[BewareTheHooks]

Hi, I’ve been reading for this forum for a while now but never really decided to make an account until now. After work yesterday I noticed an odd loud knocking noise coming from my engine on cold start. Unfortunately I had to drive it home because I had no other option available at that point for getting picked up and I had to take care of my dogs. It didn’t get any louder by the end of the drive and I’ve been letting it sit since. I’ve already looked around and am fearing a spun rod bearing and came here to try and get some form of confirmation. I am a completely open book and am willing to help with any information asked.

In terms of maintenance and parts:

• Oil changed every 3k miles
• regularly checked the oil stick every time I fill up on gas
• AEM Intake (With a torqued performance tune for it)

 

[XJman]

I'd have to hear it.

Honestly if it was a spun bearing I can't imagine you'd drive it far before catastrophic failure

 

[BewareTheHooks]

Sorry, I meant to upload a video of it, here

 

[XJman]

That sounds like rod knock alright.

 

[BewareTheHooks]

Yeesh, thank you for helping though. I don’t even know what could have caused it, I’ve kept up with the oil just so this type of thing wouldn’t happen. The only real time that I even drive it hard is with on-ramps for highways. The more I’ve looked the scarier 2013-14s seem to be.

 

[zax]

Are you the original owner?

 

[BewareTheHooks]

Are you the original owner?

No I am not, but I had the car inspected before I bought it.

 

[XJman]

Yeesh, thank you for helping though. I don’t even know what could have caused it, I’ve kept up with the oil just so this type of thing wouldn’t happen. The only real time that I even drive it hard is with on-ramps for highways. The more I’ve looked the scarier 2013-14s seem to be.

Scary how?

The EJ has proven to be a reliable plant when cared for.

 

[WRX-maniac]

Scary how?

The EJ has proven to be a reliable plant when cared for.

Yeah the EJ platform had been around a long time and has proven itself, overall, to be a reliable platform. Unfortunately for you, it seems this car may have been abused and not been maintained or serviced properly. The damage was likely already done and just not shown its head yet when you bought it.

 

[XJman]

Yeah the EJ platform had been around a long time and has proven itself, overall, to be a reliable platform. Unfortunately for you, it seems this car may have been abused and not been maintained or serviced properly. The damage was likely already done and just not shown its head yet when you bought it.

I still want an 11-14 if I can't get my 06 in the condition I want.

 

[BewareTheHooks]

Scary how?

The EJ has proven to be a reliable plant when cared for.

Yeah the EJ platform had been around a long time and has proven itself, overall, to be a reliable platform. Unfortunately for you, it seems this car may have been abused and not been maintained or serviced properly. The damage was likely already done and just not shown its head yet when you bought it.

Mb on that claim, I was just going off of posts by kids who blame the platform rather than accept their bad maintenance was the issue. The sound seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine so I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do atm to check the engine until I get it into a shop tomorrow.

 

[WRX-maniac]

Mb on that claim, I was just going off of posts by kids who blame the platform rather than accept their bad maintenance was the issue. The sound seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine so I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do atm to check the engine until I get it into a shop tomorrow.

Usually rod knock is due to a spun rod bearing. And operating the car at all will make it worse. When a bearing fails little pieces of metal shavings from the bearing follow the oil tracks and can destroy anything oil touches. So I highly advise against running the car or even starting it. Drain the oil and use a magnet to run through the oil to look for metallic shavings. This will be your clue to as is a bearing let go.

 

[BewareTheHooks]

Usually rod knock is due to a spun rod bearing. And operating the car at all will make it worse. When a bearing fails little pieces of metal shavings from the bearing follow the oil tracks and can destroy anything oil touches. So I highly advise against running the car or even starting it. Drain the oil and use a magnet to run through the oil to look for metallic shavings. This will be your clue to as is a bearing let go.

Unfortunately, I am not able to drain the oil where I’m at atm. I’ll probably just end up waiting until I can get it into the shop tomorrow. Thanks for letting me know though!

 

[mjtct61]

Whats your oil pressure at idle?

 

[BewareTheHooks]

I took it to GarageOne in Campbell and they found that the intake camshaft sprockets on 1 & 3 had come loose. The intake valves ended up contacting the pistons. Still the same amount in repairs sadly but at least I was right in that it was not rod knock.

 

[zax]

I took it to GarageOne in Campbell and they found that the intake camshaft sprockets on 1 & 3 had come loose. The intake valves ended up contacting the pistons. Still the same amount in repairs sadly but at least I was right in that it was not rod knock.

I took it to GarageOne in Campbell and they found that the intake camshaft sprockets on 1 & 3 had come loose. The intake valves ended up contacting the pistons. Still the same amount in repairs sadly but at least I was right in that it was not rod knock.

That is a really bizarre failure. I've heard of the camshaft sprockets cracking, but not the failure you are describing.

It sounds like it could have been workmanship... is it safe to say that the car had the timing belt service performed somewhat recently?

 

[BewareTheHooks]

That is a really bizarre failure. I've heard of the camshaft sprockets cracking, but not the failure you are describing.

It sounds like it could have been workmanship... is it safe to say that the car had the timing belt service performed somewhat recently?

I’ve looked through the provided history of the car and it seems like it never came up for the timing belt. I’ve owned the car for over a year and haven’t changed the belt while I’ve had it so I honestly have no clue.

 

[zax]

I’ve looked through the provided history of the car and it seems like it never came up for the timing belt. I’ve owned the car for over a year and haven’t changed the belt while I’ve had it so I honestly have no clue.

Not surprising. WRX owners tend to be more interested in installing crappy aftermarket 'mods' than performing necessary maintenance.

The timing belt service should have already been done. If it had been, this failure would have very likely been caught before it caused this level of damage.