unibrook

btw, you can use a cotter pin instead of a springpin if you need to. I have had no probs using one as a substitute.

Good point. So many silly laws. And whatever you do, don't grow your own dope or brew your own beer! That might let you buy less taxable product from the big Pharms and Breweries! Can't have that! :-)

I went this route also: BR-3 OBDII reader from http://obddiagnostics.com/. But a bit of a pain to use for me, my laptop battery is dead, so I have to hook laptop up to my cig lighter. And the onboard realtime diagnostics don't seem to work right. OTOH, it does tell me what code is being thrown, and it does allow me to clear it. If I were to go out and do it all again, I would get one of those small Harbor Freight code reader/clearers just for ease of use and handling.

I tightened the Pwr Steering/Alternator belt. Took me 30 mins: 1. Remove the belt guards using 10mm and 12mm sockets/wrenches. This will "force" you to loosen the alternator pivot bolt. 2. Press into middle of belt to check how loose it is. Mine had about an inch of movement. Check this belt and the other belt for wear or any condition problem, since you are so close to it. 3. Loosen the lock nut--about half way down the shaft of the slider (adjuster) bolt. 4. Lube up all of the bolts while you are here. 5. Tighten the slider bolt one full turn clockwise, enough to make the belt only move about .25" when you press down on the middle of it. 6. Tighten lock nut. 7. Replace all belt guards. 8. Start car and test drive, do some tight full lock turning to test for squeals.

Thx G, good points about adjusting just tight enough. Will do it this weekend.

Hi, Bumping this thread up with a followup question. 2001 forester 92k miles. cold engine squealing belt and lack of pwr steering assist until all warmed up a few minutes later, then all is normal. Fluid level ok. Whereabouts is the power steering belt tension adjustment gizmo located? What procedure do I follow to tighten it a bit? thx.

gotta say it...this is why I love NOT having a sunroof on my Forester.

Yah hum, well there mr. honda lover, changed an alternator on a honda accord lately? enjoy!

Just in case anyone wanted to hear what the rear wheel bearing sounds like...and this is going only 20-30 mph! You should hear it at 50 mph!

Perfect, thanks Hohieu. Any way I can contact you offlist if I have further questions specific to this task? thx, nwlovell at yahoo.com

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza dear Liza...

Can you just use the tools included with the Hub Tamer to remove the rear hub on a Forester 2001? Or do you have to use a slide hammer? Can't seem to tell if the rear hubs are floating or trapped. Does anyone know?

Bearings can make a somewhat pulsating noise too. Not a perfectly smooth growl.

I can feel my bearings starting to snap, crackle pop and grind...just looking at those pics!

Fun and games continue with my inde shop and the rear bearings they put in less than 1 year and less than 5k miles ago. I called them up and asked if they would fix it for free. They said "bring the car in, if the bearing is still under warranty, we will fix it for free." So I take a couple of hours out of my workday to drive it in there, and when I get back to the office they called and said Subaru won't warranty the bearing for more than 6 months. My shop won't give me free labor to put another one in, they said. Soooooo, why couldn't they figure all that out and tell me that over the phone instead of wasting my time like this? The answer is, they could. But once they hassle you enough to drop your car off at the shop, they figure you will just buckle and say, "oh ok, since the car is already there, go ahead and replace the bearing again for $375." I told them not to touch it, I will pick it up and fix it myself. And they will get no more of my business.

If your front O2 sensor has not been replaced in the last 40k miles, I will bet that is the problem. It was for me, same car.

Is PB Blaster substantially better than WD40? Or does it not really matter much as long as you spray the bastard down for days.

But grossgary, if you replace the whole knuckle/hub assembly as a unit, you must still have to go through the hell of removing the lateral bolt, right? Seems to be the toughest part of the deal.

Just to echo what TIMINTC said, if your car is reasonably late model (1999 and newer) the rear wiper motor is probably not the culprit...it has a sensor in it to shut off if it feels too much resistance. So the motor rarely burns out. And the gears rarely strip. You will probably find what timintc and I did that the shaft itself is corroded/frozen. Remove the back gate plastic trim panel...some big phil-head screws, bunch of plastic pop out tabs. Take the motor backing plate off being careful not to strip the 6 small phil-head retaining screws...and get ready to catch the white nylon gears that might fall out. BTW, my wiper arm was corrosion welded onto the drive shaft, and I sheared the retaining nut and end of shaft off as I tried to remove it...turns out you don't REALLY need to separate the two pieces anyway. Then spend 30 mins spraying WD40 and or lith grease up and down the wiper shaft from both inside and out and slowly work the wiper arm back and forth and it will free up. I sprayed white lith grease on all of the plastic panel tabs b4 I put it back in place figuring that this wiper motor grease job will prob become a yearly maint chore. timintc, have you tried gooping some silicone onto the ouside of shaft to prevent water from running down it? I might try this.

Hohieu, I dunno if they used ball bearings. I would assume they used new roller bearings...if that is what gets sold as a replacement part. On the other hand, I am sure they went cheapest route possible. Maybe the bearings they got sucked, maybe my spindle has a lip on it. Dunno. So many dunno's when dealing with a shop. sorta why I want to just dig in and do it myself. Even though the hassle factor daunts me.

thanks guys, thems the leads I needs!

Hi Grossgary and Subaru360: where do I get used hubs? Can I mail order them? Any good source you have used? Or do I need to drive down to CT to a U-Pull-It junkyard? I live in Boston. thx.

don't feel badly, tcspeer. that first pic is unclear, and I also concluded that it looks like a female hole rather than the stub. curious to hear how this resolves.

I am interested in using a Hub Tamer Elite tool kit to change my rear wheel bearings on my 2001 Forester...drum brakes. Can this tool kit be used on my setup? I want to put the upgrade roller bearings in.

That was Dec 2007 I had both rear bearings replaced. Now it is Dec 2008 (< 5k miles later) and they are both howling like a banshee again. @#%&%$$^ I think I will take Gary's advice and try to just replace the whole hub assembly myself instead of paying another shop to screw it up for me. Any junkyards for Subies around Boston?