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Hey,

I have a 1993 Subaru Impreza WRX RA

In the last week I have noticed that when I accelerate there is a whining noise which can be heard coming from the engine. It mainly occurs when I accelerate in 1-3rd gears. I'm hoping this has nothing to do with the turbo, has anybody any ideas?

cheers

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Two possibilities come to mind:

 

(a) Clutch release bearing

(B) Timing belt idler pulley bearings

 

I've had both problems, on different engines. The clutch release bearing sounds like a turbo spinning up. The timing belt idler pulley bearings start as a low grumble, and then gradually become a whine.

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is it a loud whine? or a faint one?

 

because my 93 legacy makes a whining noise in 1-3rd gears also...

 

mine sounds like a turbo (cool sounding, but cant be good...)

 

if thats the clutch bearing, how much does that usually cost to fix? or how difficult is it to do yourself?

It's quite a loud whine. You can hear it faintly when you're not accelerating but driving with the windows open and going past a wall or a curb.

 

This bearing is hard to replace, because you have to separate the engine from the transmission, just as you would if you're replacing the clutch. I'd wait until the clutch needs work.

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Yea it does sounds like a Turbo whining up, that's why I got a little worried.

Would you say it needs to be fixed straight away or is it one of those problems that can wait?

You seemed to describe it spot on canajun2eh so what did you do about it?

cheers

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This was on my 92 Legacy wagon, L model. I retired this thing with 480,000 km on the clock because it needed a clutch, an exhaust system (still the original), a steering rack (still the original), a new rad (still the original), new tires, and also a new front axle. That was too rich for me. Wish I'd done the work -- its replacement (used 95 Brighton wagon) was crap.

 

I just left the noise until it became necessary to change the clutch. In my case, I lived with the problem for over 60,000 km. If you decide to do the same, you might have to replace the clutch release fork too. That's probably not a bad idea.

 

With the way my wife uses a clutch, they last about 190,000 km. The bearing problem started on clutch #2, at around 300,000 km.

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In my case, it couldn't have been a turbo spinning up -- the car didn't have one! Sounded nice (rice?), though.

 

I never noticed that the noise was more pronounced when going around corners -- probably too busy paying attention to all the idiots on the road. I did, however, notice that the noise was more noticeable when there was something low on the ground, like a curb (kerb to you Kiwis).

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Oh not sure about kerb/curb making it sound louder. I'll have a listen next time

It is definately a cheap substitute for those of you who want a car that sounds like it has a turbo.

 

I might just pop it into the local Sub repair place. I'll let ya know how it goes. I definately sleeping better knowing its not Turbo though

Thanks for ya help, your a saviour!

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  • 1 month later...
Hey,

I have a 1993 Subaru Impreza WRX RA

In the last week I have noticed that when I accelerate there is a whining noise which can be heard coming from the engine. It mainly occurs when I accelerate in 1-3rd gears. I'm hoping this has nothing to do with the turbo, has anybody any ideas?

cheers

Hi,

I have a 2001 Impreza GX (out of warranty last March) which is making a similar whining noise to the above. Its done 45,000 miles. The whining is mainly noticable at speeds over 40mph, in any gear, but is gets louder on acceleration.

Does anyone know if a transmission oil additive might help?. but they all warn about not using them in limmted slip diffs.

Any help appreciated.

 

Thanks

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Hey Scooby 6...... ,

I recently noticed an increase whining in the 30-50 mph range that came from the trany and SOA attributed to the planetary gears. They said it was normal, all Subies have this same sound. Few days later, clicking noise from the trany forced them to replace tranny (2nd time) on my 00 Legacy GT with extended warranty. Long story short, new trany does in fact have a whine but less than the older one! I had changed the fluid on the older trany before the replacement but it didn't seem to make any difference with regards the whining sound. A retired SOA mechanic told me that there is a variance and tolerance on how loud this sound gets before SOA would be swayed into a warranty repair. In your out of warranty case, I'd wait for insanity to set in then have it repaired while you are medicated and institutionalized... they won't let you drive anyway!

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My 93 Legacy (the one stolen in another post today) has a "whirring" noise in the transmission. It does sound a lot like a turbo spooling up (but my car is non-turbo). The noise is most pronounced in 2nd and 3rd gears. I first noticed it about 10,000 miles ago. Based on feedback I got from this forum back then, I determined it was the clutch bearing. Since I have other vehicles I can fall back on, I decided to ignore the noise until I need to replace the clutch. In the past 10,000 miles, it hasn't gotten any worse.

 

My car has 207,000 miles on it and still runs better than a lot of nearly new American cars. I maintain it well and hope to see it go past 300,000 miles (that would be a first for me).

 

Good luck with your car!

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