LanceGillette

I looked through the instructions and they seem to think that the only other item needed would be a slide hammer.

Has anyone actually bought this tool and used it to replace wheel bearings? Can you recommend it for a Forester? The webpage says it is for front wheel bearing but I don't see why it won't do for rear as well.

Thanks for the instructions. I got the parking brake cable disconnected. Now I'll have to go buy a breaker bar as I don't have enough leverage to loosen the big bolt connecting the bottom of the hub/bearing housing.

I've printed out instructions for replacing rear wheel bearing for when you have the special tools and then can replace them on the with out dismantling everything. I want to take my hub and hub housing in to a shop for them to put the bearings in. But it looks like I'll have to unhook the parking brake cable. To unhook the parking brake cable it looks like the hub needs removing. I need some advice on how I should proceed? I'm not a great mechanic.

PB Blaster did the trick for the axle splines. I put on my wheel puller this afternoon after nearly 24 hours of soaking and it came apart. It didn't come apart easily as I had to use the wheel puller for the entire bolt length. The lateral link bolt is still seized though.

I gave the axle end a few taps with my hammer this morning but still didn't budge. Sprayed some more PB blaster on and will see if there is any improvement this afternoon. The link bolt on the other side was still siezed to the bushing as well.

I went out and got a can of PB Blaster and sprayed some on. Will see tomorrow if it does the trick. So I should rather take the stuff in to the Subaru dealer rather than to a professional place where they put in bearings?

I want to replace the rear bearings on my 98 Forester. I've got the rotors off and removed the lateral link bolts. The axle on the left side slides out nicely but the splines on the right one seem to rusted to the hub. I've put oil on them, used a hammer, used a wheel puller, but it still won't slide out. I'm tempted to disconnect the axle from the differential, disconnect from the strut etc. and take it in to have new bearings pressed in. I've recently put on new tires and had an alignment done so I'm worried that if I do that I'll mess up the alignment. Not sure how the alignment is done on the back wheels. I need some guidance here. Also, the left side the lateral link bolt is stuck to the rear bushing and won't slide out. I can turn it with great difficulty but then it turns the entire rubber bushing. I've put some oil on it to soak. Lance

Thanks for the advice. I checked the differential oil level yesterday afternoon to make sure it still has oil and it still had plenty. It just looks like it is leaking a lot. Two years ago it was very low and I drained it and replaced the oil. So the leak is pretty slow. I might put in a new seal when the snow has finished melting and the ground is dry.

The Rear differential pinion seal is leaking and I want to replace it. Does one need to remove the differential to do this or can one leave it in place? Is this an easy job? It is a 98 Forestor.

The Diagnosis is a Bad Airflow Meter. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.

The wires and plugs are new. I replaced them when the engine started running rough. The car is always parked outside. We have a relatively dry climate. Our snow is typically a very dry powdery snow and we have lots of warm/hot dry weather in the summers. So moisture is not likely a problem.

This morning it would barely run again until the engine was warmed up. I managed to drive it to a shop but along the way I seriously thought I might have to call a tow truck. The car would run reasonably well for a couple miles and then I'd have to pull over for a few minutes until the engine improved. By the time I got there it really improved greatly--almost normal, but still some missing. CEL came on during the trip.

I found I hadn't reconnected that vacuum hose you are talking about. There is much improvement as I can get the engine to run without dying. I was able to drive up the mountain a ways but I need to run it at a higher rpm (2000-3000) to compensate for the frequent loss of power. Also, it will idle now without dying but not very smoothly. There is no CEL illuminated.

I've put in a known good ignitor/Ignition Pack and it did not solve the problem. The car starts up and runs smoothly then begins to act like it is starved for fuel and dies. If I pump the gas pedal and keep the rpm up above 2000 then I can get it to run longer. Any suggestions on what else it could be? I'm ready to have it towed to a shop.

The fuel supply for my 98 Forestor appears fine. Apparently the ignitor/ignition pack could be the problem. I've tested the spark and I did not find a problem for as long as we cranked the car. But usually the car runs for 15-30 seconds before dying and I understand this could be normal for an ignitor that is dying. The ignitor isn't cheap. If it were $20 I'd just go ahead and replace it. The car has 129,000 miles on it. Is this a part that one would normally expect to replace sometime or something that normally does not fail? If it is a part that I'd probably need to replace then I'll just go ahead and replace it now. I welcome any advice in this matter. Any way to test it to make sure it is the ignitor?

I seem to have elimated the fuel pump as a problem. I did do a spark test but perhaps for not long enough. I'll check on replacing the ignition pack.

I got a fuel pressure testor and the normal range of fuel pressure is 30-34 psi and I got a reading of 28-30. Guage of course may not be super accurate. One is supposed to test with the Pressure regulator vacuum hose disconnected which should result in a pressure 40-43 psi. I could never figure out which hose this was. I disconnnected several but must not have found the right one. Anyway when the engine begins to die and vacuum decreases the fuel pump pressure climbs to 40 psi. So it seems the fuel pump is fine. I did do spark plug test on Friday and the spark seemed ok. But perhaps the test wasn't long enough.

Sparking at regular intervals at appropriate time. I just had my wife start the car and let it run until it died. I couldn't differentiate any noise from injectors. Car runs smoothly until it sounds like it gets starved for fuel. Fuel pump seems to make some unusual sounds when the engine begins to die.

I tested for spark (see reply to the other guy) and there didn't seem to be a problem there. Fuel pump seems to make some noises when the engine dies. I'm in Fairbanks Alaska and we have cold winters which may be harder on fuel pumps.

I checked for spark by disconnecting all four plug wires from the ignitor and had spark continuously. So there is no indication there is a spark problem. We did it three times. After I got everything connected again I started the car and noticed that the fuel pump seemed to make some noises just as the engine would die. I can't find any port to connect a fuel pressure guage to either. I checked a 1999 Forestor manual (my Forestor is a 1998) and it says to disconnect fuel supply lines from the fuel filter and hook up the guage and test fuel pressure when disconnecting pressure regulator vacuum hose from collector chamber and again after reconnecting it. My friend has a pressure guage that can only be attached to a threaded port. So I may need to go purchase one.

When I start the car up it now runs very smoothly until it begins to die. It acts more like it runs out of fuel. I think it is a good idea to test the fuel pump to elimate it as the problem. The fact that I put in a can of Sea Foam Injector cleaner right before this problem developed seems to indicate it is a fuel problem and that it would be best to rule it out first.

Fuel filter was changed yesterday. I started the car up this morning and after a few tries I got the car to run fairly smoothly for about a minute.

I've got a 98 Forestor with 129,000 miles on it. The car runs smoothly for 10-15 seconds and dies. I've replaced fuel filter and their is no CEL illuminated. Seems the next step should be to test fuel pump. How does one go about testing the fuel pump. Looks like one can access it directly behind rear right seat under the floor. Initially the car was only running rough. I changed plugs and wires and that helped some. So I thought maybe the injectors needed cleaning so I put in a can of Sea Foam injector cleaner. The car ran for about ten miles and died just about 1/2 mile from home. I was able to start the car and get it to run for 30 second before dying and did this a number of times until the car was running reasonably well again. I was able to drive to the top of the mountain and back home but as soon as I got home it started acting up again.

I've put in a new fuel filter. The car runs smoothly for about 10-15 seconds and dies. CEL is not on. So maybe the fuel pump is not working well.