Subaru Outback clicking sound when cold

Hi,

I just took my 2002 Subaru into the dealer to have them fix a fuel line leak that I was hoping was on recall (it wasn’t). I don’t take my car to them regularly but they had to be the ones to diagnose it in case it was a recalled part. They called today and said that the fuel line was leaking onto my engine, that there was no recall, and that because they heard a ticking sound coming from my engine they were predicting my cam bearing was giving out and it would be $3000 to fix it. I asked how they diagnosed it and they said they have a guy there who knows the sound well and can hear it and predict it accurately, but they didn’t actually take the engine apart or anything to check.

I’m feeling a bit confused. I will have my mechanic look at it and ask him what he thinks but he did my brakes not too long ago and did not mention any concern about the clicking. I change my oil like a responsible car owner and take care of it, but it does have 200,000 miles on it.

I need to drive a long distance in a couple of weeks and am wondering if my engine is about to give out…

Any thoughts? And thank you!

As a start can you try to identify an approximate location the clicking is coming from?

I would take it to your regular mechanic and have him listen to it. It could be another example of the dealer needing extra money to pay for their kids Christmas and figuring you wouldn’t mind chipping in a few grand.