Is this idle noise normal?

[CzRceCar]

Ok Of course this would happen.. just as i posted that it didnt sound normal. As i pulled into my driveway tonight well about 15 min ago i heard almost the same noise. Th car has over 684 miles on it and has not made this noise yet. I must say I am kind of worried especially coming out of an 8th gen honda civic si with Syncro issues. Obviously this is not a issue like that but it seems like an issue non the less.

Here is a link for my video i just took as well. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_85viAqRcKk&feature=plcp"]Abnormal noise coming from my scion frs engine bay - YouTube[/ame]

[roddy]

I was at a track this past weekend and there were 7 FR-S there blasting around various courses and tests. I listened for this noise, and only heard it coming from one car. Even then, it wasn't constant. Sometimes it sounded like a bucket of crickets, and other times it sounded like all the others.

[eriktherod]

I'm fairly certain I've heard this noise in mine as well.

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by roddy

I was at a track this past weekend and there were 7 FR-S there blasting around various courses and tests. I listened for this noise, and only heard it coming from one car. Even then, it wasn't constant. Sometimes it sounded like a bucket of crickets, and other times it sounded like all the others.

7 cars and only 1 did it? Well, judging by the responses so far we can safely assume 6 of those FR-S's were malfunctioning.

The sooner you folks complain and bring this issue in to the dealers, the sooner Subaru will acknowledge it and begin rectifying it and stop saying "crickets under the hood is the super great modern engine sound we were going for". "All the cool kids will want it".

[Fenrir]

Originally Posted by fistpoint

7 cars and only 1 did it? Well, judging by the responses so far we can safely assume 6 of those FR-S's were malfunctioning.

The sooner you folks complain and bring this issue in to the dealers, the sooner Subaru will acknowledge it and begin rectifying it and stop saying "crickets under the hood is the super great modern engine sound we were going for". "All the cool kids will want it".

Have you ever even owned a car with direct injection before? ...do you even have one of these cars yet?

The sound is normal, get over it. My Speed3 has made the same noise for 2+ years and I've had 0 issues, even running heavily modified. It doesn't do it all the time, and there's no way to reliably reproduce it.

Also, if you actually bothered to read the thread, several people (myself included) have brought the car to a dealership and have been all given the exact same answer. Guess all those different dealerships came to the same wrong conclusion though, right?

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by Fenrir

Have you ever even owned a car with direct injection before? ...do you even have one of these cars yet?

The sound is normal, get over it. My Speed3 has made the same noise for 2+ years and I've had 0 issues, even running heavily modified. It doesn't do it all the time, and there's no way to reliably reproduce it.

Also, if you actually bothered to read the thread, several people (myself included) have brought the car to a dealership and have been all given the exact same answer. Guess all those different dealerships came to the same wrong conclusion though, right?

1st, I believe several times already someone has mentioned there NOT being another boxer engine like this to compare to. So why in this case is there all of a sudden a comparable engine?

2nd, we've already hashed out that Subaru has said it's normal, but at the same time we know from history that car manufacturers don't always fess up to problems right away. Is that too hard to comprehend? Apparently it is.

As for dealerships coming to the same wrong conclusion, none of them had the answer, they received the answer from Subaru remember? All the answers(the only 1 actually), came from Subaru alone. That proves NOTHING.

And no, I don't own one yet. I am waiting for all the little bullshit to be fixed first. I can deal with speaker panels popping up, and tailight condensation..little stuff. CEL's and squeaky engines are things I want to wait for since the standard warranty is basically non-existent with the mileage I put yearly on my cars..
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Rather than continuing the argument, how about you guys saying it's normal for a DI engine provide us with the names of the vehicles you've heard this same noise in? I have the Mazda 3 from the above post, skip that. I'll spend my time searching Youtube and post the videos that prove your point so everyone can finally put the issue to rest.

[Suiris]

Ok, here's my update on this issue...

I just got back from the dealer... checking out this exact issue.

Here's the deal.

I hear this noise at low RPM (<1200) almost always but not 100% of the time. I'd expect NORMAL to mean this occurs ALWAYS but it doesn't. It also never happened for the 1st 400-500 miles.

In fact, this morning I got up and took my car to the dealer, 8 miles or so and it wasn't making the noise at idle as it has been doing 90% of the time for the last 600 miles. The tech looks at it and can't get it to happen.. We drive around, 3 or 4 miles and nothing. Frustrating to say at the least.

So I tell him... Dude, take it out on the interstate, get it up to speed and bring her back... So he does... an hour passes...

This noise is coming from the direct injection and... this noise is NOT normal.

They called Scion directly and they opened a case #... In fact the tech told me every issue no matter how small with the FR-S they have to write up some huge report on it...

Scion told them they are aware of this problem, it is not normal, it not a safety issue and there will be no other effects from it. It just makes noise.

The dealer tech has a hard time with this car because they have nothing to compare it to. They only got 2 FR-S's.. mine and one other that's already sold and gone.

Scion is going to fix it. They are sending a new direct injection system with hardware to the dealer and I'm scheduled to return July 9th for repairs that will take 1 to 2 days... all under warranty.

If your car has this problem, go to your dealer. Make them fix it.

[Fenrir]

Originally Posted by Suiris

Ok, here's my update on this issue...

I just got back from the dealer... checking out this exact issue.

Here's the deal.

I hear this noise at low RPM (<1200) almost always but not 100% of the time. I'd expect NORMAL to mean this occurs ALWAYS but it doesn't. It also never happened for the 1st 400-500 miles.

In fact, this morning I got up and took my car to the dealer, 8 miles or so and it wasn't making the noise at idle as it has been doing 90% of the time for the last 600 miles. The tech looks at it and can't get it to happen.. We drive around, 3 or 4 miles and nothing. Frustrating to say at the least.

So I tell him... Dude, take it out on the interstate, get it up to speed and bring her back... So he does... an hour passes...

This noise is coming from the direct injection and... this noise is NOT normal.

They called Scion directly and they opened a case #... In fact the tech told me every issue no matter how small with the FR-S they have to write up some huge report on it...

Scion told them they are aware of this problem, it is not normal, it not a safety issue and there will be no other effects from it. It just makes noise.

The dealer tech has a hard time with this car because they have nothing to compare it to. They only got 2 FR-S's.. mine and one other that's already sold and gone.

Scion is going to fix it. They are sending a new direct injection system with hardware to the dealer and I'm scheduled to return July 9th for repairs that will take 1 to 2 days... all under warranty.

If your car has this problem, go to your dealer. Make them fix it.

You should probably have them give you more information on what exactly is going on before you let them tear your car apart, especially if it's supposedly a "known issue". I've spoken with 5 dealers at this point and none of them (3 Subaru, 2 Scion) are aware of this "known issue".

I hope it's true, I really do, but I find this just a tad fishy.

[Suiris]

Originally Posted by Fenrir

You should probably have them give you more information on what exactly is going on before you let them tear your car apart, especially if it's supposedly a "known issue". I've spoken with 5 dealers at this point and none of them (3 Subaru, 2 Scion) are aware of this "known issue".

I hope it's true, I really do, but I find this just a tad fishy.

Exactly, it wasn't the dealer who "knew" about the issue. They actually had to call in and open a ticket with Scion which then told them it was known to them. The dealer didn't have a clue and only after calling did they come back with the direct injection as the issue. So basically Scion told the dealer what the problem was, what parts were needed and to go ahead and fix it. Basically this was not dealer diagnosed. So you may want to go back to your dealers and tell them their "opinion" isn't what you want to hear but instead do the research as my dealer did.

[AlanLGuy]

Can you get the Case # or more information from your dealer.

Mines been making this noise for the pad week, so I schedule a appointment at the service department for tomorrow.

Any information I can give them would be helpful.

[Suiris]

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get the case # right away but I can tell you what parts they ordered...

SU003-00328 PMP AY-FUEL.H PRS $1302.00
SU003-02187 O RING-31.5x2.0 $6.78
SU003-00347 GSKT-FUEL PIPE $9.44

All on "Special order".


I'm pretty sure the dealer is accurate is saying Scion is aware... I mean, would Scion REALLY authorize a warranty repair of this cost (parts/labor) simply from visual inspection?

And we'll find out if it fixes after the repair...

[Fenrir]

Looks like they're only replacing the HPFP itself (which I mentioned was the likely source of the noise). Very different than replacing the whole system.

Dealerships can spin warranty repair work however they want, so if the dealer talked up the issue in his report, saying that the pump was damaged or otherwise making it sound worse than it actually is they would probably just approve the repair. They get paid for warranty work either way.

3 of the 5 dealers I talked to contacted the "higher ups" and there was no further information on the problem. This was a few days ago, however, so it's certainly possible that something was added into their system very recently.

Still curious what they say the actual issue is. Having been working with DI cars with HPFP's for years, this seems to me to be a perfectly normal sound. :\

[Suiris]

I would have to say on my car this isn't a normal sound. I would say it sounds more like an abnormal squeak of a mechanical component more than anything.

My issue mainly with the noise is that it did not occur for the first few hundred miles. The deal/manuf was going to have a long row to hoe if they insisted this was a "normal" sound... it's loud enough on my car for others to say "is that your fan belt making that squeal?".

I bought the car without a squeak, drove it for 11 miles in two test drives on the same day including 70mph out on the interstate without any sound and then hundreds of miles after purchasing... I'm sorry for them that I'd have had to insist that I was not informed of this nor did the car exhibit such behavior and that it's unacceptable and insist they make amends...

BUT...

they are going to do the repair... and if it goes away then I'll be satisfied... and now they've admitted it to be an issue... they can't really backtrack and hold much ground.

[davisk6]

Originally Posted by Suiris

I would have to say on my car this isn't a normal sound. I would say it sounds more like an abnormal squeak of a mechanical component more than anything.

My issue mainly with the noise is that it did not occur for the first few hundred miles. The deal/manuf was going to have a long row to hoe if they insisted this was a "normal" sound... it's loud enough on my car for others to say "is that your fan belt making that squeal?".

I bought the car without a squeak, drove it for 11 miles in two test drives on the same day including 70mph out on the interstate without any sound and then hundreds of miles after purchasing... I'm sorry for them that I'd have had to insist that I was not informed of this nor did the car exhibit such behavior and that it's unacceptable and insist they make amends...

BUT...

they are going to do the repair... and if it goes away then I'll be satisfied... and now they've admitted it to be an issue... they can't really backtrack and hold much ground.

Sounds like you got much farther than anyone else. If the fix does correct it for you, then I suspect a TSB will be issued.