vasy

No I didn't try to remove them but I did try to re-torque the other 3 to spec (140 ft.lb) to see if they'd move at all. They didn't so they're as tight as they should be. Don't have a concern anymore, just curious why this one came off so easily.

When I replaced my front CV axle 3 weeks ago, I was really surprised how easily the axle nut came off with my electric impact gun. It only took about 3 seconds. I had previously used the same impact gun to do the same job on my Nissan Maxima, it took 5-6 minutes of intermittent impacting before the nut came loose. My 96 OBW's axle nut had never been removed since it left the factory (I'm the original owner), but the Nissan's axle had been replaced by a shop a few years earlier. My guess is that the shop had over-torqued the nut. But 137 ft.lb of torque on my OBW should take more than 3 seconds pounding with my impact gun. So I checked the other 3 axles' nuts with a torque wrench, I torqued them to 140 ft.lb and they were all tight, none moved any when I tried to tighten them. It's a little weird. The nut I took off was properly staked at the factory but it was a little too loose.

This is how I fill the system: after draining, remove the vent plug on the top right side of the radiator. Find the smallest funnel you can get and attach a very small tubing to the funnel. Insert that tubing into the vent hole towards the top radiator hose until the end of the tubing is in the top hose. With the radiator cap off, pour coolant very slowly into the funnel until it shows up in the radiator cap opening. Do this with the front end of the car raised or on an incline. Replace the vent plug but do not over-tighten. If you damage it, about $15 to replace. This way you don't need to disconnect the hose - without any chance of over-tightening the hose clamp to damage the radiator neck. But it'll take more time to fill up because the funnel and the tubing must be small to fit into the vent hole.

You can probably find your answer from this site: http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/index.php It has good info about what part # is for what model/year.

Never used a left-hand drill bit before so I need to ask this - am I supposed to set the drill in reverse so that the bit spins counter-clockwise?

22mm bolt.

What size socket fits the factory pinch bolt? I'm going to do the ball joint when my son brings his 96 OBW home next month. I'd like to gather the tools but don't have the car with me. Glad that I saw this - will be careful with that bolt.

I'll say that this pine wedge tool is by far the best (and cheapest) I've heard.

What year is your 2.5L?

All the cars (96 Sub, 90 Nissan, 04&09 Toyota) I've owned behave the same way: needle is just a tad below half way when the engine is warmed up.

I got my replacement axle from NWE and have a question. The first one with ripped boot is a new one and this replacement is reman. I noticed the outer joint on the new axle is much easier to move/bend by hand than the reman axle. I hold the axle shaft with my left hand and use my right hand to move/bend the outer joint. It takes 3 times as much force to bend the outer joint on the reman than on the new axle. The inner joint feels the same for both axles. What does that mean? I know this reman will work on my car but what is a good axle's outer joint supposed to behave when one bends it by hand off the car? I don't have experience with Subaru axles but my previous experience with Nissan front axles is that both joints are fairly movable by hand. You actually need to support the Nissan joint to keep it from over-bending. This reman takes quite a bit of force to bend its joint. Which is a better built joint, a stiffer or softer joint?

Hi Mike, in Midlothian, VA, right where you live. I PMed you a couple of times in the past. Last time was about finding used rims for snow tires. I got a set of rims from a junk car in Chesterfield Auto Parts in Feb this year for a very good price. They sell rims with tires on but I didn't need these old tires so after I mounted new snow tires on the rims, I brought back the old tires to CAP and got my refund.

I removed this unit twice in the past 3 years. First time to replace the light bulbs and this year to replace the entire unit. Both times I disconnected it from below the glove box and that's not bad at all. If you try to disconnect from the control unit's cable end at the unit, you'll have to fight with a retaining ring in a very confined space. That's the pain people refer to. I highly recommend to get the problem fixed. If it's stuck at the foot mode which happened to my car in July, AC's cool air can't get to the upper half of my body where it's needed the most. That renders the AC practically useless. Another board (http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/74-outback-4-cylinder/28127-having-problem-hvac-controls.html) also has such a post for a 97 OBW.

Same thing happened to my 96 OBW 3 months ago @ 130k miles. I purchased an OEM control unit (part # 72311AC054) from Subaruonlineparts.com for $209.09 including shipping and replaced the original unit. This is the entire unit with multiple buttons above the radio. That fixed the problem. My local dealer would charge me $270.57 plus tax for the same part. Some say you can fix the unit by resoldering the broken/weak joint on the back of the unit's circuit board. I think that's certainly possible but that takes some try and error and for the intermittent problem it's not a quick fix. This can be potentially a safety issue because the windshield defogging might not work depending which mode you're stuck in.

NWE replied my e-mail to say that starting from 2000 the tone ring is on the axle - same as what you said. That's good to know. So they sent me the right axle (w/o ring) except the boot was broken. They'll send me another one and pay me shipping for sending the bad one back. About the size of the boot on the brand-new (non-reman) outer joint provided by NWE, it's not just the diameter of the boot opening not the same as Subaru OEM boot, the length of the boot from one end to the other is also shorter due to the difference in the outer joint's design difference. OEM outer boot has 6 bellows compared to 3 bellows on this NWE boot. I'm not saying it's not a good boot, just to point out when replacing this boot down the road, be careful not to get the wrong boot.

On Subaruparatsforyou.com, they lists SOA966H900R1 as 95-99 Outback with ABS. This part # is the same as the reman axle's part # in one of the pics you posted last year. But in your pic of the Subaru reman axle, there is no tone ring but in that website's picture for the same part #, there is a tone ring. It's confusing but I'll just ask Marshall to send me a replacement one with tone ring - safer this way.

Thanks picture is not necessary. I wasn't worried about the nut, just making a comment for others who might want to know. I'm sure he'll send me a new axle without issues. Now, the boot used for NWE's new (not reman) outer joint is not the standard size as Subaru OEM due to the joint itself is a bit larger. That means if a replacement boot is needed in the future, one would need to look for a source other than Subaru dealers to purchase from.

Porc, I just read an old post of yours with some pics of your axle replacement. It's a red car with orange paint on brake caliper. The original axle (with green paint on inner joint) taken off from that car has tone ring but the Subaru reman in your pic does not. Did you use that reman w/o tone ring to replace the original with ring? Is that a 96? I'm trying to find out without looking at my car, which I don't have with me now, if I need a tone ring. I have full confidence in NWE's product with regard to the quality of its CV's mechanical joints. That's why I ordered one from them. I've done extensive research before purchase. I just would like to share my experience with others.

My son has the car but he is in college away from home so I don't know if my old axle has/needs a tone ring. Mine is a 96 OBW. Anyone knows?

ABS-related and that's what I was afraid of - the axle NWE sent me does not have this ring. I told him I had ABS when ordering so I need to tell him this now to avoid another mistake. The box was not damaged in any way. The boot damage looks like a clean cut by a sharp object. I already sent him an e-mail for replacement.

I got the axle today but with a surprise. There is a penetrating cut/tear on the outer joint boot, about the width of my thumb. I'll try to post pics. You can see through the broken boot that the grease they use has a brown/pink color, not the dark gray kind. The outer joint appears to be new (he told me he built a new CV for me). It's polished shiny and does not have any paint on it while the inner joint is painted blue. The outer joint has this (OE) carved on the metal followed by a part #. Anyone knows what manufacturer that is? Reputable? The boots that NWE used on my axle (other than the damage) is ok quality, but not as good as OEM boots. Don't know how long they'll last. My factory boots are still intact after 130K miles. One of them just started to show a small and superficial crack. Can someone tell me, on some axle pictures I've seen on this forum, there is a cogged ring near the outer joint dust shield, what's that for? The nut they sent me is gold. Not sure if it's the same quality as Subaru's gold nut. (Edit: I compared mine with the pic Porcupine73 posted, they are not identical. Same size 32mm but from a different source.)

From the owner maintenance point of view, the top-mounted oil filter (the black thing next to the yellow oil cap) has an advantage. One can change the filter without crawling under the car. The filter is mounted upside down with a tray to catch spilled oil when removing the filter. I personally welcome this feature. The externally-mounted water pump as indicated by the lowest pulley on the left (driver's) side provides easier replacement. The timing cover can be left alone when replacing the water pump. Assuming the timing chain and its related components do not fail, its cover never needs to be removed. However, the single extra long accessory belt must be pretty pricey. I can only see 3 idler pulleys, compared to 4 (including tensioner roller) for my 2.5. So from the maintenance point, the new design is more maintenance-friendly. It's also much easier to replace these pulleys on the new engine.

I ordered one from him last week and these are his exact words when he replied my e-mail: We have remanufactured axles for: 1973-1999= $85.00 each exchange, Reman. CV: 2000-2004=$95.00 each exchange, Reman CV: 2005-2009= $195.00 & up. Call for Type, pricing, and availability. $35.00 Core charge per axle: Refundable when core is received back. $30.00 Shipping & Handling per axle, Shipping for 2 Axles $ 50.00: We also offer a New CV program: $ 20.00 more per axle we will build you axles with a New CV joint. "Very Nice Quality" All axles have a one year warranty parts only. We will not warranty any axles used in: Lifted, Race, Stunt, Off-road Race, Vehicles. Should you decide to order you can do so Thur PayPal.com http://www.paypal.com Go to mwolf1303@juno.com You can pay with credit card, and put all vehicle information along with all shipping information. PLEASE NOTE: Axles ship via UPS ground, orders processed, usually within 24 to 48 hrs. of fund clearing PayPal Acct. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Also if the core charge is a problem, I can work with you on that, as long as you return the old cores, Call for details.. Thank You for your inquiry, we look forward to your order. Spring pins, grease seals, installation instructions, we do not provide. Axles nuts I have plenty of, so with your order please make a note about the nuts and I will make sure they are enclosed in your shipment. When he e-mailed me again to notify shipping, he said he installed a new CV for me at no charge ( I ordered a reman for my 96, paid $150 to his Paypal account). Don't know if he put a new CV for outer or inner joint, or both. I guess he didn't have a reman ready but had a new one at hand when my order was placed. I should get it tomrrrow.

I replaced timing gears yesterday. At the end, when I reinstalled the crank pulley, I torqued the crank bolt to 130 ft.lb. I coated the bolt with a little oil as specified by FSM. I first torqued it to 33 ft.lb, then to about 100, finally to 130. When the torque was about 120, I felt the bolt moving suddenly and at the same time, I heard a rather unpleasant noise in sync with the bolt movement. It appeared that when the bolt was turning, it made such a noise. I heard it twice when I was applying torque. The noise was not coming from the torque wrench and I don't think I cross-thread the bolt. Is this normal when torquing crank bolt? I also noticed, when aiming a mirror at the crank snout hole, that the thread inside the snout is a bit unusual. At the very far end (deep into the snout), the hole diameter seems smaller than the rest of the snout hole. But the crank bolt doesn't look tapered. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it at that time. The car runs fine and the crank pulley does not wobble. Can someone explain?

Thanks. Yes, that's why I need to remove the pump. Nothing wrong with it but since I'm there to replace the idler pulleys, the oil pump is right next door. My thanks also go to GeneralDisorder. I'll figure out whether to install the seal while the pump is off or on the car in the last minute. This is my first oil seal job. I'm going to do a dry run with the old seal to see which way is better for my skill level.