Can of marbles sound under acceleration

Hi guys.

Bought an 05 outback xt last week and after a few days i heard a sound coming from passenger side dash (engine compartment) that sounded like a can of marbles being rattled. It happens after 2800-3000 rpms under acceleration only. I also noticed some blue smoke from the tailpipe under acceleration too. Before this happened i could smell oil in the cabin when at idle and car sitting only. When i bought the car the oil level was half way between fill and full. When checking yesterday it was down about 3 quarts! I automatically assumed the worst and figured the turbo gave out (whole banjo bolt thing). I was expecting a catastrophe.

 

So today i drained the oil. No metal shavings appeared even through a 10 micron filter. I removed the oil filter and cut it open with a pipe cutter and found no metal shavings or debris. I then pulled the downpipe and found the turbo in good shape. All fins were intact, No scoring and no signs of oil leaking out of the turbine side. I checked shaft play and found the normal minimal side play for a journal turbo and absolutely no end (axial) play at all. I then inspected the TMIC and found no shavings or metal dust. All i could visually see is a very light coating of oil on the compressor outlet and the inlet of the intercooler. Outlet of the intercooler was clean. In fact, it seemed strange because everything was so clean.

At this point im completely stumped as to what that noise was and the amount of oil consumption. I haven't checked the compressor wheel yet but from what i've saw, i don't think there will be an issue there.

 

Any suggestions as to what i should look at? Ill be doing a compression test in the morning also. Oh, and also i don't have any CEL codes and engine sounded good at idle but had a little shake that could be felt every once in a awhile in the cabin.

yep, i have the same sound and have had for a while. i was going to suggest a compression test/leakdown test but you are already on that track. i feel like the two of us are in the same boat and i fear might be a cracked ringland or something of that nature. ive never heard of anyone reporting a rattling sound to go along with the common piston problem but wouldnt suprise me any. ive started sourcing my parts for a new motor, start mentally preparing yourself to do the same. im currently going through about 1qt/1k miles, at the speed we use it there arent many places it could be going, especially if the turbo is ok.

Actually compression test came back perfect. and the service center couldnt find any issues. Could that noise be actual detonation? How well is the factory mapping on this engine? I can get it to make that noise once in a awhile but i need to be accelerating hard.

Actually compression test came back perfect. and the service center couldnt find any issues. Could that noise be actual detonation? How well is the factory mapping on this engine? I can get it to make that noise once in a awhile but i need to be accelerating hard.

 

If youre hearing det that loud, your motor wouldn't have lasted any more than a few rounds of that.

 

Stock tune runs lean under boost at high revs, which, over the life of the motor, could very well be causal to what you're experiencing now.

ahhh, my rattle is under any kind of acceleration but always at the same RPM 2k-22oo i can get on accel/decel but only in that small window, and yes it can be held there and continually make the noise.

 

i thought about yours (mine as well, its a great reminder) and wonder if it could be early onset of piston slap? not bad enough to just sit and slap even on cold start, strange though that only in a limited rpm range???

What you guys are hearing is the death of your turbo. Get is replaced ASAP. I just replaced the turbo this past week in my 05 OBXT Limited. I was hearing the same sounds, burned oil smell along with drinking lots of oil. Apparently the previous owner had someone replace the turbo and wrenched the oil feed line 360 degrees starving it of oil and compromising the life of the new turbo. The dealer wanted $2800 without replacing the oil line and turbo inlet hose. I had my turbo rebuilt with billet compressor wheel giving me an extra 10-15 hp. Total cost to me for all parts and rebuild was around $1000 and a couple days of work. The factory turbos in the 05 XT is known to have problems.

All good stuff except the part about more HP.

Thanks! I'm new to the Subaru xt world. I did make a mistake about the added HP. Please correct me if I'm wrong MrTris, the billet compressor wheel allows the turbo to spin up faster for earlier boost, not necessarily added HP like I previously stated. So far after 5 days, the rebuilt turbo has been performing without any problems.

Our stock VF40 wheels (and many other IHI compressor wheels) are cast iron. The difference between cast and billet is somewhat negligible in this particular instance.

mine actually ended up being the catalytic converter starting to disintegrate. turbos fine. and it was the cat in the downpipe. I plan to replace my turbo and im going with tomei headers and grimspeed catted downpipe in the very near future.

You need to be tuned for headers, and, on an otherwise stock car, they'll do you no good. That's $800 you could spend on a better turbo-- don't think that because you dropped in a cheap Chinese replacement that your problems are over, you've just dodged the bullet; but the pull is a double-tap.

 

I suggest you start planning for your eventual rebuild.

didnt replace the turbo. nothing wrong with it. swapped out down pipe for a used one from a lgt and noise went away. I plan to run a vf52.

didnt replace the turbo. nothing wrong with it. swapped out down pipe for a used one from a lgt and noise went away. I plan to run a vf52.

 

Well, then. Carry on!