JPX

Confirmed to have power at pin 3 B61 / pin 5 B72 / pin 3 F44. Can also see the voltage on fuse 18. An additional detail, with the key ignition on, the headlights will turn on with the switch. But the parking lights do not. Fuses 16, 17, 18 verified again they are good. Sounds like the ABS pump is working (fuse 18) - it chirps very quietly twice at key ignition on. It stopped when I took out fuse 18. Going to take a closer look at FB-4 (fuse 16) at F45/B62 pin 1 (yellow).

Measuring across simply says the link is good when plugged in - no potential. In any case the link was still good when removed and ohmed out (close to 0 ohm). And yes, there is 12 V on both sides of the link terminals with the meter grounded. Both SBF2 and SBF1 have been removed and verified close to 0 ohms (good) - and beaten around a little to make sure. All the SBFs in the engine bay box have been tested similarly along with the fuses throughout both panels. I'm stuck mentally - Now the drinking starts..... . Might look at going to the junkyard this week to pick up an ECU. That's about all I can do on this today. . I did squeeze in one more test - I am getting 12V at the ECU with Key-On on the red wire at pin #39 of B84 (the big blue ECU connector). This means I am definitely getting power to the ECU. But it is unhappy.

Measured voltage at light green pin on ECU connector when connected to unit and Key On. No significant voltage. Which means the ECU isn't commanding the ignition relay. Something in the dash is clicking softly (not light A/T interlock or fuel pump relay which is pretty loud). When I manually actuate the override for the gear select, the solenoid in the column clicks and I can move the shift selector. But when I press the brake pedal and try to change the gear selector (no override) then it doesn't pull on the shifter solenoid. At this point, I am hovering over the notion that the ECU is not happy. Maybe because the A/T inhibit switch is not working correctly? Still testing - and tearing more things apart.

@Fairtax4me - radio does not turn on in ACC or ON positions. @Cougar - confirmed NO 12V at pin3 either side of F44 or B61 in any key position. I checked voltage from the neg of the battery to the fusible link terminal with IG on - there is 12V there and the link is still good (0V side to side). 12V is getting to pin 12 B52 (interior fuse panel for airbag) when I turn key to ON. This pin is switched from the key and not powered through the ignition relay. Anything downstream of the ignition relay is still not working. It is all hell trying to get hands on that ignition relay. I can't get it out. So I have to try testing it in place. But I did manage to but a probe on the light green wire on the relay and read 35mV with the Key-On. This is the coil for the ignition relay. The other side - lo and behold - is driven by the ECU. This means the ECU does actually have control of the ignition relay. Need to change approach - wasn't really expecting ECU to be upstream of the ignition relay - though it now makes some sense. Going to take apart passenger floor board to get some readings directly from the ECU now.

Hello all - 1996 Legacy L sedan with 218,000 miles and an IN-CAR head gasket job completed last month (oh my back! ). Car has been running through 2 tanks of gas with no problems. During mile 38 on 40 mile freeway drive at 2:30am, the electrical system on the car suddenly shut down and I coasted the car to a stop on the road shoulder. Hazard blinkers were functional, along with interior lights and power locks. High beams would turn on brightly, but since the headlights/parking lights are tied to the ignition, these were not operable. I could only conduct a few quick checks roadside: - bang on fuel pump - directly since I took the access plate in the trunk off. Done this routine before on several cars . - check tight battery connections - recently cleaned during head gasket replacement last month - this was fine. - timing belt intact - all fuses in engine bay and under dash continuity checked ok - starter cranked the engine, but the engine simply would not start Then the car got towed home the last 2 miles of my intended drive. Fortunately a flatbed tow truck showed up in 10 min via AAA and I was home only 30min after the mess. - I had to help the tow truck driver get into the shifter plate to manually override the shifter interlock so he could put the car in neutral. With the key-On position, the solenoid for the shifter interlock would not move......no elec power going to it. I have since conducted these tests: - battery voltage in good standing is 12.65V - alternator removed, tested and passed - ohmed out coil pack - pass. No burn throughs. - grounds confirmed good - removed and cleaned again anyway - checked all fuses and the main fusible link with ohm-meter - none blown - pulled and checked all engine connector harnesses (bell housing, MAF, igniter, ECM under the passenger floor). - checked continuity on all positions of the ignition switch - pass. Getting 12V to the backside of the switch by probing the solder points. - pulled and cleaned crank and cam position sensors - not much interesting there. Here's the fun part : - none of the warning lights on the dash will light in the Key-On position - this is what I find very disturbing. . - Starter/solenoid happily cranks the engine, but won't start. I have experienced bad start contacts before - this isn't the what is going on here) - cannot read ANY CEL codes because there is no power to the ECU when Key-On - fuel pump will not turn (can't hear a click from the pump relay anyway) - shifter interlock still not operable because of no power going to its solenoid - tied to ignition key-on. I could start changing out crank/cam position sensors, coolant temp sensor, MAF, etc.....but none of these single point items can easily explain why the entire power circuit is not operating. Even if the ECU died, I should still get direct power up to it. In looking at the wiring diagrams, I am thinking the ignition relay (the brown, really-hard-to-reach-one under the dash) might have conked out. This is the only way I can think of that I can still crank the starter, but hot have any electrical controls that drive the fuel pump, the warning lights, and the ECU. I'm going to attempt to get at the ignition relay today to pull and test it - that will take me all morning and lots of scrapes on arms. Any other suggestions are most welcome as I try to figure this out.

I did check it on the "new" hub and the surface was in good condition. After all this trouble, the last thing I want is to put a new bearing on with a bad hub.

Last night I worked on cleaning up some parts and getting out the old bearing from my newly adopted knuckle/hub assembly. I had to use copious amounts of impact wrench on the Harbor Freight bearing tool kit to get the old bearing race out. Lots of grease on the drive screw and the plates is critical to prevent overload conditions on the kit. Also, it helps to use a flat plate to START the bearing race press rather than going straight to the tube on the back of the knuckle. This prevents damage to the lip of the bearing bore by the tube. This means the plate has to be pulled out and the tube put back in to finally drive the outer race. Remember that the snap ring must be removed before trying to press out the race - and that the bearing must be pressed out from the OUTSIDE to the INSIDE of the knuckle. Once the bore was cleaned up, I could install the new bearing. This was crazy easy and done only with the big hand wrench. Popped in the snap ring and moved on to installing the seals. As before, the CarQuest inner seal STILL does not look right when compared to the higher lipped Subaru seal. I used the Harbor Freight kit to easily press the inner and outer seals to the knuckle. I had to bend and pry the dust shield off the old knuckle to clear the hub. I bent it back into shape and bolted it to the "new" knuckle. This has to be done BEFORE installing the hub or it will be a crazy mess trying to wedge the shield under the hub and around the bore housing on the knuckle. The hub requires a socket or other small plate to support the inner bearing race properly - pressing the hub into the inner race without supporting the inner race will damage the bearing and shorten bearing lifetime. At this point the knuckle and hub assembly were now back in working order. What remained was changing out the damaged brake hardware. When the bearing gave out, the hub tolerance was out so bad it caused the rotor to crash into the brake caliper bracket and grind. I filed down the rough edges of the caliper bracket and installed the "new" rotor and pads. One little surprise that really slowed me down was that the ABS sensor bore was SMALLER on the 94 knuckle than on the 96. When I measure the two ABS sensors, I found that the older sensor was indeed a smaller diameter. I wasn't going to wallow out the hole, so I carefully sanded down the ABS sensor shaft until it fit. I had to eye-ball the strut camber alignment - used center as the base point. Then everything got torqued to spec (wheel in the air for the axle nut torque). I took the car around the neighborhood to seat the brakes a little and then drove it around listening for any trouble. The alignment of the camber seemed to be a reasonably good guess as the car tracks straighter than before. And if it is off, it is at least close enough to get me through the last leg of tread life on this set of tires. Fortunately everything seems to be in order and the front end of the car is nice and quiet. To recap: - Harbor Freight bearing kit has been used twice so far and is still usable (it would be nice to upgrade the threaded bolt, but it still works) - grease the kit thoroughly when using it to prevent damage to the threads and making it easier to turn. - START the press with flat plates to limit damage to the backside of the knuckle - then switch to the tube so the race can drop through. - The 3 points above may not apply for extremely rusty cases where heat, penetrating oil and big hammers and ultimately a hydraulic press is needed. - The kit really shines when INSTALLING bearings and is great for installing seals too - 92-98 14 inch (non-Outback) hub/knuckle assemblies are interchangeable with same ABS-equipped ----except for dust shields and potentially the ABS sensor bore.

Both front bearings had been replaced by a shop along with CVs several years ago......following that shop visit, I have refused to take my car to a shop. The axle nut was staked reasonably well since I would glance at it as I had been in and out of each wheel for various brake and tie rod events. In the end, the bearing was installed incorrectly which caused a failure leading up to it eating itself. These bearing aren't the most reliable thing out there and the problem is aggravated by poor installation. Since I haven't been able to find a shop with the SAME mechanics on duty to develop some trust with, I can feel confident that the work will be done right. I ALWAYS carefully conduct torque setting operations - and for the axle nut in particular, due to the very large torque spec, I double check my numbers and tighten correctly.

This photo shows the comparison of the 1994 hub assembly and the my 1996 assembly. Only the dust shield is different.

After replacing this driver side front wheel bearing and knuckle assembly, the passenger side decided to let go. The fun continues here on this thread.

Last June, I wrote up this thread on a dry-run wheel bearing replacement that ultimately ended up being a real wheel bearing replacement. That was for the driver side front wheel bearing on a 1996 Legacy L sedan. Well, on the same day that the car crossed over 200,000 miles on the odometer, it provided a new challenge. It started with an ABS light coming on along with some front end vibration at highway speeds. This didn't seem like that big of a deal until the next morning when the passenger side wheel started to make horrible grinding noises. I decided I should jack up the car and see what was going on.....I had already mentally prepared myself that a wheel bearing replacement was imminent. Both front bearings had been done by a shop that I STILL regret taking it to. The axle nut fell on the ground as I took the wheel cover off the car. Further removal of the knuckle/hub assembly revealed what I already knew was the case......the bearing had been destroyed and the hub was simply banging around inside the knuckle housing. It was so floppy that the brake rotor was grinding on the brake caliper bracket - rotor is toast. The ABS light came on because the tolerance of the ABS tone ring on the hub was so out of whack from the sensor. So off to the junkyard in the morning. The first potential donor car did not have ABS - of course I only noticed that AFTER spending 20 minutes getting the rusted mess off the car. Note in the photo below that the hub does not have the ABS tone ring. The second car (shown below) was the correct match with the added bonus only rust belt operation can provide. Unfortunately after pulling the CV out, I found that this wheel hub was totally destroyed. I did manage to pick up a new-ish brake rotor since that needs replacing anyway. The third car was an older 1994 Legacy wagon. This turned out to have a good knuckle/hub assembly and was the one that came home with me (after two hours of "practicing" removing wheel knuckles from 3 different cars at the junkyard). The donor knuckle/hub assembly has a very different brake dust shield, but the parts are identical between the 94 and the 96. (back to 92 as demonstrated on the driver side bearing change). I drove out the hub from the backside with a socket and a hammer - no slide hammer this time. It cleaned up pretty nicely and I lightly polished the hub shaft. And I used an air chisel to drive the outside inner race from the hub using the same technique as last time. I have a new bearing, but I still need seals from the Subaru dealer. The O'reily's and Carquests around here keep giving the wrong inner seal - the correct seal has a taller lip than they provide. Next up, cleaning up the parts and pressing out the bearing race from the knuckle with the Harbor Freight puller kit #66829.

When I was at the junkyard pulling of a knuckle, I had forgotten my punch and a hammer (who goes to the yard with out a damn hammer?:-\) But all I had to do was crank on the axle nut with the breaker bar and jump up and down on it to plow through the indent. Glad you got it off with air power, though JPX

I have a leak at that fitting as well - and this is on a replacement radiator (not the original factory one that came with the car). In fairness, the radiator worked well for many months before the leak decided to show up. I've put a wrench on the nut to try to tighten the fitting down. But I am too worried about cracking the plastic housing if I wail on the nut too much. Not sure what bushing, washer or oring is behind that fitting. And for what it is worth, even after moderate tightening, that fitting still leaks. So until it gets real bad or I had a large block of time to work on it when the wife doesn't need the car, it will have to do for now. Just keep an eye on the coolant level and usage.

I'm thinking fuel pump is acting up. But perhaps a bad gas cap seal is an easier and cheaper place to start.

Hey Gary, That is the outer race of the bearing inside the knuckle. Your knuckle most likely is fine (although the race is now junk). The hub usually takes the brunt of a bearing failure. Once you got the cone off the hub, you can inspect the hub for any major damage necessitating a replacement. I used this method to drive the race off - great care must be taken not to gouge the hub surface. The ABS tone ring is a bit of a nuisance to get around. The Dremel notching/chisel thing will work as well. On the final removal of the hub race, part of my race shattered - so be careful and wear safely glasses when beating on these things. The outer race will have to be driven out from the OUTSIDE of the knuckle to the inside. Pounding on it will be frustrating at the very least. And for Pete's sake, get the circlip out! This is what you are after.... A press will certainly do it..... but I used the HarborFreight kit and an impact wrench to drive it out. A vise was very helpful for stabilizing it. Hang in there man - once everything is in pieces, it will totally make sense what is going on. Just remember the rules change when installing the new bearing - you have to support the races properly before pressing/driving anything.

This is valuable information! I knew from my own recent experience that the knuckle/hub is identical between the 92 and the 96. So unless there was a wholesale change to the diff dimensions, I don't see why the geometry would be any different for the axle. Even the tone ring was identical. Thanks for sharing your findings! Makes for more options at the junkyard!

The junkyard is a great low cost alternative. If you can do the additional cost, then a rebuilt axle assembly would be easier to obtain and a little bit better piece of mind. Back to the junkyard scene..... Don't bother starting on pulling the axle unless you have the big socket (30? 32mm?) to get the axle nut off with a BIG breaker bar. Educate yourself with your car before heading to the yard). And YES bluedotsnow's right - you absolutely must have the long punches to drive out the roll pin on the inboard CV flange (similar in concept to the small set screws you see in towel rod flange rings - but with a LOT more hammering). Don't lose it - you'll need it if you can't dig up a new one. If you are tearing apart a yard car yourself, remove the two big bolts/nuts on the bottom of the strut. This will allow you to move the knuckle out of the way to pull the wheel-side of the axle from the hub. You can pull either left or right side - they are symmetric. But they are not interchangeable front to back.

My uncle had a bad curb hop mishap in a 2000-ish Toyota Camry. The rear sway bar popped out of the mounting clamp and bushing. Made a hell of a racket rattling around. Check your suspension components at the sway bars and control arms. The extreme force might have popped out a bushing or even the bar itself.

Inspect all four CV boots on the front end (actually check all 8 boots at all four wheels). The most likely split boot will be on the wheel end as opposed to the transmission side. If this was split - even a little bit (they usually split wide open) and you sucked up a bunch of muddy water, then that CV is toast. I wouldn't even bother trying to interpret vibration, pulling, or whether or not it is in gear - open boot plus muddy water is not much different than moist gravel in your socks. Plan on an axle assembly changeout - don't both trying to rebuild that CV unless you are being stubbornly cheap. If the boots on a given axle are in generally good condition, then the muddy water shouldn't have caused too much damage. Time will tell - but you will know when it is bad between the noise and the clicking/popping. Another possibility is wheel bearings. But you can diagnose easily enough if you are taking that wheel for a CV/axle change. This complicates things, but is really the best time to address it when everything is in pieces.

No not brake cleaner or carb cleaner - that will damage the nylon carriers the rollers are suspended in. Use gasoline or kerosene as a solvent. I think some people have used mineral spirits. Let the bearing soak , stir and then work out the grease. Make sure to carefully remove not only the grease you are taking out, but also any of the solvent - otherwise this will contaminate the new grease. You can use compressed air to drive out the solvent. But don't send the bearing into a high speed spin with compressed are as this will damage it since there is no proper lube in there.

Wait, this is a 1999? You shouldn't have to unbolt the backing plate at all. Your next objective is to remove the hub - which requires a press, some bad @#$! slide hammer action or a hub puller tool. Once the hub is off, then the bolts for the backing plate can be removed. Even if you got the bolts off, it is not clear to me the backing plate comes off easily if the hub is still in the knuckle. My experience with the front bearing was this would be virtually impossible without seriously bending up the plate. Might want to take a look at my front wheel bearing thread to see what is going on - rear is similar (excluding the parking brake hardware).

Are you sure these are the hub bolts and not the backing plate (dust shield?). I was under the impression the bolt heads are on the BACK of the knuckle.

I was difficult for me to tell what was going on with my front wheel bearing with the brake caliper still mounted even with the axle/CV removed. Once the caliper was off, it was obvious the bearing was bad. [/url] I'm not sure if the 00 Outback has newer wheel bearing carriers or is like the 92-98 pressed bearings. But the Harbor Freight bearing kit worked pretty well for my recent front wheel bearing replacement.....but it has some limitations pertaining to the hub with the ABS tone ring in the way. Once everything is apart, the HF kits works great for assembling the new bearing - and even the seals.

I've tried those on an old Volkswagen - and yeah, they are COMPLETELY worthless.

This is great news! The front oil seal was my first major job on my Legacy. A lot to dismantle to get to the crank seal, but in the end was worth it. Also found the crank half-moon key was damaged and I caught it before the crankshaft keyway got completely mangled. I hope this experience give you confidence to keep the car running for many more miles to come.