Porterdog Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I recently lost my 1992 Legacy wagon to an accident. It was hit while parked & I am mourning her loss. I have recently found a 2000 Legacy L wagon to replace her, but I have some concerns. This car is offered from a dealer & has 62k miles - in good shape (body wise). The only thing wrong is is vibrates when idle. When my husband & I took it for a test drive, it ran great (there is an alignment problem but easily fixed) but it vibrates like hell when in drive at idle. Any ideas? I want to buy this car but am worried that this might be a bigger problem. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Hi Porterdog and Sorry to hear about your '92. Do you know if either of the front axles were replaced on this vehicle? Often if they are replaced with aftermarket units i.e. napa etc they will develop the vibration you described. The RH (passenger) may have been replaced due to tear at the right inner cv joint boot (since its near the exhaust). I too am in Buffalo and have an '00 Outback that I love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porterdog Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 There is no evidence of an axle replacement on the car history that the dealer reported. But I am not sure that it would be?? Should that be a part of their disclosure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 If it was replaced, it may have been done at an independent shop and not show up on any service history the dealer has access to. It could be something else though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porterdog Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 OK so if the axle was replaced & this is the problem - how big of a problem is it? I want to buy this car & have minimal worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I recently lost my 1992 Legacy wagon to an accident. It was hit while parked & I am mourning her loss. I have recently found a 2000 Legacy L wagon to replace her, but I have some concerns. This car is offered from a dealer & has 62k miles - in good shape (body wise). The only thing wrong is is vibrates when idle. When my husband & I took it for a test drive, it ran great (there is an alignment problem but easily fixed) but it vibrates like hell when in drive at idle. Any ideas? I want to buy this car but am worried that this might be a bigger problem. Any help is appreciated. If the vibration is at idle, and the car is not moving, then I would consider that it needs a tune up with new spark plugs and spark plug wires. If other then that, if the motor seems okay at driving speed, then I would not have too much concern about the health of the motor. It is prolly a problem that can be easily fixed. If you like the car, use the bad idle as a bargaining chip to get the dealer to lower the price of the car substantially, or repair prior to your buying it. If you have read posts on this forum, you will quickly learn that the 2000 model has a tendency to ruin head gaskets. That is expensive to get repaired. So, it is imperative that when test driving the car to notice if the temperature guage starts reading "hot" after driving for 10 to 15 minutes. That is a sure sign of a bad head gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 If an aftermarket axle is the issue, it's not a big deal if you can deal with the vibration feeling. If you or the dealer can confirm one or both front axles is not OEM, you could ask for it to be replaced with an OEM reman by the dealer. Parts price on that vehicle would be ~$170 for us to buy (meaning their price is less) which they should be able to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotshot Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 How common is this? My car is doing the same thing, but it didn't start until after I replaced one of the axles with a factory reman to try and solve a different problem. While on the lift, I put it in gear to get it turn the axle to see if it was together smoothly, and then I hit the brakes to stop the tires, and put it back in park. Unfortunately, the ABS kicked in and it wasn't quite the smoothest shift ever, and I made a guess that it was a tranny mount, but im not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x_25 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 My car has its original front axles and will sometimes vibrate violently when idling. Most of the time there is a slight vibration. Sometimes when it is bad I just put it in neutral till I need to move. It has always done this and I don't really think its a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 if it's doing it at idle - i really doubt it's an axle problem. am i missing something here? the axle isn't turning at idle...i assume you're parked? if so, ignore all the axle ideas. most likely needs a tune up - plugs and wires. make sure the plugs are NGK (stock) and the wires are Subaru or Magnecor only. these EJ engines are not forgiving and have many issues with after market wires. good time to replace the air filter and PCV valve as well, very easy to do too. have them read the codes and do a diagnostic check for you..very simple, they just plug a computer in. i would want to make sure the check engine light is working properly. with shaking that bad i'm surprised the ECU isn't throwing a code for it. on a side note...axles are not a big deal, just make sure to replace them as soon as possible. easy and very common job really, $150-$250 at most shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 If an aftermarket axle is the issue, it's not a big deal if you can deal with the vibration feeling. If you or the dealer can confirm one or both front axles is not OEM, you could ask for it to be replaced with an OEM reman by the dealer. Parts price on that vehicle would be ~$170 for us to buy (meaning their price is less) which they should be able to eat.ericem has proposed that as a solution to vibration at idle while in drive as well. I have gone over this before: When you're holding the car from moving (which you are if you're at a stop light and the car is in drive and you're holding the brake) something has to give in the drivetrain system. The car cannot just absorb all the vibration from the motor trying to move the car and you not letting it do so. Aftermarket axles have absolutely NOTHING to do with this phenomenon as every Subaru with AWD that I've driven has done it - and I know that my SVX has all original axles and it vibrates enough that I can notice it. To the OP: If you pop the car in neutral I bet this vibration goes away? If so, my theory is confirmed on the matter (like it has been on every other Subaru I've driven). You might be able to nail it down to a transmission mount or something, but for something that can be fixed by going into neutral, you might as well do that because it'll cost a lot less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 hehe...the axle discusions get almost as heated as the oil discussions. All I know is I have seen at least a dozen posts over time where soobs develop some wierd vibration when stopped at idle in drive or reverse after installing one or more parts store replacement axles. And I have seen people say the vibration then went away when they installed OEM Subaru axles or reinstalled the axles they had on originally. Obviously it doesn't happen to every soob that gets parts store axles. Anyway I'm just throwing it out there as a possibility. It very well might not be the original poster's issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Auto dealers are in business to maximize profit. Just the nature of the game. Used cars with no known problems can be resold for more money then the identical car with problems. If whatever is causing the vibration is an easy repair, the dealer would have done it. Ditto for the alignment. I would never buy a used car off of a lot with known problems. An alignment problem combined with an engine vibration shouts wrecked car to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porterdog Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 Thanks for the replies. I plan on buying the car & will see what the dealer mechanic has to say about the vibrations. I'll let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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