craigawitt Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) What would you do? Looking for some advice / thoughts regarding my noisy Outback transmission. Car is otherwise in good working condition and runs well. I'd like to keep it as long as possible before replacing it. My 175K miles 2003 Outback transmission began whining about a year ago, and has gotten noticeably worse in the past 3 months. The noise occurs when there is a load on the transmission (i.e. acceleration but not coasting). There's another Forum post re transmission here at USMB that has a video / sound attachment to illustrate what a bad pinion sounds like...that's the sound I hear while driving. The transmission seems to function just fine...shifts well and smoothly as always, so I don't feel any urgency to fix it (today) but worry it could fail anytime. The transmission noise is not quite deafening, but it's getting there. I've taken the car to my local Lambs Automotive, Aamco, Cottmann Tranmission,and even the Austin subaru dealer and have a whole range of recommendations ($700 to open and then diagnose / repair ($$ unknown); replace with 113K used transmission and 6 month warranty ($3000), install used transmission from 2006 vehicle ($4425 at dealer). I have great trust in one of these repair shops as they have serviced / repaired my four vehicles over the past 15 years (Lambs). The others don't know me from Adam. Thanks in advance for whatever thoughts and ideas you can share. Happy 2016 to all. Edited January 5, 2016 by craigawitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 The reduction gear teeth can make a whine on the 4eat phase II, there was a Subaru bulletin out about that, but if it's getting that loud it sounds like some bearing or something is maybe wearing out. Would you describe it as more a gear tooth noise? The sound - does it correspond to wheel speed? Or to engine rpm? The front diff's on these 4eat phase II's well I have seen more than a couple posts about them getting eaten eventually, which is what happened to my '00obw at 195k miles. But it was a gear tooth type sound that over the course of about 30 miles became so bad it sounded like it was going to explode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Auto or manual? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Auto or manual?Excellent question I just assumed auto. I just looked, the profile says it's an LL Bean which I think the H6 only available with an auto if that helps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigawitt Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 The reduction gear teeth can make a whine on the 4eat phase II, there was a Subaru bulletin out about that, but if it's getting that loud it sounds like some bearing or something is maybe wearing out. Would you describe it as more a gear tooth noise? The sound - does it correspond to wheel speed? Or to engine rpm? The front diff's on these 4eat phase II's well I have seen more than a couple posts about them getting eaten eventually, which is what happened to my '00obw at 195k miles. But it was a gear tooth type sound that over the course of about 30 miles became so bad it sounded like it was going to explode. Thanks to all who have posted. Answers to above: not sure if it sounds like gear teeth or bearings. If I had to guess I would say bearings...but don't know. The sound seems to correspond to wheel speed but only when there is a load on the transmission/trying to accelerate or maintain speed. No noise when coasting, and noise louder at higher speeds. Fairtax4me: it's an automatic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Auto trans, probably gonna be the front pinion bearing. The noise you hear is probably not from the bearing but from the change in clearance between the ring gear and pinion gear. ANY change in clearance between those two will cause extreme wear to both due to the nature of the type of gears they are. Without warning they can clash and shatter both gears, and you'll be lucky to limp it off the highway. It may cause the front wheels to lock while you're driving and leave you stuck in the middle of the road. If the sound is noticeable, its time to park it until the bearing is replaced. You may also have to replace the two gears, depending on how much wear there is. Often a used transmission is less expensive and more practical than disassembling the trans and replacing parts inside it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigawitt Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Auto trans, probably gonna be the front pinion bearing. The noise you hear is probably not from the bearing but from the change in clearance between the ring gear and pinion gear. ANY change in clearance between those two will cause extreme wear to both due to the nature of the type of gears they are. Without warning they can clash and shatter both gears, and you'll be lucky to limp it off the highway. It may cause the front wheels to lock while you're driving and leave you stuck in the middle of the road. If the sound is noticeable, its time to park it until the bearing is replaced. You may also have to replace the two gears, depending on how much wear there is. Often a used transmission is less expensive and more practical than disassembling the trans and replacing parts inside it. Thanks much, Fairtax4me. Makes sense. Looks like I'll be buying a used transmission - the search is on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 www.car-part.com sort by zip code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 2006 will not fit. 2001-2004 H6 non-vdc will fit, using a 2004 requires a part be changed inside the tail section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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