Someone didn't take very good care of this car. I've had two others at about the same miles (200k) and they never had this issue. Long story short, I could hear a HLA tapping, quite loudly actually. I tried a half-quart of tranny fluid for two weeks, and nothing. Drained some oil, and added a quart of Lucas, aka engine honey. Still nothing. I finally bit the bullet and dug in. One HLA was stuck completely flat, and three others were stuck about halfway down. Lame. Change your oil, people. Good thing I have about two motors worth of HLA's laying around. Total time was about 1.5 hours. I swear, nothing is easier to work on than a 2.2L Subaru.
dang, how do you do that? I've taken horrific care of my 22e, they tick if it's ~2 quarts low....but other than that, they work great.
meh, changing the oil is optional. just don't let it run dry. the engine in my wagon saw oil changes religiously at 7-8k miles, if I got around to it. and no, I was not running synth :biggrin:
lol, that's how I usually gauge oil changes on these motors. As soon as this thing started ticking, I changed the oil. When it didn't go away, i tried a few tricks, and then decided to dig in. I didn't try Seafoam though. Oh well. Total cost of this was $0.
Yikes the Stuck HLA is a new one on me. +1 to the gauging oil life and level by them though. When you can hear them ticking from inside the car you are 2qts low. I also found that mine started ticking when it was about 2500 miles past due for an oil change. Man I love the EJ22E.
Come now, you don't really think I'm that n00b do you? :laugh: Remnants of three engine seal kits I even replaced the gasket/washer dealies for cover bolts.