darnold

Changed my front left wheel bearing this morning. Didn't cure the noise. While I had it up though, I turned the shaft by hand and sounds like the left bearing on the front diff is making noise. Can these be changed without pulling the diff? Right side sounds fine. Thanks

Thanks Fairtax. That seems reasonable to me. It is a manual transmission and I had a look last night after I posted and finally found the transmission dipstick. It is full and clean. How complicated is it to replace wheel bearings? I am quite well equipped in my shop at work. Does the wheel hub have to come right off the cv axle? I guess the question I'm asking is can I screw up the alignment while I'm doing this and how do I avoid it.

I have an 05 Legacy that sounds like the same thing. I would call it a grumble. Changes based on wheel speed. Same sound with engine at idle. No vibration from shift lever. Definitely sounds like it's coming from the front. Disappears below 20 km/hr. Does the transmission and front diff share the oil? I've found oil dripping from a hard line on the left side near the front cv. Is there a transmission cooler and could I be losing oil? I got under and tried to see how to check the oil but couldn't see an obvious level plug. There is never a drip stain under the car. I got under after driving and didn't feel anything that seemed hot to the touch. I would like to figure this out before something bad happens....Any advice would be welcome and appreciated. I did see the post about changing the oil and I will do this as soon as I can figure out the drain and fill plugs.

That's a great idea. Some higher grades don't have ethanol. I'll give that a try. With the fuel prices I can afford an experiment. Thank you mikaleda!

The smell is always there. It only comes into the cabin when reversing because I back up through the exhaust that's behind the car. I can drive hundreds of km and as soon as I back up the smell gets sucked into the car.

I have an 05 Legacy manual with 190 000 km. Whenever I back the car up I get a foul smell coming into the cabin. There are no exhaust leaks, it doesn't use oil or coolant. There is no lack of power. It gets awesome gas mileage. There are no warning lights on the dash. Could it just need a catalytic converter? I've read posts elsewhere suggesting fuel/air mix problems but I would think that the fuel economy would suffer. I would replace the CC in a heartbeat if I had a reasonable chance of success. Any advice will be welcome.

Ok. Thanks a lot. The old clutch was very worn making me think that the previous owner had backed off preload on the bearing to get grip on the clutch. Should the release bearing be always touching the pressure plate?

So after my clutch replacement I'm noticing a light squealing noise when the clutch is released. It goes away if you even rest your foot on the clutch. I'm thinking that I need a slight adjustment on the slave cylinder but I'm not sure whether I need to load the release bearing more or less. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I did the clutch today. Because I have access to a pit I used the transmission method. I only moved it 4 inches so didn't have to pull the CVs. It took 5 hours on my own. I had help lining the transmission back up during the assembly process. I removed the flywheel and cleaned it up with a mild abrasive disc. It was pretty easy to see why it was slipping because the old friction disc was a quarter the thickness of the new one. What an amazing difference. It engages so smoothly and close to the floor like you'd expect. What a pleasure to drive. Well worth $330 and five hours of my time. Thanks for all the helpful advice. I will consider the timing belt next. I will check the threads for more info... There's lots of it here from lots of very experienced people. Thanks again...

So I rolled the dice at an auction and bought an 05 legacy sedan. Beautiful condition, 185 000 kms (114 000 miles) You're not allowed to drive them before the auction so it wasn't until after I bought it that I realized that the clutch slips when you step on the gas hard in 2nd and 3rd. I have a shop and plenty of experience replacing clutches on other vehicles. I am seeking any tips or advice to help make my life a little easier. I found a video online for a legacy gt that was very helpful from legacygt.com. I'm thinking it will be the same without the turbo stuff. I didn't catch in the video how the shifter disconnects from the transmission. I'm wondering if I will have to dismantle the console. This car replaces the 96 legacy that I cleaned up a deer with right after I replaced the automatic transmission. Its a big step up. Such a lovely car. Thanks in advance...

Hi there, thanks for taking the time to reply. The whole point is now moot. I hit a deer on the way to my shop this morning and I expect that the car will be a write off. I've never had an airbag blow up in my face before... I don't recommend it I wonder what my next Subaru will look like...I've had a couple now and they are some of the best built cars on the planet in my humble opinion.

The car is an hour away. I will look when I get back to it tomorrow. I wish I would have read some of these threads before i started. I might have fixed my old tranny. The problem was the AT light blinking 15 times which I think now means shift solenoid 1. It was stuck in 3rd gear. Is it easy to swap solenoids between transmissions?

Yes, I filled the front diff with gear oil.

Hi. I didn't remove the front diff housing. Mine is a legacy L. I didn't really look at what the other car was that I got it from, only that it was a 96 legacy auto.

Hi there. I replaced my automatic transmission in my 96 legacy today with one from a pick and pull yard. It is the same year and looks identical. Everything went well until I drove away and heard a grinding noise from the front end of the tranny. It sounds like a gear noise. I haven't taken it back out yet to find out what it was but I blocked it up and let it run and I'm pretty sure the noise is coming from the front diff. I didn't check how far the pinion for the front diff stuck out compared to the old one. Is it possible that I need to remove some shims or something to let it sit back a little? Do the gears have timing marks such that you have to align specific teeth? Should I replace the shaft on the new (to me) tranny with the old front output shaft and how hard is that to do? Any advice would be most welcome...going to get back to it on Sunday. Thanks