rx35285

80 road miles yesterday with no stumbles. I am going to chalk this up to spraying contact cleaner into the slip joint in the throttle position sensor. will post back if I have additional symptoms. Thanks for the help!

Good to know, presslab. I liberally sprayed contact cleaner in the "crack" and exercised it as you recommend. I scribed the sensor and the mounting location so I could reinstall the sensor in the original position. It ran fine afterwards. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to get into the details with me. I am trying to use searchable terminology (TPS and MAF don't pop up on search) so others can find this in the future.

You can get the car help here. Suggest you try Car Talk on public radio to get advice about the GF.

Removed the TPS today and sprayed it with contact cleaner, but I don't think I could really see the contacts. They seemed to be encased in the plastic housing. I'm now debating to wait and see if that fixed it, or to go ahead with the MAF (AFM). Thanks again.

Thanks for the tips! Rooster, your description of the symptom is better than mine. I burn enough ethanol that water is probably not the cause, but that is what it feels like. Will clean the TPS next and then on to the AFM. I was wondering about the AFM, but most of the posts talked about stumble at idle.

Any ideas why my 98 Legacy L with EJ22 has developed an intermittent stumble at highway speed? It happens when engine is warm and maintaining a steady speed. A single, instantaneous stumble might occur twice during a two hour road trip, but I know it's not going to heal itself. Feels like more than a single cylinder misfiring once. Could it be electrical even though there is no CEL? Past experience with clogged fuel filter on other cars has been loss of acceleration. This thing still accelerates as well as ever. We're having a heat wave - might get to 40* - so I'm going to go for a drive and see if I can make it happen. My wife prefers this car over our near new Accord, but I don't want to turn her loose with this issue. Thanks for your advice. Dave

I didn't follow my plan. Instead of talking to local shops about a rebuild, I lugged the trans to the basement and used Gloyale's instructions to tear it apart. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/87305-easy-transmission-front-seal-replacement/ The ball bearing has some play in it just as many folks on this board have said goes with the audio symptoms. I expected to see wear on other parts and metal particles on the drain plug, but the trans is really clean. I just ordered the ball bearing ($70.48), a needle bearing ($42.22) although it looked fine, a new front seal ($14.45) although it wasn't leaking, and a new gasket (about $7). Also, I did a little checking in the "wanted" and "for sale" sections of this board. It appears that there won't be much interest in the extra trans I have. I guess it will become a nice boat anchor.

Many thanks to Gloyale for the instructions. I used them to tear apart my trans yesterday. Would be glad to take and post another picture or two if it would help others. I'm being charged $70.48 for the ball bearing, $42.22 for the needle bearing, $14.45 for the seal, and "about $7" for the gasket that goes between the rear section of the case and the two front halves of the case.

Maybe Fish-n-fool shouldn't jump into this if the instructions aren't detailed enough. I used Gloyale's instructions to tear down my trans yesterday and found the them to exceed my expectations. I just finished ordering the parts. Now I'm ready to find someone to install the new ball bearing on the shaft.

I'll include that option when I talk to the two local trans rebuild shops in the next week or so. Thanks for the encouragement.

Thanks for the quick feedback...yeah, I don't have a feel for what a shop repair would cost. I found two local shops since my first post and I'll get estimates this week. Of course the "spare" trans was replaced by a used one...this was about a year ago...and now it's starting to make noise. I had good intentions of tearing it apart myself, but the comments about removing the bearing are a little intimidating and I let other priorities get in the way. My concern about going after another used trans is the high mileage, ie, how much life is left. I appreciate the conversation!

I had the tranny in my '98 Legacy 5 spd replaced when it got very loud and, as I recall, hard to shift. I kept the bad tranny. I can easily wiggle the input shaft. Is it worth having a shop open it up for the purpose of replacing the rear input shaft bearing, or is there likely major collateral damage to other parts? I know this isn't much to go on, but I've read about 50 other posts on this topic and the replies are reasoned and helpful. Thanks! dave

Just rebooted the left CVJ on our 98 Legacy. The USRM item by Ed was extremely helpful - made the job quite simple. I didn't have a boot stretching tool so here's a suggestion to add to the suggestion about turning the boot inside out (can't remember the name of the gent who shared that idea) and pulling it over the joint. I cut a plastic funnel to use as an expansion cone and fit it over the axle stub and sprayed it with white grease. I put the inside-out boot in boiling water for a minute then sprayed the inside of it with white grease and pulled it over the funnel and joint. I was surprised how easy it was. Heating the boot in water was easier and safer than using a propane torch for me. Hope this helps someone else.