Subaru Legacy - Starting problems and ticking

[witko999]

Hi,

I have a 1992 Subaru Legacy Wagon with the 4 cam EJ20 engine (non turbo).

Sometimes when I try to start it from cold, it will take 5 seconds or so of turning on the starter before it fires, and then it will sometimes sound/feel like it's on 3 cylinders until I give the throttle a blip. Also, when it does start, it only fires once I let the key return to position 1. Ie. I let go of the key, which suggests to me that maybe the starter is draining all the battery power.

Other times the car will start fine immediately from cold. It always starts immediately from hot.

I have taken apart the MAF sensor and the idle control valve and cleaned them both with contact cleaner, but it didn't really seem to help. The idle control valve seems to move freely. Next I will try changing the spark plugs.

This was a very cheap runaround and I can't afford to throw money at it, so I was hoping to narrow down the problem before spending.

Another thing, the car has a loud ticking sound coming from the passenger side bank of the engine. I presume it is a collapsed hydraulic tappet/s. Does anyone know if it's an easy job to remove and replace them in-situ on this engine?

Thanks.

[stevieturbo]

So is this problem a new problem, or has it always done it ? Some history of the car always helps.

Assuming the heads are the same as the turbo ( 4 cam n/a is unusual, especially for such an old car ).....well, yes you probably could replace the lifters in-situ.
I sure as hell wouldnt be trying though. The lifters are expensive, and will be hard to pinpoint which one is faulty. And trying to do it with the engine in the car....well, there will be more than lots of cursing involved, then finally a realisation it was a stupid idea and you should have removed the engine instead.

Really...if it's a cheap car, and going to remain cheap, I'd just learn to live with the noise.

As for the misfire....again, what is the cars history, has it ever been serviced ?

[witko999]

Thanks for your answer.

I've only had the car a few months and paid very little for it. It has had both problems all the time that I've owned it. As for servicing, it has probably been neglected to some extent as it used to belong to a backpacker here in NZ (I am also a backpacker here). For this reason I'd like to change the oil/filter and spark plugs. The air filter is pretty clean and looks fine.

I realise it's not worth spending money on fixing these issues unless it's very cheap, but if I can sort them it would be nice, particularly the starting problem.

Thanks again.

[witko999]

By the way, it's done 185,000km's, and I know the cambelt was done a while back, and the oil was changed late last year I think.

[Hooli]

I've done headgaskets on a 2.5 n/a Leggy with the engine still in. It's not fun, you have to undo half the bolts from underneath. Getting to the lifters wouldn't be too bad, but I wouldn't want to do it tbh.

[jimbob82]

it's so straight forward to pull the lump out why would you "want" to do it in situ?

also, agree with stevieturbo (yet again) it's not worth bothering if you want to keep it cheap.

[stevieturbo]

witko999 said:

Thanks for your answer.

I've only had the car a few months and paid very little for it. It has had both problems all the time that I've owned it. As for servicing, it has probably been neglected to some extent as it used to belong to a backpacker here in NZ (I am also a backpacker here). For this reason I'd like to change the oil/filter and spark plugs. The air filter is pretty clean and looks fine.

I realise it's not worth spending money on fixing these issues unless it's very cheap, but if I can sort them it would be nice, particularly the starting problem.

Thanks again.

The starting could simply be down to lack of servicing. Ive seen people not bother their arse changing plugs ( in turbo cars ! ) for over 100,000 miles ! It's a miracle the car even runs the state the plugs are in.

Of course...sometimes it's not a bad thing. As most people break the old coils removing them at the same time ( pre 96 are worst for this )
So if it isnt knackered plugs causes problems, it's the coils they broke lol. They just go brittle with age though, but if left too long, the rubber bit almost melts and sticks onto the plug, so are easy to end up breaking stuff.

As for the heads. With the lifter style on an older Legacy 4 cam, it would be easier to remove the heads than try and replace the lifters. These engines dont use bucket style lifters, more a hydraulic plunger and ball stud arrangement. So more than one small fiddly piece for each one and a tiny circlip retaining them.

[witko999]

I think I'll change the plugs and go from there. The coil pack is an individual item on top of the inlet manifold, not a coil on plug arrangement, so hopefully there won't be any removal problems.

I will leave the lifters as is. I'm not equipped in either tools or premises over here to be thinking about dropping the engine.

Thanks for your answers.

[Barkychoc]

Could the ticking be the exhaust blowing? V common on V8 TVR's