Engine noise diagnosis (04 legacy 2.5i 5sp)

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2004 liberty gen 4 (known as a legacy in the USA). I'm hearing some noises that I could use some help diagnosing.

I'm hearing a rattling noise which goes away or gets quieter when the clutch pedal is pressed. Not sure if I'm hearing 2 seperate noises or if it's the same one but the noise also seems to go away when the engine warms up. I've read that it could be a bearing in the transmission. Does anyone have any more insight?

Throwout bearing could be the culprit. They’re known to be weak on our cars.

I guess I'm just trying to figure out now if this is a repair that I will be able to undertake myself. I have very new and limited experience with cars, so far I've only ever done front and rear shift bushings, shift linkage, valve cover gaskets and minor services so in your opinion would this be a mechanics job or something that somebody with my sort of experience could take on with a crash course from YouTube University? [emoji1787]

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Both of those would be jobs for your mechanic, it sounds like. Throwout bearing is a clutch job (so the transmission is pulled back to reveal the clutch) and takes some experience and tools you might not have. An input shaft bearing seems unlikely as that doesn’t seem like a common problem with these cars. It’s also an involved job where the transmission comes out. Lots of early 2000s Corollas had input shaft bearing issues so see if you can find videos of them on YouTube making those noises.

I’d recommend perhaps posting the noise here. I think either way a mechanic will be looking at your car though.

Ok, I just re-read your post after a night of sleep. It’s not a throwout bearing if you stop hearing the noise when the clutch is pushed in. It could perhaps be an input shaft bearing. Check your oil level as well as look at any heat shields that might not be anchored down right.

Does the car make noise right when it’s started cold?

Both of those would be jobs for your mechanic, it sounds like. Throwout bearing is a clutch job (so the transmission is pulled back to reveal the clutch) and takes some experience and tools you might not have. An input shaft bearing seems unlikely as that doesn’t seem like a common problem with these cars. It’s also an involved job where the transmission comes out. Lots of early 2000s Corollas had input shaft bearing issues so see if you can find videos of them on YouTube making those noises.

 

I’d recommend perhaps posting the noise here. I think either way a mechanic will be looking at your car though.

 

Ok, I just re-read your post after a night of sleep. It’s not a throwout bearing if you stop hearing the noise when the clutch is pushed in. It could perhaps be an input shaft bearing. Check your oil level as well as look at any heat shields that might not be anchored down right.

 

Does the car make noise right when it’s started cold?

Yeah the noise starts up on cold starts pretty much as soon as I start the car. When I press the clutch in, even if it's in neutral, it goes away and then comes back when I release the clutch and when the engine heats up the noise gets a lot quieter.

I was also hearing another noise right after I did an oil change which sounded like a sort of grinding rattle sound which would only go for about a second after I turn the car over (not while turning it over) then it would go away. I haven't heard that noise since about a week ago but I read that right after an oil change it can do that until there's enough oil circulated however the weird thing is that my car did that on every cold start for about a week after the oil change so I'm not sure if that's related to the this current issue or if that was an oil thing but just thought I'd mention that too.

I'll see if I can get the sound on camera and upload it here. One thing I did notice today is that when I put my ear against the shifter, I can hear the sound much clearer, the sound travels up the shifter almost like a stethoscope.

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