Rhubey

No wrecks or modifications. The ac wasn't blowing super cold so I added some a few weeks ago, but the problem did not start right after that.

When I first started my car it idled just over 1k. I tapped the gas then let off and then it went to 1k on the dot. Flipped on the ac, it went up to about 1100 then I heard the click as the compressor kicked on. Idle then dropped to just below 1k. Turned off ac and idle fell Way low. Like 750. Then I turned ac back on. RMP flew back up to just above 1k, then creeped back to just below 1k in about 10 seconds. Turned ac off again, it bogged down again.

By hopping I mean a full out bounce. Like as though I was repeatedly quickly pushing in the clutch and letting it out carelessly. The whole car nosedives and then jerks back up repeatedly. It happens in 1-3rd gear right after letting out the clutch and instantly stops if I depress the clutch pedal or shut off the AC. I have been driving stickshifts for 15 years so I know to be gentle. The change that happened that made me notice the problem is this: it got hot outside so I started using my AC.

Thank you for replying. Apologies for my ignorance, but I have never heard of changing transmission fluid in a 5 speed. Should that be done often? Is it difficult? How is it that air conditioning and my clutch would affect each other? I should warn you I have almost no experience with working on cars.

Hi! I have a 2002 Outback Wagon 5speed with 145k miles on it. Recently it has been "hopping" when taking off from a full stop if the ac is on. It seems to only be in the lower gears that I have this problem, and simply poking the ac button off untill I reach highway speed seems to fix it. It isn't the worst problem in the world, but I worry about getting rear ended if I can't out of the way in a hurry. What should I start hitting with a hammer first? In all seriousness, I am in Florida and don't know of any local shops that are knowledgeable with Roos, and I always worry about getting ripped off due to my lack of technical abilities. Thanks for any help you can suggest.

on 02 legacy outback 5spd.... Has anyone replaced the (9)rollerbearing, (11)seal, & (13)Oring w/o pulling & opening the 5spd Xfer case?? I have been able to reduce rattle by tightening these before by 1-2 teeth, but now i have one that should be replaced, i think. Minor leak & rattle. This thing needs another gear, so if a rebuild is in order, it should get a 6spd. sean

So I thought that I should come back after 200mi and update the solution to my serious steering wheel vibration @ high speed since many others have had similar symptom and no real documented conclusion. 1st Replaced the front rotors/pads, obvious warp. I tried to manipulate the rack, ball jts, axle and wheel for play which was not obvious. -fixed breaking vibration though. 2nd Swapped front & back tires. - no affect. There was slight cupping on the inner row of tread drivers side. Almost need a micrometer to detect. 3rd Tried the rack, ball jts, axle, & wheels again. crowbar under the wheel (w/light pressure) my hand fealt a slight pop on the spring, drivers side only. Almost in need of a stethascope to detect I thought, and certainly couldn't see any movement. -Decided to replace the bearings because there's no back-woods reason for it to need aligned at least yet. 4th Pulling the knuckle to do a bearing/seal replacement is extensive, w/o alignment, so i'm hoping that the cupping will not return on the fresh tires. So I conclude my vibration fix could have been: 1. The bearings. 2. Rotating the ball jts 90 deg. 3. The broke-thumb-swearing-case-beer-dance-ritual ...THAT CURED MY WIFES BLUEBARU. Something I learned is not to drive a seized race w/a log splitting maul no matter how deep woods pennsylvania you come from. Hope this may help someone in he future. Sean

The more I read the less I know it seems on this subject. I think that anything I would have done would have been wrong except to take it to the dealer. which will probably never happen. Instictfully I would have done the same as you Dave and will do next time as hind-sight. I decided to crack the bearing assy, remove and replace the Green grease with off the shelf valvoline hoping that the nylon cage is chem-safe. The factoy Green grease feels like a higher quality than the valvoline that replaced it. After I got started it fealt like the wong thing to to. So, we're going to have 1 side Valvoline and the other side Valvoline & mysterious Green. Wonder which will last longer.:-\

The sealed bearing i purchased was charged with either (Alvania 2 or Andok C) grease. Does anyone know if it is compatable with (SHELL 6459N) or anyother realistic off-the-shelf grease??

Yeah, I couldn't think of any reason for the difference either, and i have always reused them also. Now i need to find a pretty long pipe to break these suckers loose. Thanks for the input.

32mm on 00-04. maybe the same and if you can get to it you can adjust it. w/my 91 Legacy w/ over 200k the rack is still tight. BJ's & inner tierod were loose on it but only when the suspension was depressed & tight with the suspension extended on a lift. just a thought. I had to adjust the backlash on an old 4runner that was really loose but took only ~ 1/2 turn to be too tight and not return to center w/o help. hope this helps.

The "OLIVE" nuts are called for the 3.0 and the "GOLD" are used on the 2.5. Mine is the 2.5, but they both seem to use the same bearings. Did you reuse the axle nut like i'm planning?

After a long journey of troubleshooting everything causing steering wheel vibration over 55mph, i've replaced rotors/pads and now the wheel bearings at 120k mi are next. I would have ordered Timken but opted for the cheapo Precision bearings for $17/pair anticipating the axles are next in a year or 2, w/the new 6spd gearbox...or pipe dream. The FSM calls for 159'lbs torque on the axle nut. This seems kind of high to me, and there is no preload specs, although i have never replaced this type before and feel the need for reassurance. The FSM also calls for the "GOLD" axle nut, which I have the "OLIVE" installed of course. Does anyone know the difference?

I would like to thank everyone who responded to this thread. I oboviously have no business working on my car myself, and am always afraid of getting ripped off. I'm also curious about how things work, and acceptable ways of fixing stuff. The fix was simple. The fuel line was rotten. It looked fine from the top, but 2 lines were actually nothing but rust on the bottom and through the grommet. It took some time, but we just replaced it all with hose, as suggested. We, as in I watched. Thank you everyone for making me smarter about my car, and helping keep one more Sube on the road. Next: my alternator died last night. Erp.

If I was to be sitting in the back seat behind the driver, this would be under my butt with the seat cushion between. I took this picture looking in through the back seat driver side window. It seems as though the middle one has gas around it where it goes through the body.. It also seems as though those are metal tubes that rubber hoses pass through. Nothing there seems too well connected. Yes. I did have my back seat pulled last year. My car is also often used as a uhaul.