clanking noise in engine

[abcus]

I have a legacy 1990 . The engine has a metallic sound in it at idle. It seems to be at the rear passenger cylinder and drivers front area.

Could it be a water pump going out.

?

It squeals badly as you start up sometimes/

Sorry for skimpy details. i don know the computer very well and get kicked off if I write to much.

Thanks for all you guys do. I did follow some threads.

[GeneralDisorder]

Could be simply a hydraulic lifter complaining. Try changing the oil and adding a quart of ATF in place of one quart of oil.

 

Very unlikely to be related to the water pump.

 

The squealing is probably just one of the belts. Inspect them and replace/tighten as needed.

 

GD

[nipper]

How many miles?

[abcus]

I have 198k on it. I am hoping that is a mere pup by Subaru standards.

I will change the oil in the morning with a quart of atf mixed in. I like pennzoil 10 w 30.

This is the first it has run for awhile since I just put an different air meter in it and got it running.

Thanks

[GeneralDisorder]

If it's been sitting for a while the lifters can bleed down and Subaru says it can take as long as an hour of driving for them to properly inflate. The ATF won't hurt anything in any case. It will tend to knock loose and soften oil varnish and deposits in the engine though which can be helpful.

 

198k is about 2/3 of the normal life of the EJ22's with normal maintenance. With exceptional maintenance and synthetic oil much higher than that is possible. 300k to 350k is typically where people start seeing major internal failures of one form or another - rod bearings mostly but when those go they will tear a hole in the top of the engine block and it's pretty obvious. I don't think we should jump to conclusions like that for your's just yet though.

 

GD

[abcus]

I changed the oil and mixed in atf (1 quart). The old oil level was about 2 inches above the full mark. i ran a magnet through to oil that came out ,but not much showed up on it.

I could not get it to start up. Maybe it was just luck that it started up after i changed the air meter.

 

To give a little history on the car.

 

I bought it 2 years ago. It always started up rough but smoothed out after a few minutes.

It overheated 6 months ago. I stopped driving it. When it stops it thumps. The motor mounts are bad.

 

 

What I did since last week.

new plugs

checked ohms on plug wires

Changed air meter with junkyard one

 

 

Questions

 

 

Are the injectors hard to take off?

What else can I check?

[GeneralDisorder]

Is the check engine light on?

 

GD

[nipper]

Exactly how overheatd was overheated?

 

You need to pull the plugs to the injectors one at a time to see if the noise goes away.

 

Extra fluid in the oil, what did the oil look like and smell like?

[abcus]

The c e light is on when I turn the key on but goes away when I crank it. If and when it runs and stays running, the c e light is gone.

 

The oil was brown and did not have any major smell to it. The oil I put in was thicker than what i took out. I guess I could pour the old oil to another container and see if it was milky at the end.

 

When it overheated I was on the freeway and was able to get it to a gas station in about 3 miles downhill. As i recall, the mechanic kept the car running , sprayed water on the radiator. It must have cooled down, and he safely took the cap off. White liquid came out sprayed over most of the engine. He thought it was the thermostat or a blown head gasket. I carefully drove home 40 miles and the temp. stayed down. The white liquid may have been there when we raised the hood. Now, there is some pressure when i open the radiator cap when the engine is cold.

Today:

I unhooked the plug wires one at a time and ground it over . No. 1 cylinder did not backfire like the others.

It still does not start.

Are you talking about pulling the electrical plugs on the ejectors,Nipper?

Edited August 15, 2010 by abcus
put in time.

[nipper]

The c e light is on when I turn the key on but goes away when I crank it. If and when it runs and stays running, the c e light is gone.

 

The oil was brown and did not have any major smell to it. The oil I put in was thicker than what i took out. I guess I could pour the old oil to another container and see if it was milky at the end.

 

When it overheated I was on the freeway and was able to get it to a gas station in about 3 miles downhill. As i recall, the mechanic kept the car running , sprayed water on the radiator. It must have cooled down, and he safely took the cap off. White liquid came out sprayed over most of the engine. He thought it was the thermostat or a blown head gasket. I carefully drove home 40 miles and the temp. stayed down. The white liquid may have been there when we raised the hood. Now, there is some pressure when i open the radiator cap when the engine is cold.

Today:

I unhooked the plug wires one at a time and ground it over . No. 1 cylinder did not backfire like the others.

It still does not start.

Are you talking about pulling the electrical plugs on the ejectors,Nipper?

 

 

The check engine light is doing what it is supposed to do. it tells you the bulb is working.

 

The engine was cooked. Thats bad.

 

Try replacing the radiator cap as it sounds like it is not working properly.

 

Wooooooooo

 

Backfires?

 

When was the last time the timing belt was done?

 

Pulling plug wires can cause unburnt fuel to collect in the cylinder. This MAY cause a backfire. The other side of the coin if they always backfire timing can be off. Either way that one cylinder is not doing anything, and that can be from the timing being off, bent valves, dead fuel injector, loss of compression.

 

When does it backfire?

 

Is there anything else you are leaving out?

[WoodsWagon]

I have seen water pumps seize, the timing belt will slip across them and may squeel at start up. It will also overheat pretty quick.

 

Clanking noise could be lots of things. Make sure the crank bolt is tight, and check to see the crank pully hasn't been wobbling.

 

Even if you really overheated it, there was still coolant in it. The engine's not done until it's boiled off most of the coolant and is still being run. So I wouldn't worry too much, just fix why it overheated.

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah - the fact that it doesn't start and it overheated - I agree that you might have a timing belt issue. Pull the covers and inspect. Could have easily skipped a few teeth. I've seen that from a seized water pump.

 

GD

[abcus]

I pulled the electrical connections on the injectors. i could not get no.4 off. With the 3 of them off it ground over more evenly. It tried to catch when I had 1,3,4 hooked up. IT did not get any better when I added no 2 cylinder injector. It does seem to bettter when I pump the gas, but does not start.

 

It did not backfire at first so that must be the gas building up in the cylinder like what was mentioned .

Later on there were late backfires even after I had stopped grinding over and taken the key out.

 

 

I then removed the plug wires from what I call the coil and checked from 1 to 2 position and got 13 ohms and the same reading on 3 to 4. The plug wires tested a 12.6 on the 200k scale. Then I put no.1 plug wire back in place because at one point last week i got it to run on that cylinder alone for a few seconds. No luck.

I hooked them up one at a time and it did not start.

 

I have had the car for 2 years and i have not put a timing belt on. B4 that unknown.

 

Radiator cap. Each day I check the radiator and take the cap off and it has pressure so would not that mean the cap was good? The car has not run, would the pressure come from a leaking head gasket and cranking?

abcus

[GeneralDisorder]

At this point you need to pull the outer belt covers and check the timing belt. Pull the crank pulley bolt and pull the center cover too if you can and check the water pump, etc.

 

What you are doing is just wasting time. The engine's valve timing is likely incorrect due to a broken/slipped belt and no amount of tinkering with the ignition system will make it work.

 

GD