I am the proud owner of a 1999 Forester with 60,000 original one owner miles on it and new to the forum. The car was taken to a dealer here in CT for all of it's service and I have a complete record of what was done to the car. After a three month search I am happy with the vehicle. I probably paid to much for it but I got what I wanted.
The problem: Both head gaskets have been replaced. The timing belt has not. I took the car on it's first long trip down to the OBX, stopped to pick up some gin for a friend, started the car and noticed a slight knocking noise coming from the engine compartment. It wasn't really loud and it went away after starting and stopping about half a dozen times to listen to it with the window down.
The knocking noise seems to come and go without and pattern. Sometimes it's there for a half mile upon start-up, sometimes it's after I run the vehicle for a while and stop/restart it after an errand, sometimes it's at one stoplight but not the next. The knock is not really loud but you can hear it with the window up.
When I bought the vehicle the dealer replaced the second head gasket. On the list of the cars repairs over the years, the last one says that the customer choose not to have the repair done and she traded it in on a new Forester. I assumed that the reason was the age of the vehicle and the need for the head gasket.
Any ideas? This is my first Subaru and I'm aware from reading some of the other threads that it can be a noisy car.
The problem: Both head gaskets have been replaced. The timing belt has not. I took the car on it's first long trip down to the OBX, stopped to pick up some gin for a friend, started the car and noticed a slight knocking noise coming from the engine compartment. It wasn't really loud and it went away after starting and stopping about half a dozen times to listen to it with the window down.
The knocking noise seems to come and go without and pattern. Sometimes it's there for a half mile upon start-up, sometimes it's after I run the vehicle for a while and stop/restart it after an errand, sometimes it's at one stoplight but not the next. The knock is not really loud but you can hear it with the window up.
When I bought the vehicle the dealer replaced the second head gasket. On the list of the cars repairs over the years, the last one says that the customer choose not to have the repair done and she traded it in on a new Forester. I assumed that the reason was the age of the vehicle and the need for the head gasket.
Any ideas? This is my first Subaru and I'm aware from reading some of the other threads that it can be a noisy car.