Daskuppler Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) Hello Everyone, I have a 2014 Forester with 120k on it. A clicking noise has started to develop in the front end while accelerating and turning. The clicking, sounds nearly identical to the traction control system, but is present regardless of traction control activation or not. My initial thought is CV axles as the symptoms seem to mach them the best, but I thought I would get some opinions before I spent $1k on CV axles. Recent work in the last 20k: All 4 wheel bearings have been replaced with OEM bearings. New struts (KYB) New ball ball joints and Tie rod ends (sadly these were Moog) New lower control arms (OEM) OEM CV axles were rebuilt by reputable local shop Short block replacement (by dealership) Front diff fluid changed (I think I used Mobil 1 at specified weight) As I mentioned before, the clicking is only present while turning, though not usually at full lock. It is present turning in either direction, and exacerbated by cold temps (it's currently 0 degrees), though there is slight improvement once the car starts to warm up a little. The noise is almost identical to the traction control noise, though it happens independently of traction control While inspecting under the car and at the front wheels, I did not find anything loose or out of place. There is a very slight bit of play on the inner CV axle joint at the differential, but it is hard to tell if its on the splines or internal to the joint. I can see the assembly move every so slightly when I push on it, but it also feels like there might be a very slight bit of movement inside. There are no tears in the boots or sign of grease loss. The axles were rebuilt about 30k ago by a local reputable shop. I pulled the factory axles off, took them to the shop, and picked them up the next day. I thought I might save some money by having the OEM axles rebuilt, but it seems like maybe that was not $300 well spent. Is there anything else I can check prior to purchasing new axles from Subaru? I know better than to try out the auto parts store axles. There are 3 TPMS codes all related top decrease in pressure and two SRS codes related to a faulty passenger seat occupant detection mat. No lights on the dash. and no VDC/traction control codes. Cheers, Andrew Edited January 30, 2023 by Daskuppler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Need new Subaru OEM front axles. The newer (last 10 years) Subaru's have $hit axles. Not uncommon to need them replaced before 50k miles. Especially on the Crosstrek and Forester. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Sad that Subaru lost the reliability we use to know and depend on 1988 - 2006 or so. When asked if I should buy a new Subaru I tell folks nothing newer than 2006. We know about the DOHC HG issues and a few others. Watch the Temp gauge, steady as can be and about half. Check the fluids at every fill up. Take care of your older Subaru and it will take care of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, lmdew said: Sad that Subaru lost the reliability we use to know and depend on 1988 - 2006 or so. When asked if I should buy a new Subaru I tell folks nothing newer than 2006. We know about the DOHC HG issues and a few others. Watch the Temp gauge, steady as can be and about half. Check the fluids at every fill up. Take care of your older Subaru and it will take care of you. I have a 2002 Bugeye with 138k on it. It runs very well and we take care of it. We try to take care of the 2014 but it is getting rather expensive to keep it running and working properly. I know the automotive parts store CV axles aren't worth buying and obviously rebuilding isn't a good deal either. Are there aftermarket CV axles that ARE worth buying that are better than OEM? Maybe something from the rally world? Is this a side effect from taking the vehicle lightly off-road? I wouldn't think that some very low speed driving on uneven terrain would destroy a CV axle at stock height, but maybe they really can't handle any sort of wheel spin with the suspension flexed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 does the sound seem to be L or R? it's a hassle, but axles can be swapped to see if a sound follows. There are gadgets like Chassis Ears to help pin-down noises. some folks in the Jeep world like axles from Raxles.com . maybe car-part.com would have some low-miles OE axles. Better if they come from a western/no-road-salt State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 34 minutes ago, 1 Lucky Texan said: does the sound seem to be L or R? it's a hassle, but axles can be swapped to see if a sound follows. There are gadgets like Chassis Ears to help pin-down noises. some folks in the Jeep world like axles from Raxles.com . maybe car-part.com would have some low-miles OE axles. Better if they come from a western/no-road-salt State. It's from both sides. Passenger side sounds like it's both litter and inner CV joints, driver side seems to be only the inner. Of course it is hard to hear exactly where it is when you're driving and it sounds just like traction control which is frequently going off given the snow and ice these days. I'll check car-part and see what they offer. I looked into RCV axles and the general consensus was you really don't want stronger axle because failure pushes from the axle to the hub or differential. I don't think strength is the issue here since nothing is really breaking. It seems to be a design issue, or maybe low quality grease/materials. RCV is also 4 times the price and doesn't make anything for Subaru. Oh how I long for the days of a reliable vehicle that was affordable to fix. This thing is just full of $1,000 bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Nope. Nothing out there. OEM axles from Subaru and replace them every ~75k till Subaru discontinues selling them. Currently you can't buy any axles from Subaru for vehicles older than 2005 and that's creeping up slowly. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, GeneralDisorder said: Nope. Nothing out there. OEM axles from Subaru and replace them every ~75k till Subaru discontinues selling them. Currently you can't buy any axles from Subaru for vehicles older than 2005 and that's creeping up slowly. GD Yeah, I noticed that buying for my bugeye. I was able to get some remanufactured ones from Subaru but they were still quite expensive. Are the rears prone to failure as well, or do they hold up pretty well since there's less travel and no steering knuckle movement? I can't say I have ever seen a rear CV axle replaced unless it was in a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 43 minutes ago, Daskuppler said: Yeah, I noticed that buying for my bugeye. I was able to get some remanufactured ones from Subaru but they were still quite expensive. Are the rears prone to failure as well, or do they hold up pretty well since there's less travel and no steering knuckle movement? I can't say I have ever seen a rear CV axle replaced unless it was in a crash. Subaru discontinued their reman axle program and when it was active they never offered axles for ANY turbo models so that bugeye Impreza must be a non-turbo? Rears we don't see problems with (yet). GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, GeneralDisorder said: Subaru discontinued their reman axle program and when it was active they never offered axles for ANY turbo models so that bugeye Impreza must be a non-turbo? Rears we don't see problems with (yet). GD Yeah, it's a non turbo. I picked up new axles from the dealership today, they informed me they have stopped working with CVJ axles due to quality issues. I know they used to be highly recommended, but they seem to be having some problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) On 2009 and earlier axles: Clicking while accelerating has been inner joint 100% of the time IME. Ive regreased a number of OEM and MWE (no longer an option) axles with 100% success rate. They were always dry or the grease pours out like water. A guy I know pulls both axles and swaps the joints left to right since load and wear shift “to the other side”. Though I wonder how much of that “success” is the clean and regrease required to swap guts Edited January 31, 2023 by idosubaru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 10 hours ago, idosubaru said: On 2009 and earlier axles: Clicking while accelerating has been inner joint 100% of the time IME. Ive regreased a number of OEM and MWE (no longer an option) axles with 100% success rate. They were always dry or the grease pours out like water. A guy I know pulls both axles and swaps the joints left to right since load and wear shift “to the other side”. Though I wonder how much of that “success” is the clean and regrease required to swap guts What grease do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Each time that I have bought a replacement rubber-boot, it came with replacement grease and replacement mounting-bands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 in theory, the inner and outer joints get different grease. Not sure it's worth worrying about too much on an older vehicle. I THINK the inner gets about 120 grams of grease. Beck-Arnley repair boot kits come with grease. here's an old thread where I and several others discuss regreasing axle joints; https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/diy-front-cv-axle-boot-replacement.21119/page-16#post-2063026 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daskuppler Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 Thank you everyone for your input. I am think I'll just stick with new OEM axles. Doesn't seem like it's worth the headache to rebuild them and wait and see if I got everything right only to do in it again in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 7 hours ago, Daskuppler said: What grease do you use? I’m not well versed in grease so I don’t have a technical reason. But I use Valvoline synthetic and any name brand synthetic in the past. With seeing the old dried up nearly nonexistent grease chunk out in pieces, or old watery grease pour out of old joints when disassembled, it seems like having actual useable grease is more important than brand. totally makes sense just swapping in new axles. It’s ideal. Regrease is an option for unavailable options, keeping a back up, or for those already doing more than average axle work with lifts or off-roading. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 CV/DOJ style joints have a lot of sliding friction components and as such do best with moly grease. GD 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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