new member question. hello all!

[hogweed]

i'm looking at a 1997 legacy to buy and it seems to have a knock in the engine. i have read about "piston slap" but this noise remains after engine is warm. it is a 2.2 litre and my questions are these: what else could it be and do these engines have some noise issues?

thanks,

gregg

[1 Lucky Texan]

possible timing belt tensioner. Or a real internal problem.

 

 

Can you get the car to an experienced soob mech. before purchase?

[2X2KOB]

Can you identify it? It might be wiser to just move on. What's the rest of the car like?

[hogweed]

Can you identify it? It might be wiser to just move on. What's the rest of the car like?

rest of car is decent. 150k, a bit dirty but not bad. sound seems to be in the back pass side of the engine and the guy says "they all sound like that". price is $2500

[1 Lucky Texan]

rest of car is decent. 150k, a bit dirty but not bad. sound seems to be in the back pass side of the engine and the guy says "they all sound like that". price is $2500

 

ask yourself, if it needed another 2K spent on it in the first 6 months after you bought it - would still be a decent car? Better to skip it now or maybe spend $75 to have a mech give you a list of what it may need and do a compression test.

 

I dunno. There aren't too many used soobs where I live but there are a LOT of used cars. No need to get a questionable one to start with!

[Chef]

Could be a sticking lifter. But that sounds more like an aggressive tap. I wouldn't buy anything with a distinct knock. Could lead to something as nasty as a broken rod.

 

 

 

ask yourself, if it needed another 2K spent on it in the first 6 months after you bought it - would still be a decent car? Better to skip it now or maybe spend $75 to have a mech give you a list of what it may need and do a compression test.

 

I dunno. There aren't too many used soobs where I live but there are a LOT of used cars. No need to get a questionable one to start with!