96 Legacy Wagon Hub Bearing or Trans?

[lmdew]

I picked up a 96 that needs a new clutch for sure. The guy fried it by not adjusting the cable. It was as tight as could be, clutch not full in gauging. The pedal is all the way to the top before it catches, even after I backed it off to make it home.

 

The shop he's been using for a long time said he also has transmission problems. The trans shifts fine and the noise sounds like a wheel bearing. The noise is still there when the trans is in neutral.

 

The Passenger side front hub, I suspect is bad as the noise is the worst when in a left turn. Brakes applied the noise is still there.

 

However, there is no freeplay in the hub when I have it jacked. Spins OK with the tire and wheel on. Poor test, I know.

 

I'm thinking New Clutch, front hub and the normal required maintenance and it will be road worthy.

 

Anyone ever have a bad trany bearing sound like a hub bearing?

[zyewdall]

Only experience I have with bad trannies is on a '97 OBS, and it was definitely coming from the transmission -- driving you could heard it more from under the car than from either window with the windows down. It was alot of grinding gears too (finally blew it up last week completely), so maybe bearings sound different... but, your description sure sounds like a wheel bearing. It might only make noise with weight on it, which is why you can't detect anything with it jacked up.

 

Seems like subies often get diagnosed with bad transmissions, when it's really something else. A friend's '87 GL supposedly had a failing transmission... when it was really the plugs hadn't been changed for 150k miles, and the engine was just hesitating and surging something awful. I put new plugs and wires and cap and rotor on and the "transmission" was all better

[idosubaru]

if you know the hub is bad, replace that first to make sure the trans is bad?

 

sounds like you're fairly certain though.

 

i've seen tight bearings not be any good. make noise while driving, feel fine when testing by hand.

[lmdew]

Thanks, clutch and hub will be the plan. If the noise is still there, more troubleshooting will be required.

[CNY_Dave]

Thanks, clutch and hub will be the plan. If the noise is still there, more troubleshooting will be required.

 

The bad front wheel bearing on my '01 was the *opposite* one that I expected based on which turn made the noise worse/better.

 

The bad bearing made *more* noise when I turned away from it, less when I turned towards it.

 

Since the bearings are so close together it has a lot more to do with which race is bad (inner/outer) than which side of the car gets more load in the turn.

 

I had to jack up both fronts, put it in neutral, and spin the wheel with my hand on the strut spring to be sure I had the bad one.

 

 

Dave

[idosubaru]

I've noticed quite a few difference nuances to bearing failures, i don't think there's one definitive approach to diagnosing.

[CNY_Dave]

I've noticed quite a few difference nuances to bearing failures, i don't think there's one definitive approach to diagnosing.

 

Yeah, rear wheel drive cars were easy because the big bearing always failed first, and always made more noise when more heavily loaded in a turn.

 

Even my '80 toyota celica was like that.

 

 

Dave

[lmdew]

It was the hub bearing! Sweet.

 

Once I pulled the brakes and drive shaft the roughness of the bearing was very present. Used Hub went in and in about 30 minutes I was done.

 

Clutch change and it will be back on the road. $400, for the Legacy with 140K. Nice