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Just Bought A Gem: 1985 Subaru DL Wagon


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My oil pressure on the car is within spec.  70 at cold start up then goes down to about 25 psi at warm idle.  The oddeset part is the terrible ticking comes and goes.  It is SUPER intermittent.  I checked the pressure when it was ticking and the numbers were goood.

 

I'm at a loss for what the heck is going on....

 

Any ideas?!?!?

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Odd part is my oil pressure numbers when ticking are within spec both at cold start and once it is warmed up.  If it was the pump/seal, wouldn't I see low oil pressure during the ticking??  I owned a few old EA82's years ago and never had the TOD...

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Hmm, so the TOD can happen even when the oil pressure is within factory spec?  I'm like bugging out over here :(  Spent $1600 on this beast, picked her up and drove it 200 miles and the motor ran friggin amazing!  A day later the TOD started and comes and goes.  WHen it ticks its bone chattering then I drive it down the highway and it goes away for an hour or so.  I've changed the oil twice, doing an engine flush of Resoline with little to no effect.  I guess it's time to suck it up and spend the $150 in parts (water pump, timing belt kit, and oil pump seals/gaskets) and see what happens from there.  UGH!

 

Here is a short vid of my oil pressure readings on a cold start up:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZqSAXPUhI

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What you are hearing is a noisy/bad hydraulic lifter. I also take it the weather is cold which can take a huge part in how it sounds. What weight of oil are you using? There are a couple oil discussions on here what you should run in a ea81/ea82 in what temperature. Also have you tried a oil treatment like stp or seafoam? My hatch back has a lifter that is noisy as hell too. I just live with it since the ea81 thats in it is out of a free brat that had the transmission pulled and had been sitting since 04 with a broken speedometer cable at 198k, so i had no clue what was going to be wrong which turned out to be nothing. I haven't done anything to the engine besides put a weber on it, maxima alt upgrade, emissions deleted besides egr, valve cover gaskets, rtv oil pan gasket, oil change, and oil treatment.

Edited by turbosubarubrat
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What you are hearing is a noisy/bad hydraulic lifter. I also take it the weather is cold which can take a huge part in how it sounds. What weight of oil are you using? There are a couple oil discussions on here what you should run in a ea81/ea82 in what temperature. Also have you tried a oil treatment like stp or seafoam? My hatch back has a lifter that is noisy as hell too. I just live with it since the ea81 thats in it is out of a free brat that had the transmission pulled and had been sitting since 04 with a broken speedometer cable at 198k, so i had no clue what was going to be wrong which turned out to be nothing. I haven't done anything to the engine besides put a weber on it, maxima alt upgrade, emissions deleted besides egr, valve cover gaskets, rtv oil pan gasket, oil change, and oil treatment.

I am running 10-40 Castrol in it.  I tried the Risoline engine treatment today and shortly after the engine was quiet as a mouse.  Went for a nice drive parked it and all was good.  Came back out a few hours later , still quiet, took her for another drive.  Got off the highway and it was ticking like a SOB!

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Yeah the quick fixes are hit or miss. You really don't have to jump into the repair immediately though, the noise is more of a noise than anything. My girlfriend's loyale developed TOD shortly after she bought it. It was bad, constant, loud ticking. Nothing made it go away. We drive it like that for about a year. Then i put a new oil pump on, and it had been quiet ever since.

So definitely do fix it, but don't get paniced thinking its an emergency.

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Its Under the hood behind the drivers side strut tower.

This information is incorrect. FUEL INJECTED models have a fuel filter under the hood.

 

CARBURETOR equipped vehicles fuel filters are UNDER the vehicle.

 

Also, If you'd read through this thread you'd have seen that this question has already been answered. Correctly.

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Thank you!  So on Rockauto I see the mounts listed as front and rear.  I am assuming the front are for the engine and the rear are for the transmission?  

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,2000001,parttype,5552

T front according to the link i provided is for the engine and the rear is for a manual transmission.

Edited by turbosubarubrat
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http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,2000001,parttype,5552

T front according to the link i provided is for the engine and the rear is for a manual transmission.

This girl needs some good old TLC.  I finally got rid of the TOD but due to the severe cold snap here in the Northeast, she is leaking oil from every orifice she can (oil pan, oil pump, oil pan drain bolt).  Also her passenger axle is slinging grease and making all sorts of noises.  I guess that's what $1600 gets you n 2014...  I have a good few hours of work in front of me.  But let me tell you, boy do I love her.  I had an 86 Loyale (sedan) when I was 16, the first car I bought earning wages from good old McDonald's and I beat the living pi$$ out of that car.  Made it to 244K and drove away to another lucky buyer who ran it well past 300K.  I was a little peeved today to find that I have to undo the motor mounts in order to change the oil pan gasket. Was really hoping for an easy replacement.  I guess nothing comes easy in life.

Edited by stoogesman
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I guess I got lucky with my two Subarus. Both cars were from NY (the Bronx and Staten island), both were real low mileage (52,000 and 46,000) and we paid a grand total of $2,200 combined. One was 1k flat, the other 1,200. Neither of them have ever really leaked oil very badly. The Loyale did blow its front main seal around 70k and other than an oil pump replacement on the Loyale and a water pump, radiator, and a Weber in the gl, both are great runners.

Then I read about all the other Subarus leaking so much and I count my blessings so to speak lol.

 

Good luck with the repairs! I keep finding no matter what it is we have to do to keep these going, it's worth it.

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