kennyz

OK...all's well. I got an axle from local yard....50 bucks...not too bad I guess. Actually I bought both for the rear just in case the other side decides to go out on me. I talked to my tranny guy and he said that most awd's will act just like mine did... he had a vw in two weeks ago that totally dropped one axle an the car would not move at all. As far as replacement goes...the job was a breeze except for that #%&* 10" controll arm bolt. It took about 75 minuets to get that out...total time to get the axle out was an hour and 40min....only 40 min to put her back togther. Not bad for a first timer! Thanks for the help and replys. Ken.

Thanks grossgary...I'm well versd in torque bind...that's why tranny was repalced in the first place, no binding now.

Does anyone know where to get these! I have tried all of my local resources and nobody even has a listing. I haven't been able to check the junkyards ( all closed today) But I'm in a jam and need some parts asap. My wife took the car and heard a loud pop and then it started grinding. I thought it might have been clutch/tranny, but I had her pull foward while I was behind looking underneath the car and I could see the pass side rear axle spinning, but the cars not moving. I jacked up the pass rear wheel and the outer cv joint is stripped...boot is good. My other question is if my car is awd...5sp manual why wern't the other 3 wheels driving the car. My tranny transferred the power to the wheel the was slipping not the wheel that was gripping....do I also have a tranny problem? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks all. PS tranny replaced @98k with one that had 18k...car now has 151k. 02 impereza outback sport wagon awd 2.5L 5sp manual.

No offense taken Nipper, I guess I should calrify. First off I was on open straight flat highway, second That "leg" of my journey was about 50 mile..actually about 42 to be exact. I drive for a living and know my car very well, my average day is usually well over 100 miles. I don't have an issue with the car. I guess I'm more ticked that In all my years of owning subaru cars( and I've been through plenty of them) and all my trips to the dealer and other mechanics that nobody has ever said a thing about something like this happening. Furthermore...there is NOTHING in the owners manual that states" low tire pressure "will destroy the inside of your transmission. The manual dose state to use the same size and brand of tire, comon knowledge on an all wheel drive car or truck. I always put on tires in new set's of four only. I'm just frustrated at this whole situation...I think you would be too. Ken.

Well.........I thank all of you for finally putting this to rest for me. I guess I'll have to buck up and just git r done! At least now I finally know what exactly what's going on. Just another note. I just changed both front cv shafts and ball joints. I started right away the other day when I got home...the car was still hot, and when I jacked up the drivers side i couldn't budge that wheel, but the passeger side I could turn free. ( jacked each side seperate, car out of gear). Today, the driver's side was free too(must be the vc cooled down), took it for a test after finishing axels, still went bang, bang,bang, got back and jacked up drivers front and it was locked again,(car out of gear also), so the vc locked up again. I'm surpised SOA hasn't gotten their butts hauled into court over this. How may people have killed a tranny just like me by just having a low tire and didn't know it.....piss poor design in my book...And yes I may think twice about another suby unless things change, too bad because on the whole there great rides.....but this flat out bites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well now I'm really confused....my dealer said there is no vc in the 5mt tranny...that is strickly a mechanicl diff between front and rear in the car!!!????!!!!????!!!!

More info on problem.... Had wife drive car in a slow tight circle in our driveway. Car jerks and makes a clacky oomphing sound. Lifted the hood and had her continue in circle. Sound appears to be coming from tranny. What do you think about this being a VC issue, even though it's a 5SP, F/T Manual Tranny? One interesting thing to note. A week or so ago, after driving approx. 50 miles, I noticed the rear passenger tire was extremely low.... had only about 10 lbs of air.... turned out I picked up a nail. Had my snows taken off and my all seasons put on. Can a tire issue cause VC problems??? Can this still be a UV or CV joint problem??? Any suggestions for diagnosing before I dump a ton of money at dealer?? Thanks in advanance!!

Just one other thing...as stated this is a m/t and is full time awd. It just hit me....at first I only had the front end in the air, rear tires were on the ground, but I could turn the front wheels. Is this normal, I don't have a manual and I don't know how power is delivered to the rear driveshaft, ( ie, planetary gear set w/ one way bearings), or did something really let go.

I'm not sure what's going on but it's not good. car is 5sp man f/t awd, has 95k hwy miles on it. When turning hard left, right in foward or reverse in clacks, hard, and the car shutters, almost a pause, when it happens. tires are ok and pressure is good. Jacked up front to check for bad cv, all boots fine and it's quiet when wheels are rotated, jacked up back at same time, it hear a slight gear noise in rear end but that's all. Also looked at rear drive shaft (u-joints) first one off tranny has just a touch of play but that's it. HELP!!!!!!!

I've driven lot's of diffrent cars in my time...and killed a few too! I've said berfore I'm a tech and do lot's of driving (over 20k on my imp since april). I have to say the one thing I'm dissapionted with in my impreza is the abs system. To put it mildly...I think it s*&ks! Now before everyone gets their fur up on end let my clarify. I had two pontiac grand am's for work vechiles befor I got this car. And yes had my share of issues, not so much with my 95 GT,(retired 140k in 2 years), but with my 99(189k in 4 years); but with both those cars stopping in any amount of snow or ice was very, very predicatable. On the other hand, my impreza is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going . I use pacemark snowtires from sam's club,(have on all cars), and there great,self-cleaning old school tread that just digs and digs, so it's not my tires. The subaru system just pumps VERY slow compared to GM and takes a very long time to stop the car. For example...two weeks ago we got about eight inches of heavy wet snow, I was on a paved, plowed but messy road. For a test at 25mph I hit the brakes and held my foot down with constant medium pressure, the car went over 100 feet and never came to a stop! My pontiac or my wife's venture mini van would have stopped in much less time. My father-in-law has an earlier impreza and he got so tired of hitting deer that he pulled the fuse for the abs system....hasn't had a problem since and say's he can get it to stop faster doing the old manual pedal pump. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

Thanks for all the info...whew!!!!!...That's a relief! svxpert...Thanks much for the offer....But I'm short on denaro these days,I'll keep you in mind though! (I figured they were available from soa but most factory shop books aint cheap ,so i just didn't ask. Although being a service tech myself there is no substitue for factory info.)

OK first off.......what a great website!!!!!!!!!! Hello to all. I'm smak-dab in the middle of doing a timing belt on my 02 2.5 impreza outback sport (5spd/mt ftawd). I drive for a living (copier tech by day-plumber,carpenter,electrician,mason,mechanic,ect. by night) Anyway I've got 83k on the car and thought I'd better get this done. So I've got my parts(changing cam seals as well, just preventive no leaks) and I start my tear down. I do not have a manual for the car, it's too new, nobody makes one yet. I've done other suby t-belts before with no problem, my old xt, wife's legacy(95'). I asked my dealer if there was anything special I should know, I told him I didn't have a book but had done other subarus in the past,blah,blah,blah. His reply...nope...you'll be fine! We'll I'm scared to death. I wish I had know about this site about 6hrs sooner than I did. I did not know this is an interferance motor!!!! My question, or worry....as I have read, I am not the only one who was caught off guard by the left side cam spinning when tension is relaxed off the belt; to bring this back closer to position, I simply rotated it almost a full turn with a socket and 1/2 " dr ratchet. I did it very slow(or a slow as it would let me). Did I bend a valve? The crankshaft timing belt mark( the dash..not the triangle) is currently two teeth ccw of the mark on the block. Please help so I can stop feeling like I'm gonna hurl!