Souperoo

OK, I may trade it in for a newer model. In the mean time I'm not driving it.

Thanks. I guess it would just be a matter of luck dropping the pan and seeing if I can access the offending rod. Which one is not accessible? And is it possible to narrow down which cylinder it is by pulling plug wires one at a time?

Thanks but that wouldn't explain the copper in the oil.

I posted before about this and there seemed to be a little confusion on whether I can or can not replace the rod bearings without splitting the block in half. Something about not being able to access #1 rod bolts. I did an oil change and after the oil sat for 2 days til I poured it out to be recycled, copper had settled to the bottom of the catch pan. Amazingly the knock is almost difficult to hear. If I could get to all the bearings would it be a waste without a new/ground crank?

And I thought GM was bad with 7psi. On my GM hot rod I installed a 30psi switch for the warning light in addition to a gauge.

Lucky, speaking of that, is the easiest way to check the oil pressure by removing the sender and installing a temporary gauge?

Would piston slap go away under load? And what is the chance of only 1 piston slapping? By the way, I don't know for sure what piston slap is, is it the skirt slapping on the cylinder wall? Thanks

I dumped some STP in it and it got quieter but still there. The startup noise that sounds just "like" lifters got really quiet, pretty much gone. The knock that is in question does get louder with RPM if out of gear. With a load on the motor it's very very difficult to hear while driving. If I do pull the motor I'd probably fix it so I know what I have when I'm done instead of a junk yard motor. The timing belt kit was Gates I think.

Timing tensioner was replaced along with the rest of the timing belt parts. Same sound before and after. Maybe I'll dump some thick crap like Lucas in it and see how it sounds. It's not very loud now, I'll see what happens. Thanks for all the ideas.

Thank you both. I think I'll take both bits of advice and keep driving it and try a little heavier oil, I think I put in something pretty lightweight. This last arctic blast of cold weather it only got down to 18F here and this weekend highs in the 60's! And a double thanks for the little rundown of the way the engine is built, although something just hit me, if it's not hydraulic why does it tap when first started then quickly it goes away? Sure sounds like hydraulic lifters, in fact sometimes one of them taps a little longer, maybe for a minute til it stops.

2004 Forester 2.5 non turbo 201,000 miles. It has what sounds like a rod knock, not real loud and it's been there for a couple thousand miles and hasn't gotten any worse. It's been there since I had the car, at first I thought it was just a noisy lifter. Can only hear it when out of gear and rev it a little or when neither accelerating or decelerating. How hard is it to replace the rod bearings without pulling the motor? While I'm at it I'll also do the head gaskets. My skill level is a few notches down from a mechanic but above a shade tree mechanic. I have rebuilt a V8 by myself with good success. And while it's that far apart should I do the rings also? I'm wondering if there is enough room in there to hone the bores? Or just pull the motor and rebuild the whole thing? Or get a low mileage motor from pull-a-part? I know right now there is only 1 2004ish forester there, anyone know what other years will swap in with minimal effort? Or I could just drive it and if it doesn't get worse, keep driving it.

I tried one more thing in case the heater coolant control valve was leaking, I put a pair of needle nose vice grips on the heater hose. No change.

I already did put gauges on it, already had a cheap set. I forget the numbers, but they are in spec. The one thing that I wonder about is how fast the high side goes down when the compressor stops. I'm guessing at about 100# drop in less than 2 seconds. I have no idea if that is normal? After that initial drop, it takes a long time to equalize the 2 sides. How hard is it to get to the temp sensor? I've had enough off to access the radio but don't know how much more would have to come apart and how time consuming it is. The sensor you mention, is that an electrical sensor or a bulb that regulates the expansion valve? And/or does it have both? Also as mentioned, until the car gets really hot, only one fan runs with the compressor. The cool side of the condenser gets hot enough to burn a finger with 1 fan running. When both fans run then it gets hot, but cool enough to hold. Also I believe the fans are running on low speed.

I should have mentioned that I did try a little over and under charged. Works better under charged, but still blows warm almost as soon as the compressor kicks off. It did the same thing overcharged also, it just didn't get as cold in between the off cycles. And of course tried it with the proper charge and still get the warm cycle. Oh, and I found the sun load sensor, I was looking on the wrong side.

Yes the climate control part does change operation depending on load, and it will slow down the fan speed by itself on one of those rare occasions that it gets cool enough. But when you go manual, the fan speed should stay on whatever you set it at, which it does, but it gets warm. The schematic shows a sunlight load sensor which is located on the dash but I sure don't see it on mine? There is also a temp sensor somewhere close to the evaporator (I think). When I get a chance I'm going to take out the control panel which gets me closer to that sensor. Just to the front of the ignition switch is a tiny vent that pulls air in to monitor interior temperature. That might go the temp sender I just mentioned? Manual shows to put a narrow piece of paper in front of it to see if it is pulling air in. It does, but surely not much. Not enough to pull the paper toward the vent, but enough to very slightly hold it there as I pull it away. Again I think that is for the climate control but I'm not sure. I may put tape over it to see if it gets better or worse.