RS Grant

What is Piston Slap??

How does it happen??

Can it be sorted?? What happens if it isnt sorted??

How much does it cost to sort it??


Cheers,
Grant

bigunit

Hi Grant my98 hmmm ive got one piston slap is when the piston skirt hits the bottom of the bore very annoying advice warm up b4 going anywhere and regular oil changes does reduce noise it can be fixed but loads of money for less noise only live with it turn radio up never give revs when cold apart from that all ok tests have proven not a major problem possible 10% reduction in engine life span

Molds

Mine does it and its at 83k miles now and still working fine! (touches wood) After 5-10 mins max you cant hear it anymore.

Where does the 10% come from?

Ta

M

bigunit

10 % comes from a usa boffin cant remember his name but read it when i got my 98 car and was searching net for answers. I was a bit worried until i read the full article which was on general piston slap not just subarus my point is a worst case 10% reduction in engine life no big deal i hope.
mine has done 52000 and there is a major reduction in noise when i change the oil just got some motul 10w 40 going in on next service 2-3 weeks have been using semi 10w 40 until now only had car 4 months so we will see if makes a difference.

Ian D

My UK MY98 is a bit of a slapper for 5 minutes after startup, but at 130000 miles the car goes like a goodun'. When i bought the car at 90000 miles the local dealer checked it out and said provided it quietens down after a few miles don't worry.

I run the car on Silkolene ProS 10W50 every 3750 miles and it shows no signs (touch wood) of giving up the ghost just yet...

Attu

Ive also got a slapper, Ive done about 60k and Ive had the car for about 3 years.
Its only this past year its started slapping and is worse when the weather is cold but after adout 5 mins it quietens down.
Its a well known problem with MY98 cars and to be honest it sounds worse than it is.

Andy

Molds

Thanks bigunit, was just interested to know. Mines at 83k now.

RS Grant

There isnt any way to stop it, apart from a full rebuild?! No way that you can buy and fit something yourself (with a fair bit of technical&mechanical knowledge) for not alot of money??

Ok, so the advice would be to warm the car up before you go over 2.5k to prelong the engine life?

Usually do that anyway, its just that I've heard that its a terminal problem and that after it starts slapping, the end is near pretty soon.......

Cheers,
Grant