03 Legacy

[hkerns503]

I just got screwed over by a mechanic for $1500 worth of work only to find out that the low knocking noise WAS something I needed to be concerned about. He told me it was the front right axle that would need to be fixed not right away though. So I continue to drive it to work for the last 2 weeks and it starts knocking really loudly. Take it to him again being that he had other work to complete.. all of a sudden its not the front axle and now he wants to send me to a tranny shop. This was first on the list of things that needed to be looked into. He's already been paid. I'm about to lose my new job and I'm without a freakin car. He's saying that it can't be converted to 2wd he tried the fuse I suggested that I found on another forum.. he's saying its the front differential. Big big money for his buddy. Idk who to trust. Or wtf is going on. It sounds like its coming from front passenger side tire. No knocking in neutral or reverse. And the noise did start after having a donut on a cpl months back. Somebody please please help me!! I'm a single mother on limited income about to have a breakdown (beyond the car) this isn't the only thing he screwed me on but being that its already a book ill stop now. Please, anyone??

[hkerns503]

I should note that he's trying to send me to the same tranny guy that I took the car to as soon as I heard the knocking.. by my brothers suggestion due to the lack of noise in reverse or neutral. This lovely man tightened up my heat shield for $20 and said "I can't tell you what it is... but I can tell you its definitely NOT your transmission" I said are you POSITIVE?? He said "We specialize in transmissions" maybe he needs a new specialty

[1 Lucky Texan]

well, there may very well be damage from running the donut. Subaru AWD is very sensitive to certain tire problems.

 

But, perhaps if you post your city, someone here could at least suggest a mechanic that is more capable.

[hkerns503]

I really doubt that I can afford it at this point. I'm in washington co.. south of pittsburgh. I might have to sell it and probably get less than what I just put in it. Disgusted!

[johnceggleston]

some basics,

auto or manual trans?

how many miles?

engine, 2.5L (legacy L, brighton) or 3.0L (outback VDC or LL Bean) ?

 

if auto, yes, put the fuse in and see if the trouble goes away.

it should be in the corner of the fuse box under the hood, which is located in between the battery and the windshield washer bottle.

this is pretty easy to do. any fuse will work. there is usually a spare in the fuse box. the lid has a description of each fuse.

[ivans imports]

a easy way to confirm a bad front diff is to drop the oil and check the magnet for meatal if you take 1.5 liters of gear oil to any trany shop and ask them to change front diff oil and check for meatal debrie if clean is good bet trans is ok thiss shouldent cost very mutch $ of oil and 20 min labour. I whould be more inclined to blame a bad axle or wheel berring ect trans do not fail that often and is very apperant when they do you whould know. Non subaru techs working on subarus cerate greif for me and my customers dayly find a subaru specific tech. Because what they dont know will hurt you

[ivans imports]

What did you spend 1500$ on ?

[hkerns503]

Automatic.. 2.5 (I think) under 170k. I'm afraid to drive the car and cause more damage and I live in a rural area. I'm not mechanically inclined (woman) but I'm willing to try anything. Ill try to find a diagram of where the fusebox is. The "mechanic" I went to had no formal training. He told my brother he worked in a steelmill. Idk. I guess he tt the tranny guy that told him what to check and they came to was front differ.. when I called tranny guy he said there was prolly all kinds of damage that it probably caused the wheel bearing troubles.. etc

 

And 1500 covered brake work pretty much.. 02 sensor.. clock spring.. stablinks? Insp/emission

[idosubaru]

have you checked the transmission fluid level?  yellow dipstick behind engine under the front hood on drivers side in

have you checked the front differential fluid level?  dipstick on passengers side behind engine under the front hood as well.

 

$1,500 sounds way overpriced,  i would not take it to these guys again.

drive to morgantown and i'll tell you what's going on or PM/email me. 

i can't make that trip though, i'm way too packed right now. if you end up selling it, PM or email me.

 

1.  if the sound is notably "on one side" like passengers or drivers, then it is highly unlikely to be the transmission.

2. if one of the axle boots are broken (just look at them, very easy to see)

this thread has pictures of what the axles look like, the one end is right behind the wheel, the other side attaches to the transmission.  look at the two rubber boots on each end and see if those are cracked.  there is one axle on each side/wheel:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99-do-yourself-illustrated-guides/21119-diy-front-cv-axle-boot-replacement.html

[johnceggleston]

 

front diffs can go bad, but they are not a common fail point in subarus.

the most common ''mis-diagnosed'' front diff issue is ''torque bind''.

this is a situation where the front and rear wheels are ''locked'' together
like a 4X4 truck with ''locked hubs''.

it works great when driving in sand or mud, but not so good on dry pavement.

if you put the FWD fuse in under the hood it should disconnect the rear
wheels from the drive train, making the car ''front wheel drive'' only.

if this eliminates the problem, the front diff is ok.

open the hood.

stand in front of the car and look at the engine.

in the right front corner, near the driver side head light is the battery.

directly behind that are 2 things.

a large white bottle with a yellow top, this is the windshiel washer fluid.

and a smaller black box, closer to the fender. this isthe fuse box.

 

release the catch on the front end of the fuse box and open it.

look at the inside of the lid.

one of the fuse locations on the lid will be marked FWD and the fuse space
will be empty.

put any spare fuse in the slot and then drive the car.

 

if you buy fuses from an auto parts store, ~$5 maybe, the guy may help you
install the fuse.

just smile and ask.

 

Edited April 11, 2013 by johnceggleston

[hkerns503]

Ok I ran out of daylight after work... fuse didn't work I did it right because. it said FWD on the dash. Tranny fluid is overfilled and rear differential fluid was hard to tell but it wasn't dry.. I did see some very minute shiny silver.. had to really look but I saw a few. So now what? Thank you all for being so helpful

[1 Lucky Texan]

Ok I ran out of daylight after work... fuse didn't work I did it right because. it said FWD on the dash. Tranny fluid is overfilled and rear differential fluid was hard to tell but it wasn't dry.. I did see some very minute shiny silver.. had to really look but I saw a few. So now what? Thank you all for being so helpful

 

 

make sure to check the transmission fluid while idling. Most autos are made that way.

[hkerns503]

Ya my bro did check that for me before I posted this.. it was running and he said it was too full. Also that it wasn't doing it in neutral or reverse. What a headache!

[ivans imports]

I whould drain the front diff and check magnet for meatal debries if clean probly ok if meatal or teeth bering bitts problem if clean not the problem theese difs do not go bad clean makes a mess and front diff only hold 1.5 L so is cheap to check thiss is my first step when diagnosing front diff problems

[idosubaru]

I'm having a hard time following what's wrong - the symptoms haven't been described much and one post still says "passengers side" which doesn't suggest transmission.

 

If the front differential is bad you could convert it to RWD and not fix it, it would likely last much longer that way with no load on the front diff.  but you'd have to have someone that knows what they're doing do it as the front axles needs disassembled to insert the outer joint into the hub - or just have someone here send you the outer joints and you bolt them on (one nut) after you remove the axle).

[hkerns503]

I had a spare tire on it for about 300miles. Once I put on a different full size tire the car started making a low knocking type sound. Seemed to come from the fr passenger side. Made the sound for a month or two. Then a cpl weeks ago it got really loud. It doesn't do it in neutral or reverse. I wish I was more mechanically inclined.. I do not even own a jack. To disable the fr differential does the transmission have to come apart? I know mechanic said it did to change it. And my concern is that it might not be the problem

[Gloyale]

Is it possible youve got a busted front axle?  Busted front axle will act sorta like a busted front diff. 

 

It will spin in the cup and make noise. 

 

Normally you can tell because there is a bit of a lag that before the rear wheels kick in to drive.  However, if there is a bit of torque bind going on, the rear will drive right away, but the front axle will still make alot of knocking noise.

 

Have your "mechanic" check that both front axles are still intact.

 

For future refference....if you have to put a donut spare on, put it on the rear, move a full size tire to the front, and then put the FWD fuse in the holder up front to disengage the rear axles (the ones with the uneven tires)

[johnceggleston]

 

Is it possible youve got a busted front axle?

i think the car would not have driven at all when she put the fuse in. so probably not.

[idosubaru]

. To disable the fr differential does the transmission have to come apart? I know mechanic said it did to change it. And my concern is that it might not be the problem

 

indeed - we first need to find out what the problem is.

 

if the front differential is bad one option is to remove the front axles so that they aren't connected to the front differential. that may take the load off the front diff (like neutral and reverse does) and it may last a long time as a RWD vehicle.  it's not a great option because then you don't have 4WD but i mention it because that can be done without buying any parts...so the cost is zero dollars in parts...which fits nicely in your budget.  but since you don't seem to have much mechanical help it might not be a reality.

 

if you want to contact me via PM or email (my username here @yahoo) i might be able to arrange coming to look at it.

[hkerns503]

Grossgary did u get my pm?

[hkerns503]

Grossgary I left a pm for u. I saw 2 messages in chat but cannot access them for some reason. plz lmk if u can help me. I left my telephone number as well. thanks

[idosubaru]

was not me in chat.  i'm out of state and very busy at the moment, back sunday night.....

[hkerns503]

Ok. It was right after u asked how far off 70 I was. So u don't think u can help? I'm about to coast it over a hill =)

[idosubaru]

maybe, we'll see, not right now.  i'll PM my number, call me tomorrow between noon and 2, i'll try to remember too... that's my only availability until Monday.