what next...

['nucksfan]

Bought a Subaru because they're known to be reliable and I live in Colorado where 4wd is nice to have. I guess  mine was neglected by its previous owner. 2001 forester s, automatic 180,000 miles. I replaced the engine back in December w/ a used but much lower mileage engine, it runs like a champ. The original engine spun a rod bearing 24hrs after I bought it, the previous owner was a nice guy, felt awful, and gave me some money back to help with the repairs.

 

On to my current issue. Driving home yesterday I lost power suddenly, no bang or hard shift just engine RPM shot up and the speedo did too although I was coasting and slowing down. I pulled over, put it in park, and checked fluid level, its fine. put it back in drive and it drove normal for another 1/4 mile before it did it again. Luckily I was close to home so I limped I home. it began shifting hard in to gear and not staying in gear. it isn't slipping, once it does engage it accelerates and drives fine. it's the shifting that really is the problem. it operates in reverse normally. Also, i've lost park, I put it in park and it made a grinding noise, frightened I quickly put it in neutral, I backed up the car and pulled forward a bit, tried again, it made the same noise briefly but stopped, it still did not engage and rolls as if I were in neutral.  I've done quite a bit of research and have found this handful of symptoms(except the park thing) can be caused by the line pressure solenoid and/or the resistor on the RH strut mount.

 

Unfortunately I believe the shock shift broke my right front output shaft or something else inside the front transfer case as the output shaft is sticking about an inch out of the case. this might explain my park issue? I love my forester but damn, another 1000 or so in repairs and i've paid for this car twice.

 

I did a drain and fill and added trans-x to see if that would help the symptoms or maybe free up a clogged valve. I guess i'm not that lucky, and now with a broken xfer case it certainly wont be an easy repair.

 

both the engine and trans have gone out with no previous signs of trouble. the car was acting perfectly normal that morning on the way to work and since December when I put the engine in it.

[Fairtax4me]

You have a broken axle or the axle spline has popped out of the front diff.

 

The side that's sticking out is the problem. Remove that axle entirely. Inspect the inner joint where it slides into the stub shaft for the diff. If the stub shaft has slid out of the diff check the splines on the shaft as well as the splines in the side gear in the diff for damage. Hopefully it's just the outer spline that engages the axle joint that is damaged. This would be the best case because you can just replace the stub shaft and axle.

If the inner spline is damaged, damage inside the differential is likely, and will probably require replacement of the diff side gear.

 

This is a fairly common problem with aftermarket axles. Usually due to incorrect removal/installation of the axle, but sometimes it just because new aftermarket axles are spoob quality.

['nucksfan]

The spline that meets the CV axle(front right) is sticking out (the shaft the roll pin goes through). The CV axle was just replaced but I doubt that's the problem considering i've put about 3k on it since it was replaced including a trip from CA to CO and it has given no signs of trouble. Given the fact my trans shifted very hard a few times, I imagine the shaft or something internally in the front diff that holds the shaft in place is what broke. the CV axle itself is fine. this is my first Subaru so im not fully familiar with how they go together. been a mechanic in the heavy/diesel industry for over 10 years so I am mechanically inclined but as I said im not in the passenger car business and this is my first Subaru. 

[Fairtax4me]

My sister had a Toyota Camry with a split cv boot. I had ordered the new boot to replace it, but she got impatient because she needed the car for a trip to play a music gig. She took it to another mechanic and had the whole axle replaced. She took it on the trip, drove home, drove the car every day for another month. One day she was sitting at a light and went to drive off when the light turned green, the axle slid out of the diff, cocked crooked and chewed the splines out of the diff and off the end of the axle. Left so much metal in the diff it wasn't repairable. She made it about 2,500 miles on it and it sent her car to the junkyard. The circlip for the original axle was found still engaged in the side gear, and the circlip on the new axle was half jammed in the gear.

 

Hard shifting could have been the stub shaft sliding in/out and re-engaging with the splines in the diff.

 

The splines where the stub shaft engages the side gear in the diff are probably damaged. There is a circlip that holds the stub shaft in.

Possibly the circlip was damaged when the old axle was removed, which allows the stub shaft to slide out. If the stub shaft popped out of the diff the splines on the inner end of the shaft are probably damaged along with the splines in the side gear in the diff.

['nucksfan]

I've been looking in to repairs and it almost seems like buying a used trans and R&R is the way to go. I've found used ones from 500-750 and R&R is 6.5 hours. then ill have the original engine and trans from this car to rebuild and put in another Subaru(trying to stay somewhat positive lol). Rockauto sells a full rebuild kit for 300 too so I'm looking at 800 or so for a practically new trans and 600 or so for labor. sucks dolling out that kind of cash after I spent 2k replacing the engine.

['nucksfan]

the stub shaft sliding out and re-engaging would definitely give symptoms of a hard shift but when the trans comes out of gear the RPM increases and vehicle speed decreases as I have no power to the wheels, the difference and change of speed between the two(engine and vehicle) would cause one hell of a grind when it tried popping back in and re-engaging.

 

I would also have power to the other wheels being that its only the right front shaft popping out. this to me looks like a classic case of one small problem(a cheap easy fix solenoid) causing a big one(broken/damaged diff components). I remember asking myself on that first hard shift "I wonder what thT JUST $%^&!@ up"...guess I found out.

[lmdew]

I'd try a stub shaft and used Subaru axle first.  You could drain and check the front diff oil for metal.

[ccrinc]

Bad torque converter.  Especially if you can't actually see any damage under the car.

[keith3267]

I would try shoving the axle back in place first.  If it goes in real easy, that is a problem.  If it won't go in, that is also a problem, but a different problem.

 

Why you don't hear a grinding sound when it uncouples, there is a circlip on the end of the axle that is preventing the splines from engaging, or at least making it difficult.  You heard the grinding when you tried to put it into park because the differential and the transfer case allows some slippage between the wheels, so the internal spline that drives this axle is still spinning as is the output shaft from the transmission.  What you heard is the same sound that you would hear if you put the transmission in park while still moving slightly.  If you left it in neutral for a minute or so, it would not make any sound going into park.

 

I have found when using reman axles, the circlips that come with them are slightly oversized, not sure why but they make it almost impossible too insert the axle.  I have often reuse the old circlip.  If the circlip is too small or too worn, the axle could pop out under certain circumstances.

 

If your lucky, it is very possible that all you need is a new circlip that is the right size and all will be well.  You need to get this from a dealer though and not aftermarket.  BTW, I haven't had this problem with new aftermarket axles, even the Chinese ones, but I have only used EMPI aftermarket axles and now I hear they have gone out of business.

Edited March 9, 2015 by keith3267