Subaru Engine Piston Slap Sound
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- Опубліковано 2 лис 2024
- This Video shows you the sound of piston slap on a Subaru Impreza car engine. As a Subaru car engine gets older, the sides of the Pistons can slap against the cylinder walls. This is called piston slap. It sounds terrible, but a car can go tens of thousands of miles with piston slap. If your car sounds like this, don’t panic. It is normal on older Subaru engines. Piston slap usually gets quieter as the engine warms up, and it’s only really loud when the engine is cold. That’s how you can differentiate it from the sound of a bad connecting rod bearing. If your Subaru engine is making this sound, keep driving it and you’ll probably be fine. You can fix it by replacing the Pistons, but it will come back again eventually. It is mostly harmless. The engine in this car is a 2005 2.5 Liter Subaru FJ 25 engine.
Another good way to differentiate between rod knock and piston slab is, piston slab gets better when the engine gets hotter and the piston expands. Rod knock gets worse, because the cold oil is more viscose and dampenes the noise and when the oil gets hotter is more liquid and the dampening effect reduces dramatically. If you have a oilpressure gauge you also can see, that the oil pressure is unusually low and potentially dangerous for the rest of the engine.
Therefore a piston slab is less severe than rod knock BUT that doesn't mean you don't have to take care of it.
It is piston slap, ive had vehicles with rod knock and piston slap ( old EJ engines notorious for slap )that is NOT a rod journal bearing! The #1 way you know is if it stops after around 10 minutes when the piston head swells to conform to the diameter of the combustion chamber. A rod knock will NEVER stop, it gets progressively worse and it also produces a different sound. Its a very hard resounding deep knock. Piston slap is annoying at worst when its cold, and does nothing really to the vehicle
This is correct i have a ej205 at the moment that has developed a rod knock for the past 3k miles when its cold you cant really hear it but after it gets warmer it starts to knock crazy and it gets louder every day aswell.
@@kirilakmadjov8307 it happens to the best of us, you could drop the oil pan and slip in some new bearings for a cheap fix or let a mechanic do it( more expensive ) depending on how much it means to you
Or run it til it blows
@@S.L.R. i bought new rod bearings a month ago with the intention to drop the pan but i said to myself if it had gotten to the state of knocking new bearings wont do the trick for too long anyway.So ill rebuild the whole engine next month new crank and bearings.
@@kirilakmadjov8307 sounds good man
We bought our 2003 Outback with 25,000 miles on it, in 2007. It made the piston slap sound then, we were told about it by the sellers, and to this day, at 81,000 miles, it still makes the same sound when cold. Take a drive across town and it quiets down. A couple years ago I changed the timing belt, tensioner and pulleys, and water pump, so examined the tensioner for slackness, as that can be the source of some noise in some engines, but it was fine. It's always been parked outside in Anchorage, Alaska, so it is pretty loud on a cold day, much more pronounced than yours in the video. I just do regular oil changes, and it never lets us down.
People say it can run fine for many years while making piston slap sounds. I recommend you keep driving it forever. You’ll probably be fine.
I'd be so grateful for help, as any repair will be debt. My meghanic is not Subaru trained. / how could I have gotten free bloch replacement on my 2011 Forester? was preowned paid off. Now heard rod knocks at 45mph- within couple minutes, stopped accelerating. All lights turned back off that were on dash after car was pushed in neutral- then only red oil lamp symbol stayed
@@hoohoohoblin I'd be so grateful for help, as any repair will be debt. My meghanic is not Subaru trained. / how could I have gotten free bloch replacement on my 2011 Forester? was preowned paid off. Now heard rod knocks at 45mph- within couple minutes, stopped accelerating. All lights turned back off that were on dash after car was pushed in neutral- then only red oil lamp symbol stayed
Yep, this is it. Thank you. I have been noticing a slight noise (this exact noise) on cold start and for about 5-10 minutes as the engine warms. Twenty year old car. I have a new car on order that should arrive in some months so I just need it to last until then.
It should still run for quite a while with the sound.
I did from 200k km to 400k with the sound😊 then i changed the engine since i happened to have one in Better conditions from One parts car, but was still going strong, only the maintenance and some oil
Same on my 99 forester. Rod knock would get worse with heat.
This is an EJ25 btw.
Good vid.
Thanks
My Toyota Celica piston slaps but it still runs strong! Great to see that i’m hearing an issue that isn’t exactly immediately fatal
What kind of celica? I have an st185 and I am stil rapairing an apparent exhaust-turbo gas leak. Seam that this has the same sound
@@keruski5919 sorry for the late response. it's a 2002 Celica GT. i love it to death and must've put another 3k miles on it as it's a doordash mobile lol.
This is actually the timing belt tensioner hydraulic pin knocking on the steel pin attached to the bracket. You cannot go tens of thousands of miles with piston slap.
This is exactly what my car does. Just take care of it best I can. Drive it to the end.
*THIS* OH MY GOD. ITS THIS. Thank you so much for posting this video. I drive a 10 year old falcon (Ford Ecoboost 2.0 T) that makes the EXACT SAME SOUND when cold. Though because of the sound insulation it sounds more muffled through the cabin. It lasts 5-10 seconds when cold then mysteriously disappears. No mechanic has ever picked it up because by the time i get to the mechanic it's gone. It's been going on for three years now and it still drives fine.
You're welcome! On Subaru engines, they say it’s not a problem, but I’m not sure if it will eventually blow up a Ford engine.
This is the exact sound I had on my EJ205 right after I had it rebuilt by a Subaru dealership... I thought it was just break-in noise from the new short-block they installed, but then I also noticed it was leaking oil from one of the cam covers, so I took it back and had it fixed under warranty. IDK what the cause was to this day, but I'm not so sure it was piston slap because the sound went away after they replaced the valve cover, and probably inspected/adjusted the timing belt. I don't think they took the heads off and replaced the pistons in a few days time...
It depends on how long you drove it after the rebuild, how bad the oil leak was, and if the oil level was too low.
My 97 outback and 99 outback both with EJ25 engines had this sound. It’s completely normal, it’s just an old boxer engine thing. Mine goes away in 10 seconds
This eased my mind 😂 mine sounds exactly like this, my mind went right to rod knock😅
It’s a frightening sound, but they say it can run a long time like this. Mine is still going strong.
Update…. bugeye blew up😂
@@samcaceres3367 Damn.
Haha built in auditory feature. I like that. Yes it’s definitely a piston slap. I just rebuilt my 08 all the way down the main bearings. It had new pistons that were a few thou under sized for some reason and it makes the same sound now, same decibel and all.
All that work, and still the same sound! It’s good to know that the car can still run fine with some slapping.
Piston slap is essentially the piston head wiggling around inside the cylinder. It can and will eventually wear your cylinders out. The Subaru people who say it's 'normal' for the engines may be right, it may be 'normal' for Subie engines, but it's not a good thing. Any mechanic with a brain cell will tell you that piston slap isn't good for your engine. I do have a Subie, and while mine doesn't make the noise, I'm quite glad because it is not a good noise and while the engine may last a while longer, it's still something to be aware of and the potential damage is something to be prepared for.
older ejs is not a big problem, the seal is so tight and good that the pistons cant really get a "slap" but some small wiggles. but newer ejs where the seal isnt as tight because if them trying to get better gas mileage with less friction, the piston wil do proper slaps and the rings and bores will wear out from being allowed to vibrate more freely.
Ohh man this is horrific compared to what I was scared about. My wrx does this in winter temps for about 20-30 seconds and that’s it. Probably it is heading to something like this. Thanks for the video ✌️
You’re welcome
I have the same sound like the exact same sound.. Is it really a piston slap?? I checked the Timing Belt Tensioner, its good.. Pulled the Valve cover and checked the clearance, all within spec but one is a bit off.. the exhaust clearance on the cylinder #3 is a bit loose (0.014) can that cause the tick or knock?? and i also dropped the oil pan and checked the rod bearings, 2,3 and 4 were good.. took the bearing off and checked the rod journal, it looked great.. is it my cylinder #1 knocking?? ggaaaahhhhh
2015 EJ25 STI owner here. Check your timing belt tensioner.
how could a tensioner cause this noise?
@@dagurorarinsson2827 See ua-cam.com/video/tAxiFJ2rHBE/v-deo.html
Did subaru pour lead on piston liners to reduce wear? My son has a 2003 ej25 and said it might have a rod knocking. I did an oil sample and it has 4.5 times the universal average.
That’s scary. I wonder if they did that.
What about if it only does it at certain rpms? Is it the same thing piston slap?
i have a 2016 wrx ticking/knocking at 2.5k-3k and it seems more like something is loose in the engine bay. it can sound exactly like a knock almost
Piston slap will degrade the bore and increased wear to the piston rings. It can also let in oil and start burning it.
That's another reason why they call it the boxer engine, because as a luxury you get that physical contact slap sound like a speed boxer
2618 forged pistons do the same. I had to use .09mm wall clearance on my engine because of how much the piston expanded after heating up. It’s a price to pay for high performance.
My Impreza has this sound. Would you recommend to put thicker oil in it 10W-40 now for instance? Thank you
That’s a good question. I put some oil additive in it and it runs fine. You can go to the Subaru, forums and see what people say there. Usually when you start talking about oil, everybody disagrees about everything.
@@hoohoohoblinmy 96 EJ25D outback does this. Doesn’t quiet down after warming up. 136k miles did head gaskets 6k ago.
10w40 didn’t make it go away but helped tremendously. Rotella T4 conventional 10w40 or 15w40 works wonders.
Your engine needs 5W-30 or 5W-40, the latter one is for summer. Going with a thicker oil may burn out critical engine bearings, quiet it's death and reduce oil consumption while it plans to drain your savings. Actual results may vary. 😂
I have a subaru forester 04 xs and it makes this same sound but once it heats up its gone , honestly it may be Normal for this vehicle, been hearing that since I bought it
When the car heats up the pistons expand thats why the sound goes away
My 2009 toyota matrix 1.8 liter has that noise but doesnt go away when it warms up..i think i have a loose piston.
Did it blow up?
@@melissasmess2773 no..i tore engine apart..i need to rebuild it.
this video helped a lot, my outback does this too
My 2003 Subaru outback has the same issue, though it won’t go away over time. It stays. But you can’t hear it it higher rpm’s though.
Same dude 02 Impreza
Does the sound get less noticeable after 3k rpm?
Mine gets quieter when it warms up.
Is it the high pitch sound or a different sound?
It’s definitely not knock or it would get louder when you let off the throttle
Did u try conventional oil with the same viscosity? I think that would fix the noise somehow
I put some oil stabilizer in with the oil, and that quiets it down a little bit.
y'all said the slap should stop once the engine is warm but mine is none stop till the engine is off basically the slaps never stops till the engine is off is it bad or it's normal???
I think that’s normal, but you might want to have a Subaru expert look at it.
Brand new (2 weeks old) engine sounds like this on my WRX… should I bring this to the attention of the dealership?? I’m a bit of a car hypochondriac tho
Any updates ?
Just bought an 05 WRX. Makes the same exact sound but I hope it’s normal.
Has it blown up yet?
Its fine if it goes away when the motors warm.
Yeah. 2014 Wrx. Same sound when it sits for days. Goes away after 5 seconds or so.
Hmm did you fix it? Or does it became louder?
It hasn’t gotten any louder, and it’s still running. I’m just gonna drive it until it wears out. People say they can run like this for a long long time.
@@hoohoohoblinshe still running strong ? Because I am in fact having this issue and was a little worried at first I’m hoping it’s nothing major
You know it's interesting this sounds exactly what the when lifters are wrong so I really don't know if I have that or lifters and some people are like nope that's what my car sounds like it's fine it's been running forever so
It's not "normal" and it drives me insane but I try to live with it. I hate it though
Mine made that noise for about 40k miles, as the oil consumption gradually worsened to the point that I was putting a full quart of oil in every gas tank fill up. Just to clarify, I bought the car when it had 120k miles on it, and it started making that noise at 160k miles. Then suddenly (at about 195k miles), a bearing failed and the noise got MUCH, MUCH worse. Bearing metal throughout the engine, horrible symptoms while trying to drive made it unusable. I replaced the engine with a remanufactured engine, and the noise is entirely gone. I've drive about 10k miles on the new engine so far, and the engine is still very quiet, even on below freezing temperature startups. I also no longer have to add any oil between oil changes (basically zero oil consumption now), and I'm hoping it stays that way for a long time.
If my mine noise is on the driver side sounds the same but a little louder any tips or help on understanding it better
Its really just ur piston slapping the sides of the cyl wall until it warms up, i GUESS its a subie thing, i have a turbo impreza 2004 with 153,000 and it was a old track car, it runs fine and slaps in the morning.
Would Subaru repair it if it were still under warranty?
No. They say it’s normal. You could try asking them, but I doubt it.
Could also be from a bad timing belt tensioner.
Could that also cause oil to leak into your spark plugs? I just replaced the seals about a year ago.
I'm also getting the misfiring code. For literally all for cylinders.
@@eggpod4567 Redo your sparkplug seals, sounds like you installed them all wrong and or rolled them on install. Use silicone grease to help keep that from happening.
3.4 gm engines be like ask me how I know 😂
are you sure it's not the belt tensioner?
Subarus belt tensioners wouldn't cause that with the way they're set up
Normal….. mine does it when cold and hits limeter daily
Normal maybe. Good? No.
Shit, my notchtop sr20det makes a clacking sound kinda like that when its cold but it disappears after its warmed up.
Chek the spark plugs i was have same problem
Just like a Jeep 4.0 , haha
Just do not drive the car hard until the sound disappears then have at it
Ive had this noise in my 04 2.5 rs for about 60 thousand km and hasnt gotten any worse, its just a bit annoying
Thanks. People say the car will run a long time after it starts making the sounds.
Hmmm, knowing how engines work, I find piston slap a hard concept to grasp. As far as this vid goes.... could you get a mechanic stethoscope and try pinning down the noise and recording with that?
I know it sounds crazy. Subaru people swear it’s normal. I hope they’re right.
@@hoohoohoblin I have an 03 legacy it's the exact same sound. I've never had a problem with the car other than general maintenance. And the thing will tow a 1996 toyota 4 runner. I have video proof lol. It's just the boxer engine singing it's mechanical song
Definitely piston slap
Use better octane 92 gas . Try that
Low octane knocking occurs under engine load, never during warmup or idle, and it's rare in modern computerized engines... and when it occurs in these engines, the knock sensor may have failed.
That’s not an engine feature. The piston has been starved of oil and is eventually going to turn into engine knock and then engine death. Put a new motor in it or rebuild the motor in that. You think it sounds like that off the lot?😂
Loud engine noise is an "auditory feature"? You mean auditory embarressment.
Man, I'm so glad i finally found this, Im a relatively knew Subie WRX owner(FA20) and im going crazy thinking my engine is done for. Is this normal on FA's as well? i have 90k miles
I think so, 2018 WRX is at 80k and has this sound too, but not as loud. It gets less noticeable when the car is warmed up
Same on my 2015 FR-S FA20 with 113k miles. It’s not as loud as this and doesn’t last longer than a few seconds on startup in the morning but it definitely has the same tone. Hasn’t gotten any worse in the 7k miles/ 8 months of ownership. Iv heard too many rod knock videos and it sounds a lot more metallic, louder, and more rapid.
I did notice this post was almost a year ago. How’s it holding?
@@ethangrillo3946 it’s still kicking. 97k miles
Hey
I have the same issue but its getting weird annoying now. It used to go away once i drive a little bit or if engine gets little warm. But now it doesnt go away no matter how much i drive
It goes away on high rpm
The Subaru people say it’s normal and don’t worry about it. You might want to have someone who is a Subaru expert. Listen to it.
@@hoohoohoblin are you sure because it got worse🤔🤔
@@Drifter703ur car still making the same noise? Engine still running good?
God damn clunker subarus. My 2004 WRX (ej205) and my 98 forester (EJ25D) did the same damned thing
Yes. It’s a standard feature.
add DURALUBE" IT WORKS!