555Ron Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Hi, I have a 1988 Subaru Leone. I am from Australia so your cars are a little back to front to mine (). About two weeks ago i redid the cooling system. (New radiator, thermostat, thermostat housing, cooling hoses) A week after i started to hear a noise that started mid way through the revs to the high end of the revs. I took it to a mechanic but the noise almost goes away when the car is hot so he couldn't diagnose it. When i refilled it i did it very carefully so i didn't get an air lock in the system. I've not got a lot of experience doing this stuff but i do it carefully. I refilled the system with Tectaloy long life coolant, which isn't the cheap stuff. The water channels inside the motor were in perfect condition, and the car has been well looked after with less then 100,000 miles on it. How do i figure out where the bearing noise is coming from? I've stuck my head near it and revved the engine with no success. I think i may have upset the bearings in the water pump but i don't want to replace it to no avail. Its coming up to be due for an oil change in the engine... but the engine is full of oil and there are no warning lights coming on in the dash. The other little problem i have is a backfire on delceration when cold. The Anti-backfire Valve (Which sits on the right hand side between the air intake and the windscreen washer bottle, near the charcol converter) will rattle pretty violently when i take the foot off the accelerator. So i went to the wrecker and got a second hand ABV and its doing the same thing. Is it two faulty units or is this what they do? Or could it be something else in the anti-pollution 'junk' causing this. The other thing that might make a difference is i had the front muffler replaced with a 2.5" stainless steel pipe... only because it was cheaper. I still run a stock, 1 year old rear muffler on the back. I've been told the catalytic converter is no good any more, but i put my hand over the rear muffler and couldn't find any leaks on a quick inspection. I've got a can of stuff to put down the manifold to get rid of carbon deposits in the cylinder heads, but i don't see how this will fix the problem when it only backfire (like someone is throwing small rocks at the exhaust) when it is cold at pretty high revs. Thanks for your help, and reading all that crap:banghead: (edit: The car only has three pulleys: Alternator, Water pump and crankshaft) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Pretty high revs when cold sounds worrying. Dunno what you mean by "pretty high", but you should be nice to your engine when its cold. The noise could be coming from your water pump or alternator, but could also be coming from a cam belt tensioner. If it doesn't usually make the sound when warm, it may be ok to leave it untill it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 it sounds like a belt thats not tight enough. If you are running a single belt, they have to be VERY, VERY tight or they will squealing noise. for what you said you have pulleys for, you should have dual v belts on it. I'd start there. cracked, or worn belts will also slip and make noise. Is the water pump leaking? when the bearings go bad, the tattletail one will usually leak coolant. Is this car a EA81, or EA82? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 I think very very tight may be overdoing it. You should be able to twist the longest length of belt 90 degrees when its tight enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
555Ron Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 I really baby the engine when its cold. And when its at operating temperature i still baby it and look after the car because i enjoy driving it and intend to keep it. And, i'm a Subaru fanatic and i just couldn't abuse a Subaru. It doesn't make any squealing noises, but i did notice today that the belt had a little shudder in it. I'm going to check the crankshaft pulley because it came loose about a year ago, after starting the engine. The noise sounds like suddenly theres a turbo diesel under the bonnet, and isn't related to the clutch. The pump isn't leaking yet. I noticed my mechanic also checked the tension of the belt when he looked over the engine, so i think its ok. I think camshaft belt tesioner may be the best bet. It was checked before i purchased the car, but any work these mechanics did on the car, they seem to have done a half hearted job with cheap parts. Ross, the rally of NZ is two weeks away too;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 turbo diesel - sure this isn't HLA noise? otherwise - get a mechanics stethoscope ( i picked one up for a few dollars and it works great for locating bad bearings). should be able to remove the belt and locate the pulley without a problem. spin it by hand and look for play. like someone mentioned if it's a timing related pulley it could be hard to get to for testing without removing the belts. remove the two left and right side timing covers (very easy to do - a couple 10mm bolts and the car is still completely driveable, just covers). make sure one of the timing pulleys or tensioners is not frozen or very tight. sometimes you can even see damaged pulleys just by visual inspection. bearings sticking out or wobbling action...etc. best to pull the covers and look. (they are in theory very easy to remove - a couple 10mm screws/bolts like i said). rust can make them tricky - spray them with liquid wrench or equivalent. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
555Ron Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 Ok, on the basis there are no stupid questions... only stupid answers, what does HLA stand for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 HLA - Hydraulic Lash Adjuster - aka hydraulic lifters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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