('08-'10) 2.5i deep rumble/rattle

[.HaVoK.]

When I'm in the higher gears at lower RPMs (Roughly 2k), there's a deep rumble/rattling noise coming from the front of my car. I think it's a loose heat shield but I'm not sure. Anyone have a clue?

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[082.5ihere]

ive had a similar situation but had it fixed.. it turned out to be the heat shield inside the manifold now i just got a rattling noise in my exhaust i cant seem to figure when i gas it a lil

[.HaVoK.]

Do you think you can give me an exact location? Thanks.

[Xclusive]

Does it sound like a slight knock/rumble? I get it on my brand new 2.5i from 2-2500

[.HaVoK.]

Its not really a knock but more of a rumble/rattle. I have a feeling it's definitely a loose heat shield.

[nairbmik]

I get that, it's annoying as hell. Probably a heat shield that's slightly loose and vibrating or the exhaust has a slight rattle. I've learned to live with it by just downshifting instead of bogging down and causing the rattle

[nobletea]

Originally Posted by .HaVoK.

When I'm in the higher gears at lower RPMs (Roughly 2k), there's a deep rumble/rattling noise coming from the front of my car. I think it's a loose heat shield but I'm not sure. Anyone have a clue?

Had this for many many miles now. Was thinking of finally breaking down and asking the dealer to check it out (not under warranty).

Originally Posted by nairbmik

I get that, it's annoying as hell. Probably a heat shield that's slightly loose and vibrating or the exhaust has a slight rattle. I've learned to live with it by just downshifting instead of bogging down and causing the rattle

Ditto. Still annoys the hell out of me. I have suspected it was a heat shield. I read someone else describing a heat shield deep rumble/rattle sound in another thread somewhere and it made perfect sense to me.

Would love it if someone had more info.

[.HaVoK.]

Originally Posted by nobletea

Had this for many many miles now. Was thinking of finally breaking down and asking the dealer to check it out (not under warranty).

Why wouldn't it be under the warranty?

I want to try and diagnose/fix the issue myself...I'd rather not bring it to the dealership and not have a car for x amount of days so that they can tighten 2 bolts.

[nobletea]

Originally Posted by .HaVoK.

Why wouldn't it be under the warranty?

I want to try and diagnose/fix the issue myself...I'd rather not bring it to the dealership and not have a car for x amount of days so that they can tighten 2 bolts.

Because I have 75k miles on my car.

Though it has been there since at least 30k. I'd rather not have the dealer mucking with my car either. I'm of the mind that they do great work on cars under warranty, not so great on cars out of warranty.

[.HaVoK.]

Originally Posted by nobletea

Because I have 75k miles on my car.

Though it has been there since at least 30k. I'd rather not have the dealer mucking with my car either. I'm of the mind that they do great work on cars under warranty, not so great on cars out of warranty.

OMG!!!!

75k on an '08?!?! How did you rack up so many miles?

[nobletea]

Originally Posted by .HaVoK.

OMG!!!!

75k on an '08?!?! How did you rack up so many miles?

Well, bought it in Oct 2007, so almost 3 years old now.

70mi/day for commuting. Another 20-40 a few days a week for coaching and playing soccer for a while.

2 trips to hilton head SC, a few trips to upstate NY, probably 10 trips a year to Hartford, CT, a few to Vermont, and about 120 miles roundtrip to visit my parents once a month or so.

It adds up fast. That's why I buy rather than lease.

Have made a few changes recently, and probably only doing about 17-20k a year at this point.

Still not a thing wrong with her mechanically. Yay. Fingers crossed.

Almost 30mpg's overall and I love my car. I hope to keep it for years to come.

[082.5ihere]

it might be the heatshield inside the manifold thats all i can think of... it looked like a piece of material inside that was just burned up that caused a exhaust noise rattle.. i had mine coverd under warrenty and got to order the parts since i worked 4 a dealership

[Ogden]

Originally Posted by nobletea

Well, bought it in Oct 2007, so almost 3 years old now.

70mi/day for commuting. Another 20-40 a few days a week for coaching and playing soccer for a while.

2 trips to hilton head SC, a few trips to upstate NY, probably 10 trips a year to Hartford, CT, a few to Vermont, and about 120 miles roundtrip to visit my parents once a month or so.

It adds up fast. That's why I buy rather than lease.

Have made a few changes recently, and probably only doing about 17-20k a year at this point.

Still not a thing wrong with her mechanically. Yay. Fingers crossed.

Almost 30mpg's overall and I love my car. I hope to keep it for years to come.

I'm catching up! Bought in March of '09 and have 32K on the clock now. Same reason that I also buy and don't lease. My last subie did 350K and 13 years. Many years of no-car-payment driving there. I'm planning on that for this one as well.

On-topic: The heat shields on my previous Subie made a racket as the car got older. I eventually had them removed and the car ran fine for another 200K (on original the exhaust too).

Or you could have some nice headers fabbed up to replace the whole shebang.

[nobletea]

So I needed to distract myself from something even more frustrating, so I did some searching on this (again). Here's a summary of what I found, feel free to look it up yourself for more details.

Possible causes of said rumble/rattle:

-loose heat shields on exhaust system
--(Seems to be mentioned most often, and is even referenced in an article on a DIY website, as in, Subarus have lots of heat shields that always come loose)

-failing cat converter
-loose heat shields in engine compartment
-noisy flywheel? (not mentioned much)

Basically for heat shields, get the car off the ground and Go around poking the heat shields to see if you can find where it is loose. Once you've located it, you can:

1. Take it off-- this is suggested many times. However, there are almost always warnings to not do so. Many times people report not having problems. Just avoid parking over tall dry grass. Personally, I wouldn't. TO each their own.

2. Use a stainless steel hose clamp to sure it up. Some reports are that it works permanently, but others report they come loose over time, or you have to go and clamp a different part later.

3. If there are loose bolts, tighten them. Obviously this won't last.

4. Weld the shielding on, so no more loose bolts to worry about.

5. Replace the shielding.


Given those options, I might bother with the clamps, but for now I will probably ignore it some more. Until now I had been ignoring it because I had heard that almost all subarus make this sound, it's just part of the Love. I read as much in a handful of places as well. Something about Subaru goes crazy with lots of cheap small heat shields that eventually comes loose. Awesome.

[asmack]

I'm experiencing a random, low humming, vibrating sound emanating from the engine compartment when I accelerate to speeds greater than 60 km/h (~37 mph or more). I haven't even broken my engine in yet (I just reached 1000 km the other day, or 621 miles).

Any ideas? Since it's only two months old I'm inclined to take it in to the dealer for service. The annoying thing is, it's random and the service guys might not ever hear it and dismiss it. The sound is definitely not a sound I've heard from an engine before.

[emiderics]

I'm having the same issue with my 09 Impreza... It's been happening since day 1. I took it to the dealership, waited several hours only to have them tell me it's too small of a rattle for them to fix. As I'm driving away, I look at the invoice and I guess the technician mistook "rattle at around 2000 RPMs when accelerating" as "rattle when hitting bumps". I haven't taken it back yet because I have to take a day off to make the trip to the dealership. I'm hoping this helps them figure it out. Thanks!

[.HaVoK.]

Originally Posted by asmack

Any ideas? Since it's only two months old I'm inclined to take it in to the dealer for service. The annoying thing is, it's random and the service guys might not ever hear it and dismiss it. The sound is definitely not a sound I've heard from an engine before.

Thats entirely why I dont wanna bring my car to the dealership. I feel like they wont be able to hear the sound unless they drive it and theres no way I'm letting any of them take my car out for a spin.

[veyron11111]

My 2010 impreza is relatively new and I've had the rattle most of the time I've had the car. I brought it in and they said they had fixed it but once i drove it, it was just as bad. It seems like I'm just gonna have to live it but I'm still looking into ways to fix it.

[asmack]

Update:

Brought my car in this morning to the Subaru dealer where I got the car. They road tested it and determined that it was the air intake that was rattling. They adjusted it and *so far* the noise is gone. I'll keep my ears peeled for it in the future.

[Henry H]

Originally Posted by asmack

Update:

Brought my car in this morning to the Subaru dealer where I got the car. They road tested it and determined that it was the air intake that was rattling. They adjusted it and *so far* the noise is gone. I'll keep my ears peeled for it in the future.

Interesting you brought this up. It seems that, for at least the 07s, there is a sound resonation that is generated by the intake valves (There is a whole sticky section about CAI on the NA forum). Our Helmholtz "milk jug" under our airbox is what supposed to tune out the resonation.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but would be interesting if it was actually related.

[nobletea]

Originally Posted by veyron11111

My 2010 impreza is relatively new and I've had the rattle most of the time I've had the car. I brought it in and they said they had fixed it but once i drove it, it was just as bad. It seems like I'm just gonna have to live it but I'm still looking into ways to fix it.

Just to follow up on this thread, I caved in and called a dealer about this, and when I described it she immediately said it was probably a heat shield (which I already assumed) and I asked how much, and they charge $47 to fix it the first time. After that, if the rattle comes back it's no charge.

I thought that was a pretty damn good deal, so I'm having them take care of it Friday. I'll post an update.

[.HaVoK.]

Please do, Nobletea.

[nairbmik]

Originally Posted by nobletea

Just to follow up on this thread, I caved in and called a dealer about this, and when I described it she immediately said it was probably a heat shield (which I already assumed) and I asked how much, and they charge $47 to fix it the first time. After that, if the rattle comes back it's no charge.

I thought that was a pretty damn good deal, so I'm having them take care of it Friday. I'll post an update.

That's ridiculous that they're charging you, it should be covered under warranty.

[nobletea]

Originally Posted by nairbmik

That's ridiculous that they're charging you, it should be covered under warranty.

My warranty was gone well over a year ago.

[bob655]

Originally Posted by asmack

Update:

Brought my car in this morning to the Subaru dealer where I got the car. They road tested it and determined that it was the air intake that was rattling. They adjusted it and *so far* the noise is gone. I'll keep my ears peeled for it in the future.

The dealer should know about this. It's a plastic air intake that rattles, and they have a fix for it - they put a clip on to clip the air intake down so it doesn't move.

I'm pretty sure there's a TSB or something because the tech recognized the noise immediately and said there was a fix for it since the 09 models.

Anyways, it's not mechanical or anything.