Subaru Legacy sounds like she's got a Soar Throat

[johnnyispy]

I bought my current Subaru Legacy 1998 wagon a little over a month a go and today with some light driving in colder weather she is sounding a little hoarse when accelerating. Being honest I did push her a little hard driving into Calgary and had her up over 165 km for about a minute with a pretty good tail, and wind going down hill until what felt like the governor kick in. I slowed down as soon as felt it - I continued to drive her for the rest of evening with everything being fine maintaing speeds of 110 to 140 km - the Calgary commuters drive pretty fast on the open road and I was only driving with traffic during this time. Today driving her again for another commute and hovering between 90k - 120k she seem fine, on the way home with the temperature dropping - it's about -23c out there at the time of this post she sounds just a louder than normal accelerating. I checked the oil which is mixed in proper portion with Lucas Oil Stabilizer - oils good - no burning or leakage. I also use Lucas Upper cylinder Lube on every tank which really helps on the milage. After hearing that my girl was not happy accelerating I pulled her over - check the oil - she was fine.

 

And when idling there is a slight knock so I got her some octane booster.

 

I like to run 91 to 94 with my Subarus and right now there is mainly 92 in the tank.

 

I am use to Loyales and I still own one. I normally drive no more than 140k

for short periods but keep the the speed at about 110k per hour and in the park where I do the bulk of my driving I keep her around 90k.

 

So the question is could one test of horse power with a good tail wind hurt my engine of 291,000 k?

The timing only has 3000k on it as I just pick this car before Christmas 2007.

And do these 2.2 engines run a little louder when accelerating in colder temps?

 

She sounds fine on the open road at 100-110k in 5th gear but after she has been running for while is when she sounds hoarse when accelerating.

 

Many thanks for any feed back!

 

Johnny:confused:

[johnceggleston]

i had an outback that sounded funny under acceleration, i thought it might be an exhaust gasket leak. but my son wrecked it so i never found out.

[scrapdaddytatum]

they can HOWL if the airbox is not fully snaped shut

might want to check that out

if the top of the airbox is not COMPLETELY snug on the bottom

or you use a K&N filter

then you will hear a nice deep howling, especially inder heavy accel

most subarus have a "slight" knocking

not all but most

hope that helps

but also your description is kinda of vague

can you describe the sound better

[johnnyispy]

I will get back with you today after a day of listening to her again.

 

She sounds very nice under normal conditions but has been louder since the new cold weather has rolled in.

 

I will look her over again - this "stp" octane booster is suppose to reduce the knock and ping.

 

I will get back with a better description of the sound I hearing.

 

Does anyone know if Subaru even has governors on the 1998 Legacy?

As I have never have had her up past 165k before - I was just checking as so many friends say these newer autos have them at about 160k.

 

Many Thanks,

Johnny

[Skip]

Hi Johnny, welcome to the USMB

 

Before you go out for your drive

Check the rather large black plastic

box located under the hood.

 

Just behind the pass side headlamp.

In the foreground on this picture

 

See if you can move the top by hand.

You should not be able to.

 

As J said it may be unclipped

this could cause some issues.

 

As far as I know, no Legacys ever had governors.

 

Hope this helps?

 

165 KMPH = ~ 102.5 MPH

[johnceggleston]

what's a rev limiter?

[Skip]

John please use the "Post Reply" button lower LEFT

 

not the "Reply" button (lower right, in the thread body)

unless some part of the post

is being refered to specifically (see below).

Thanks for understanding.

 

As for your question.

 

what's a rev limiter?

This is an electronic "watch dog" used in some ECUs

that prevents the engine from exceeding a set RPM.

 

I doubt it would be set at an RPM = 105 MPH in this Legacy

but Canada may have rules I do not know about.

[OB99W]

Not directly relevant, but perhaps interesting:

http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/1995LegacyInfo.pdf

[johnnyispy]

Thanks for that PDF - that seems to be exactly what happen as she just seem

to cut out.

 

Leave it to Subaru to protect that precious 2.2 engine. - good on them to say the least!

 

 

The black box is secure and the more I listen to the car engine sounds like in certain case situations like the high pitch sound when I accelerated my car as a child on my electric car racing track - you know the ones that had the groove in the middle of the track to keep the cars from ripping off the track.

 

The sound occurs when accelerating at when at all ready high rpms and in the evening when the dew point is reached in a combination of serious wind chill and -23c like it is tonight. Today she was fine and even when i try to rev her hard she did not sound the same as yesterday evening with in climate weather blowing in. But tonight she sounded the same. It was cold last night as this morning even though I let a 500 halogen sit underneath the engine all night.

 

She let me know she was not happy to start up and the cloud of moisture filled smoke that came out of her until she was warm and ready to go made me fill that she is not being driven enough and I am not keeping the tank

full enough and some condensation is building up in the tank.

 

I have been driving Loyales a long time and this Legacy is a beast. I am impressed with her as with using "The Lucas Upper cylinder Lubricant" I can get almost 400k on the first half of the tank on the highway at 100 k per hour. The 93 Loyale that I have has gotten 850 k on 55 liters.

 

Their good cars and I love them like people love their pets - but more!

 

Will never take the legacy over the 160 mark ever again - and will only do over 120k with her if I really am that late - to waste the gas.

 

Once again, thanks for all the feed back - it's nice to know that folks out there lover their Subarus as much as I.

 

In the last 4 years I have owned three Loyales (90 92 93) between the three I have driven 100,000 K. And now I have owned this Legacy for about 5000 k.

[keltik]

Standard speed limiter on JDM Subarus is 208kph. Cant really explain the sound in yours as both of my Legacys have hit this limiter, and i also cruise for miles above 150kph with no ill effects. Its roughly about 4000rpm in the Legacys ive driven.

 

To summarise i dont think the higher cruising speed caused the problem, im inclined to think its the cold weather. My guess is the higher airflow through the intake for an extended period dislodged a joint somewhere.

[Skip]

thanks for the "insider info" OB99

 

 

This noise comes from under the bonnet?

or

could it be a speedometer cable that's cold?

 

Strike that 1998, no speedo cable.

 

Try a new aircleaner if it's close to being due.

 

The restriction change may change the resonant frequency.

 

You would then know it's intake noise and not an

idler pulley ready to pack it in and

possibly cause some real serious damage.

(T-belt idler vs drive belt idler)

 

"I listen to the car engine sounds like in

certain case situations like the high pitch sound"

[OB99W]

[...]The black box is secure and the more I listen to the car engine sounds like in certain case situations like the high pitch sound when I accelerated my car as a child on my electric car racing track[...]

If there's a whining sound coming from near the front of the engine, it's sometimes caused by an alternator that's under heavy load (or in distress). It might just be that longer cranking times and use of more accessories (wipers, heaters, blowers, etc.), in combination with lowered output from the battery when cold, are requiring the alternator to work harder than usual.

 

 

The sound occurs when accelerating at when at all ready high rpms and in the evening when the dew point is reached in a combination of serious wind chill and -23c like it is tonight. Today she was fine and even when i try to rev her hard she did not sound the same as yesterday evening with in climate weather blowing in. But tonight she sounded the same. It was cold last night as this morning even though I let a 500 halogen sit underneath the engine all night.

Under certain circumstances, cold/moist air can lead to some icing in the intake. That can cause a bit of restriction that might induce a whistling sound.

 

An exhaust joint that's partially open can also whistle. Extreme cold can cause metal to contract enough so that a small opening might occur. If the noise disappears as the engine (exhaust system) warms, that could be what's going on.

 

 

She let me know she was not happy to start up and the cloud of moisture filled smoke that came out of her until she was warm and ready to go made me fill that she is not being driven enough and I am not keeping the tank full enough and some condensation is building up in the tank.

Normal combustion produces a lot of water vapor, but at warm temperatures it's not readily seen. However (especially before the exhaust system warms) cold ambient air allows that moisture to easily condense, and it's obviously visible. It's not usually an indication of excessive moisture in the gas tank; that, however, could cause ice to form in a fuel line, so measures to control it are still important.

[johnnyispy]

This sounds right with your input with the alternator as the noise i am hearing does sound more electrical than that of a combustion motor. I will have the Alternator checked to see if she is almost ready to kick the bucket. But the original alternator in my 1990 Loyale wagon lasted 327,000 k!

This 1998 Legacy is only 292,000 k old.

 

My mechanic says that the 2.2 motor in the Legacy has a very good service sheet compared to the 2.5 that more commonly used now as I understand the head gaskets like to go on the larger motors.

 

Many Thanks a lot for all the feed back - I will inspected all the noted items!

 

Cheers,

 

Johnny

[Skip]

The EJ22 in you car does not suffer the headgasket

problems like some EJ25s do

but..

 

Your engine is an intereference engine.

By this I mean, if the timing belt breaks

you can suffer a valve train crash.

 

OB99W's alt. is a good choice, your mech.

can use a stethescope to check it and

other driven components.

 

The idler pulleys for the timing belt can not

be seen.

They can also fail.

Belt breaks and well??