989-89-SUBARU-RX-Cylinder-Head-Gasket-FEL-PRO-HS9392PT_W0QQitemZ160380688834QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item25576f19c2 This is the timing belt kit I'm looking at. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1989-89-Subaru-RX-1-8-Timing-Belt-Kit-EA82-EA82T-NEW_W0QQitemZ310186524172QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item48388ebe0c I have also noticed that it tends to idle high after a cold start. Today it was 50 *F when I started it and initial idle was 2500 rpm. Normally it idles around 2000 rpm after a similar start. Should I replace the thermostat too? Posts here recommend replacing the front oil seal. To do this do I just remove the crank shaft pulleys and sprockets? My goal is to do this work without pulling the engine. I could since I have access to an engine stand, but all this should be doable without right? Should I also replace the spark plugs at this time? Lately I have noticed a squeal just after starting that takes ~10min to go away. My guess is the alternator. I know of a place I can take it to get it rebuilt. I have the Subaru service manuals and my dad has done an engine rebuild before so I'm confidant we can do it. My main concern is removing the camshafts and putting them back on correctly. Anything else I should watch out for?

Does any current Subaru come with both i-Active Timing and AVCS?

Are the trim pieces riveted in? If there were rivet or some other kind of attachment hole in the door, what did you use to fill it?

So I just got done spending some valuable time under the car. I added some foam to the engine bay where stuff vibrated. Doing that seemed to remove any sounds below 5000rpm. Just over 5000rpm, there is still a rattle. I ran it up in the driveway to try and find the source. Standing in front of the car with the hood open, it is impossible to hear anything but the engine at that rev range. That eliminated my bearing concerns. Standing to the side of the car though, you can easily hear a rattle. It's got to be a heat shield. I tried to move various pieces when I was under it but didn't notice anything. I'll check again later this week when I replace some of the CV boots. My dad and I also found evidence of a minor oil leak, which the previous owner had mentioned but said he never had to add extra oil. We also found an antifreeze leak. Just running it up 4-5 times in the driveway produced a noticeable amount of coolant on the ground. I plan on cleaning the bottom of the car to try and pinpoint the leak. I'm really sorry for your loss, Bill. That really sucks. I bought a fire extinguisher on my way home from work Friday. Turns out there was already one in the car, so now I have 2 2lb extinguishers. Hopefully I'll never need them.

Listening with headphones may allow you to hear it better. At least for me it is due to crappy laptop speakers. The best I can do to explain the sound is a rubbing or grinding. Think of a bad skateboard wheel. You spin the wheel and instead of having a nice smooth sound, you can tell it has a bad bearing and slows down quickly. But I don't feel any vibrations in the steering wheel. That's what makes me think it's an individual component. I've been thinking maybe water, oil pump, or alternator bearings. I wonder if it would be safe to put it in neutral and run it up carefully and have someone looking at the engine to pinpoint it more directly. This would also remove the wind noise component in a recording. Of course, if I didn't hear it, then it would narrow down to the drivetrain.

I bought a 1989 RX earlier this week with 73,000 miles. Everything's good except for a noise coming from the engine compartment above 3000rpm. Above 3000, I will hear it in various locations up to 6000rpm (the highest I've taken it). It will go away and come back seemingly at random in that range. If I hear it and then hold that rpm constant, it will go away. The noise happens regardless of turbo or air conditioning operation. Today I went out and made a video of the sound to hopefully get some answers as I would like to fix it. I also heard the sound sustained for the first time. It is at the end of the video when I am at about 5000 rpm. The first clip is windows up and the second clip is windows down. I've marked the video as to the locations of the sound. Some things I have reasoned: This sound does not occur between idle and 3000rpm. It only comes out at higher revs and then only temporarily (usually). I don't think it's the turbo because I have heard the turbo spool up completely without hearing this noise. I have noticed that the driver's side fan in the engine bay is cracked at various locations on the base between fan blades. Rotating the fan when the engine is off does not show any areas of rubbing. The fan isn't connected via belts to the engine either, so I doubt it's this, but I do plan on replacing it anyway. Anyone have a spare? Maybe it's a pump of some sort. I haven't noticed any problem with overheating. The longest I've had the engine running is 45 minutes in the city. The engine temperature gauge is always pegged in the middle. It never goes any higher than that. Any help as to what the sound is is greatly appreciated!

Congratulations! I just bought an '89 RX two days ago. 73,000 miles, no rust, all electrical parts work, AC blows cold, all rubber seals are good (no cracking), and the general condition of the interior is good. The tops of the rear seats have holes in them, but I live in Arizona and the sun burns hot. I plan on making/getting made some covers to slip over the backs. The original radio is in the car but not hooked up. I plan on getting a replacement unit anyway so I may drive without tunes for a little bit. I have some questions for the users here. 1) What type of fuel are you using? Regular, premium? I would check the owner's manual but the owner didn't have it and couldn't recall ever having it (he was the second owner). This leads me to... 2) I found the owners manual for a 1988 model on eBay. Would most of the info still apply to a 1989 model? At least having the manual is better than not, right? There are a few seemingly minor mechanical things I have noticed/was told about. 1) There is a clicking sound almost like a plastic cooling fan rubbing the shroud that I hear under full acceleration above 3000rpm. If I hold that rpm steady in cruise though, the sound goes away. The owner said he had this checked at a shop and was told it was a minor vibration and not to worry. True? Maybe I'll record it sometime for you to hear. 2) There is a minor oil leak but most of the leaking oil burns off. Any common locations I should check out? 3) Finally, other than what was stated previously in the thread, anything else I should replace? Initially, I plan to replace at least one CV joint on the front left because it has cracked. That will be done in the next few weeks before the monsoon starts. Thanks!