paulivan

Does that grease packing method apply to the 96 legacy outback? I've seen in the manual that there are two types of bearing depending on model, one is tapered the other is not. Just want to be sure its the same; is yours a tapered bearing? I'm not sure I could pack my bearings like you describe.

That is a little confusing; if have it right then I ended up with the whole knuckle and hub assembly from the shop as one complete unit and installed that. I'm pretty sure that i torqued the axle nut with wheel on the ground so maybe that explains the problem. The axle nut was a little loose when I checked things out after all the grinding and squeaking started. Tough learning curve. I guess I'll just take the hub and knuckle assembly back to the machine shop to press new bearings and try again, this time torquing axle nut with wheels raised. Shop told me not to add any additional grease when installing, something about bearings factory packed with special lube. Any suggestions for keeping the wheel from turning while torquing nut? I read one post said put bar between two lugs and braced against ground, is that safe for the lugs? Thanks for help.

I removed original hub and replaced with used hub and new bearing. Maybe I should just buy a new hub/knuckle like you did...or do you think the machine shop could tell if something is wrong with the hub when I take it to get new bearing pressed?

I replaced Rt front bearings not too long ago with a new (used) hub. The bearing failed within 3000 mi. Is this a sign of something else wrong? I had machine shop press in the new bearing. Are there some common errors during installation that would cause quick failure? --especially the hub install to axle part because I trust the machine shop, but who knows? Any tips for my second time around? I'm using Chilton manual as my guide. cheers

Thanks everyone, I learned a lot more than I thought I would from that mistake! USMB Rocks! PT

Just to follow up with one more question now that all seems to be OK with the leak after overfilling. Since I put so much fluid in there (8qts new fluid went in then about 4 qts were drained off to get the proper level) did I put in enough new fluid to make this a complete or adequate fluid change? should I continue to drain/fill a couple more times or just leave until time for another change? Thanks, PT

OK, now I think I understand: It looks like I have been removing the entire "holder" which never had a fuse in it anyway, so this would not have had any effect on drive. If I flip the cap on the holder and put in a fuse then I'll be in front wheel drive, but sounds like this is a useless maneuver anyway so I won't do it... unless I put a donut spare on the back in which case I will need to insert a fuse... If donut spare goes on front I guess there is no issue? Could someone tell me what AMP fuse I should use for this if I ever put the spare on so I can keep one available in the spare tire kit? Thanks. PT

A friend told me that a mechanic friend told him (bad news already?) that removing the FWD fuse/plug from my 96 Leg OB would disable AWD just leaving front wheel drive and this would save on tire wear. I've been doing this during summer months based on his advice. After reading another thread about this I'm not sure now what this actually does or if it is a good idea at all. Could someone here give me an idiots guide version on how this fuse/plug is wired, what it does and if I should continue removing it? Thanks, PT

No advice for this thread; Just reading with interest because a friend told me that his mechanic told him (bad news already?) that removing this plug would disable AWD leaving just front wheel drive and this saves on tire wear. So, I have done this to my 96 Leg OB for summer months. He mumbled something about a problem of rear differential not getting proper lubrication but this was a minor issue? Now I'm not sure if this is a good idea or even does what I was told. I thought I'd just jump into this thread to see if someone here can tell me what I'm actually doing by removing the AWD plug and if this is a good idea at all...???? PT

The drained fluid was red. Filled ATF through long dipstick tube on driver side that goes to pan, not the tube on passenger side with a short dipstick and gear oil in it . I'm sure I got that part right. I saw no no leakage anywhere except the passenger side of tranny case, around rubber seals on housing which has now stopped. I guess my tranny has lots of room for extra fluid...or it leaked out of tube and I just didn't see it. PT

Thanks for the gentle flame broiling of my mechanical ego! I'll post again if any trouble arises so others can learn from my experience. For now all seems to be going OK. I did not notice any symptoms or change in performance while it was overfilled, just the leak coming from trans housing. There is a cylindrical shaped part of trans housing, passenger side, vertically oriented, about 10" long and 1" diam, with what seem to be two rubberized seals, top and bottom. The leak seemed to be coming from these seals. It is not a separate part, just part of the bell housing mold. Does anyone know what this is? PT

I did not check how much drained out, now I know better for next time! I drained about 4 qts after I noticed the leak so it looks like I had 4 extra quarts in there for a little while. I guess I did drain about 3-4 qts originally. Seems to go OK for now, leak stopped, but I worry about any permanent damage or future problems to be expected from this. PT

Did I damage my 2.5L, Leg-OB auto transmission by putting in about 1-gallon too much fluid and driving a couple hundred miles? I drained fluid by removing pan plug then put full fluid amount specified in Chilton manual (10 quarts!) following process described which said nothing about only getting partial drainage of fluid. Later I found a small amount of fluid leaking around passenger side upper transmission case. I removed about 4 qts of fluid to get the dip stick to read correctly. Will this overfilling have damaged my transmission? Should I look out for any signs of trouble now? I drove around a bit and the leakage seems to have stopped. Am I OK to drive without worry or is my tranny about to blow any day now? I understand the correct procedure now, just hoping for advice on what to expect as far ans any permanent damage. Thanks, PT

Did I damage my 2.5L, Leg-OB auto transmission by putting in about 1-gallon too much fluid and driving a couple hundred miles? I drained fluid by removing pan plug then put full fluid amount specified in Chilton manual (10 quarts!) following process described which said nothing about only getting partial drainage of fluid. Later I found a small amount of fluid leaking around passenger side upper transmission case. I removed about 4 qts of fluid to get the dip stick to read correctly. Will this overfilling have damaged my transmission? Should I look out for any signs of trouble now? I drove around a bit and the leakage seems to have stopped. Am I OK to drive without worry or is my tranny about to blow any day now? I understand the correct procedure now, just hoping for advice on what to expect as far as any permanent damage. Thanks, PT

Did I damage my transmission by putting in about 1-gallon too much fluid and driving a couple hundred miles? I drained fluid by removing pan plug then put full fluid amount specified in Chilton manual (10 quarts!) following process described which said nothing about only getting partial drainage of fluid. I checked my fluid after filling and it was high but I am not too experienced and thought it was OK because I put the amount specified. Two week later I found a small amount of fluid leaking around passenger side upper transmission case. I removed about 4 qts of fluid to get the dip stick to read correctly. Will this overfilling have damaged my transmission? Should I look out for any signs of trouble now? I drove around a bit and the leakage seems to have stopped. I understand the correct procedure now, just hoping for advice on what to expect as far ans any permanent damage. Thanks, PT

Right, it is the condesor... How do I check for leaks so I know what to replace or should I just replace all including new steel lines and receiver drier? thanks.

After a small front end fender bender the air conditioner on 96 legacy stopped working. I supect a leak in core because that's where impact was. Does anyone have advice on best way to replace the core? Is the plumbing a problem that needs specialist to do? Could I re-charge it myself after installing etc... any advice apreciated. thanks

Thanks all for great response. ...won't have impact but what abbout other methods like torch it and liquid wrench. Should I start dumping Liquid Wrench on it in advance of doing the work next week? ...does the axle come attached to the hub or just get an axle as seperate part? Are used axles an option? Could I just change the boot on it easily since the cv is not making noise?

Front left bearing is going out. I decided because its raining and seems like a rough job I would spend some $$. Mechanic took it in, confirmed bad left bearing and proceeded to make the repair. Now he's told me that the parts and bolts are so severey rusted (he called it an east coaster) that he recommends finding a used assembly and replacing whole thing to avoid taking it all apart. He also informed me that my Lft CV is going (torn boot but no noise yet) and some bearing noise coming form the back also...recomending new vehicle, dont dump money into this one! I want to keep the vehicle but for the $500 or so to do bearing/hub repair and now need for CV and noise coming from rear end, I am thinking about doing it myself to save some $$ and keep my rig on the road a little bit longer. My question is, how much work is it to remove the whole thing and replace with a new one? Any special tools needed? Should I worry about the corrosion making it difficult to remove the hub assembly? Is CV accesible after hub removal? Thanks in advance for any advice, especially East Coasters! Paul T

I have a 96 Leg OB. There is a consistent noise slowly getting louder over time coming form front chassis/wheels. Kind of an oscillating humming noise you can hear and feel through car frame. Gets louder going around turns and the harder the turn the louder the noise. Almost not noticeable when not turning but there. Does this sound like front wheel bearings going bad?

Well, two pins away does not sound like a whole lot. I'm in this for the long term. I've done CV joints on VW so have some idea of what this is all about. Are these "two pins" just that or a royale PITA, any special tools needed? Maybe I need to rethink this diagnosis of wheel bearings. It hums consistently just like other bad bearings I've had on previous vehicles. What specific signs should I be looking for to confirm bad bearings?

I think the noise might be always there to some degree and just gets louder when I go around turns. I'll check this out more. Thanks

'96 Legacy Outback I have humming noise coming form front when I go around turns. Similar but different noise on right and left, started on left now on right. I assume it's front wheel bearings. So, assuming this is correct diagnosis, any advice for do it yourselfer? Seems from other threads that best bet for me (no press) is get the hub off and have bearings pressed by shop. Only specific question I have is should I do halfshafts also while im doing bearings or does this increase scope of project significantly. I have about 140k on car and not sure if cv's have ever been done. Rt. side had a boot failure which I caught within a couple hundred miles. I put a quick boot on (screw together type) and seems to be holding up o.k. (sprayed a little grease when it was reved up dutring smog check). Any advice? Thanks, Ptoast

I have a front passenger side inner cv boot just split open on 96 leg outback. No sign of bad CV joint. I am thinking of just using a split boot kit to replace without removing the half-shaft as a temporary fix. I know this is not ideal from what I have found searching posts, but if it is significantly easier and quicker than removing the axle I would do it just to buy some time and do the full replacement when the joint actually starts to fail, maybe replace both half-shafts later. My question to anyone who has used split boots: Is it significantly easier and less time consuming to remove the old boot and use a split boot as a temporary fix or would I just be wasting time and energy better spent replacing the whole axle? If split boot is worth a try are they available for the Inner boot? All I have found so far state for outer except one that says for 96 leg and does not specify inner or outer? Thanks PT

Thanks for the post! stoppers seem to be o.k. All brake lights work\on light works at switch. All the wires seem to be hooked up. These cruise control components are some expensive items! Any more ideas on where to look next? I want to test the actuator pump and vacuum switch. Electrical circuits...but how to trick the system for testing is my question. PT.