porcupine73

I've had good results with large worm-drive hose clamps to stop my heat shield rattles. Granted I needed about half a dozen of them per vehicle but it seems to working well

haha yes, you should see the rest of the suspension components! The salt is brutal. I'm not going to drive '00obw in the winter anymore hoping to make it last without visible body rust. We can run studded snows here, but only between like november and march or something; else it's like a $500 ticket if you get caught with them on the freeways.

On my '00obw, which should be the same as yours, it was 32mm. Depending on what axle you get, it may or may not come with a new axle nut. I'm not really sure what the difference is, but the manual describes an olive colored nut for the rear I think and a gold colored nut for the front. I ordered a four axle nuts from subarupartsforyou.com, which they the same part # for the front and rear, but I got two gold and two olive. I'd have to see if they showed different part #'s on the bags; or maybe it really doesn't matter.

Yes, I didn't see any practicable way to drive it out from the bottom, so I removed the snorkus stuff. It is kind of tight to swing a hammer down in there. So I used the extensions with the 7/32" pin punch taped into a socket attached to the extensions to drive it out. Drive it out from the non-tapered side, drive it in the tapered side.

Yes just replace the whole axle. Subaru OEM reman (~$180) or MWE reman axle is good. I just did this job on '00obw; it is not too difficult. The write up linked above is basically what I followed. I removed the strut to bearing housing bolts and was able to get enough clearance to extract the axle. I also replaced the inner wheel bearing seal at this time. Here's some pics from when I did this job:

Hi. The belt could last for a long time yet, but it is at the change interval (105k miles or 105 months) so you should change it. As mentioned that is an interference engine so if the belt breaks it will very likely bend some valves plus leave you stranded. Things to look at/replace at the same time....all OEM components should be used; yes you can get inexpensive kits on eBay but OEM isn't all that much more expensive and is of known good quality. Front cam seals, front crank seal, reseal oil pump replace o-ring check rear case cover screws for backing out, water pump and gasket, replace geared/toothed idler near water pump and at least check the other idlers valve clearance is also due for inspection/adjustment at this time; it is easy to do on this engine because it has solid lifters with the screw/nut adjusters. Also need valve cover gasket kit (gaskets, spark plug hole seals, bolt hole washers). Also your accessory drive belts are due for replacement at 105k. I just did all these jobs on my '00obw last year at 105k.

Take a look at that 'theory' article linked above; it tells all the details about the 'conventional' and 'enhanced' evap systems.

What if draining the gear oil doesn't make you want to boogie down necessarily, but makes you want to wear these shoes?

Ah, excellent. Used OEM soob axles are good too, esp at that price!

That soob has enhanced evap. I don't know what that hose is called; but I did copy this snippet from this endwrench.com article "Remember, there are three hoses at the canister: one for Purge (usually the smallest in diameter), one for the Fuel Tank and one for the Drain to atmosphere after passing through the charcoal canister." Also might want to check out this article: Evaporative Emissions System Theory I didn't see the hose 'names' in there, but it does have several diagrams that show the components and hoses.

Yes, my '00obw had the front o2 sensor replaced under that recall. It was something about the tip of the o2 sensor could break off and get lodged in the cat or something. I was looking at the troubleshooting procedure on alldatadiy.com. It's a web page with a bunch of diagrams and text and such.

Ah ok thanks Caboobaroo. I did check the freeplay on the axles while in there; the right/pass side is an MWE I put in a few months ago, it has a small amount of play by shaking at the inner joint. The driver side I think is the original, it seems to have a little more play than the MWE but not too much. I think it does have a pinhole in the outer boot. Say do you know if it is practicable for someone to at least do a quick toe check with the strings method? My boss was telling me that's how he does the alignment on his race car. String tied between two jackstands, placed the same distance out from the hubs, the uses a steel ruler to measure the tire's distance from the string? Thinking so far it is the wheel/tire, as I tried a different wheel&tire on the front right and the shimy went away, but yes it was weird because it seemed to do it only when cool/cold out.

I can't remember who had that chart of the ratios...was it johnceggelston?

hey hey I think you might be onto something!

Hi. I haven't done a rear axle yet. I think your choices are to somehow get the bearing housing to drop down far enough to extract the axle (not sure how much removing the strut bolts and maybe the sway bar link would get you; that's a normal way to do the front anyway). Or drop down the rear diff, but that might not be the most efficacious route either.

Sounds good! Only real thing I have to add is not to use auto parts store rebuilt axles. Some people like them, I've seen lots of posts with problems with them. Subaru OEM reman, MWE axles, or some people seem to like GCK all new chinese built axles from the auto parts store seem to be the way to go. Yes the jobs sure pile up don't they? I'm trying to get a '96 ready for winter too.

Yes, the OEM oxygen sensors aren't cheap; but you know you'll get something that will work. Anyway, the procedure has a bunch of voltage and current checks, and says a few times to 'repair short in harness' (sorry if I mislead by saying connector). I didn't see off hand any branches ending in 'replace o2 sensor'.

Hi Antwert. Yes it sounds like the final drive ratio of the transaxle you are installing does not match the ratio of the rear diff. Check out these articles: Correct axle ratios Outback Gear Ratios If you have some info about your transmission serial # I know there are people here who can tell you the ratio, for U.S. spec vehicles anyway.

Ok thanks for all the help. I've narrowed it down to the tire currently at the front right position. When I got home, I Removed left front tire Put Michellin x-ice winter tire on left front position as a test Put in FWD fuse as x-ice was about an inch more circumference Took test drive up to 65mph....no dice; shimy still there Put original left front tire back in place Removed front right tire Put Michellin x-ice winter tire on right front position as a test Took test drive up to 65mph....AHAHHH that's better, no more shimy. Put some dynabeads I had left over in the front right tire to see if that makes difference and reinstall front right tire Took test drive up to 65mph....a little better but shimy still there. So that's how far I got. I don't know how much I want to mess with these tires now that I think about it; they have some tread left but not a whole lot....mmm good excuse to get new tires?! Also noticed that even at lower speeds, if I turn the wheel left a little then right, even though it isn't shimying much going straight, it does feel squirmy for a split second as the wheel is turned.

Ok thanks! Sounds like I need to locate a reliable alignment shop in my area that also has a nice tire balancer.

Oh right on, 2000 Outback, I have one of those....checked the service manual, which says (for auto trans vehicles): DTC P1133 - FRONT OXYGEN (A/F) SENSOR HEATER CIRCUIT HIGH INPUT DTC DETECTING CONDITION: Two consecutive driving cycles with fault Then it has a bunch of voltages and currents to measure and harnesses to shake. Most of them end in repairing a connection.

Hi, 2000 Outback wagon 2.5L n/a auto trans 119k miles. It has been having a somewhat bad shimy above about 60mph. It shakes the steering wheel back and forth a little bit. If I take my hand off the wheel, I can see it move back and forth, and it pulls to the left fairly hard. It does not pull below ~60mph, and below 60mph there is a little shimmy but hardly noticeable. Boom, >60mph shimy. The vehicle is driveable with this shimy; it's just pretty iritating. It has some other pecularities... Seems to happen mainly when cool/cold outside, say <50 deg F. This summer it was fine, but I remember it doing this last winter. It just started doing it again after I had my NYS inspection last Friday. I noticed it immediately after the inspection. I rotated the front tires to the rear last night, and it still has the same shimy. Tires are Pirelli P400 that were on when I got the vehicle. Tires seem to be wearing evenly; no cupping or scaloping or anything noted I also have Michelin X-ice winter tires on steel wheels; I can't remember for sure but I think I ran these last winter and it had that shimy sometimes too. A few times in the past, I have slowed down on the highway to say <30mph, then when I sped back up to >60mph....no shimmy, smooth as glass; but shimy returns again later. Shook down suspension by hand; no noticed looseness. Wheel bearings are smooth with no noticeable freeplay. So what say ye to check? Thanks zzz

If you can get the troubleshooting procedure for this code that might be something to check out.

Yes have seen many posts about the slow to engage into drive issue on '99s and some '00s. Basically some shrinking seal or something preventing rapid buildup of pressure. Here's a thread started in '04 that over the years a number of people have posted this issue.