JPX

The axles are symmetric. If there is no pin like the front axles, then all you have to do is yank on the shaft. If it won't give with a mild tug, then you need to use a prybar to force the end of the CV housing off the diff. But make sure you leverage the prybar on a bolt head since the aluminum diff side cover cracks easily. There is a circlip on the end of the shaft that goes inside the diff. This is what you are trying to overcome (and watch for ).

Pioneer 3700MP plus a little freshening of the bezel. Matches the existing green dash lighting in the Legacy.

Pioneer 3700MP - along with a freshening up of the bezel.

Oh great. Just when I thought I only had ONE chick car:

Be warned that the longer the blown CV joint goes, the more stress it is under. That stress manifests itself as noise (clunking, clicking, grinding) and heat. If it is the outer joint (usualy is since it turns with the knuckle), that heat will be offloaded onto the wheel bearing. Overheating wheel bearing is no fun. That said, I drove around with my Cabriolet for 4000 miles with a blown boot and the Legacy for about 7000 miles before changing them.

Almost 2 months after the rear driver side door stopped working right, I finally got around to checking it out and got it working again. You know the boneheaded move where someone is pulling on the outer handle while someone inside is unlocking/pulling the handle on the inside? When combine this with the child lock AND a loose mounting bolt, you can pop the latch rod loose. This means you won't be able to open the door from inside OR outside. This is a lot of fun with TWO child car seats in the rear. Although I wouldn't expect many people to recreate this bizarre sequence of events, I hope the following pictures/walkthrough is useful for OTHER problems with the latch. To get the door open so I could take the panel off, I needed to disable the child lock - tough to do with the door CLOSED. So I took a credit card and slid it towards the latch (using the other side for reference). This pushes the switch back up and allows you to open the door from the INSIDE......the rod for the inner handle was still connected. It was the outer handle rod that popped out of the latch mechanism. This little video clip shows how the outer handle moves, but without the rod inside the latch retainer, nothing works. Click here to watch 20060818-Door-Latch-Subaru-Loose-Rod But you can't just slip the rod back into the retainer without loosening the latch assembly. The three screws in the jamb are obvious.....but I was surprised a 4th fastener held the latch in place. Once all four fasteners are out, the latch mechanism can be moved enough to slip the outer handle rod back into place. While I was in there, I noticed that 4th fastener, the 10mm bolt, was loose. And you could see the wear marks in the sheet metal around the hole. Then it hit me:brow: ......I occasionally had trouble with the power door lock on that side. It wouldn't open with the other doors. With that bolt loose there is too much slack to allow the lock rod to actuate smoothly - and the door won't unlock. This is similar to problem with the nut coming loose on the power window track as shown below. I tighened that as well while in there. This made the clunk when rolling down the window go away too. If you haven't checked your driver's door window lately and it clunkss or jams, you should go in there and tighten the power window nuts before the sheet metal gets chewed up. Now the fasteners are secured and the door works great!

Those gaskets "grow" when soaked with oil and heat over time. In order of preference: get a new gasket, trim/stuff/tweak old gasket to fit, or simply ditch the gasket.

I give 4 thumbs up for a job well done - the pros will think nothing of tearing that much stuff apart to replace a waterpump or an oil pump. But any DIY-guy will and should feel an immense sense of satisfaction after replacing these. You easily saved at least $250 in labor costs.

For those of you wondering why the beads help, here is a cool video about self balancing tires. http://www.centramatic.com/Demo/video2.mpg

To help motivate you that this is any easy change out, here is the world famous FAQ thread on this topic->http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2498&page=1&pp=10&highlight=climate+control+backlight

2006 WRX with Class 1 hitch - not a 2" receiver. But this works well for most bike racks. Just not the big swing out type. Install thread in this link.http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=870952 My 96 Legacy has a Class 2, but a weird flat-style receiver tube. Easily handled double jetski trailer and 4 bikes on a rack. Both hitches above are Drawtite.

Exactly my point!

Top side is possible for the TC bolts, but it is super easy to round the head with the crappy angle to work with - and you have to remove the throttle position sensor connector , some breather hoses and some other stuff to get through the top access hole. You have to pull the engine anway, so just jack it up a little off the mounts and get to the bolts from below - better socket angle than from above. Once past those frustrating torque converter nuts and the engine cleared, you still need to get to the drive plate/crankshaft bolts. Once the plate is off, this is what it the rear seal will look like.

My 1996 Legacy sedan's rear door is stuck closed. Can't open the door from inside or outside. I think a linkage popped loose. Going to have a LOT of fun removing teh inner door panel with the door closed.

I've removed/replaced the axle on my Legacy before. And I just replaced one on my Cabriolet as well. Dirty work, but not complicated. Regardless of where you get the axle (new, rebuilt, used, etc), just change the whole axle:burnout: . It is SO NOT WORTH tearing apart the CV joints......unless you really want to learn how to do it at that level.:-\ As far as how long can you go on a blown boot.....depends. I drove the Cabriolet around for 3500 miles without any noise. But that's on clean roads. I drove the Legacy around for 4-5000 miles before replacing it. I don't recommend going too long because a hard-working outer CV makes a wheel bearing work harder. Mess up the wheel bearing and this simple repair turns into a more aggravating exercise with more cost.

You can totally do it yourself....it is a bit of physical labor. But not a complex job at all. I did the work myself on rears for my Legacy and the fronts on my Cabriolet. You need 1/2" sockets (17mm comes to mind). No real special tools for strut only. Consider replacing strut mounts while you are back there. But mine were still good.....just the struts were bad. Front mounts might need replacing since they have an extra degree of movement for rotation (steering). Here is a walk through of the process......in my photos the axle is removed (overkill for what you are doing although it is a convenient time to change wheel bearings and axles). Breaker bar and BIG socket would be needed for an axle change. -Remove the wheel. -Disconnect the brake hose from the caliper and cap the car-side of the hose. This part sucks because you have to disconnect the brake hose to get it out of the bracket on the strut. Don't forget you'll have to bleed brakes when you put it back together. -Remove the cap on the inside of the car for the top mount. 3 nuts that hold to top of the strut to the fender. Don't mess with the big nut in the center - yet. -Remove the two nuts/bolts on the bottom of the strut. Make sure you HOLD the bolt head and TURN only the nut. Then you can pull the strut out of the car. - Spring compressor activity. And DON'T DO IT LIKE THIS! Get that compressor from Auto-zone and use it! Make sure you note the order of all the parts on the shaft so you can but it back together correctly. Also, make sure you get the spring to seat in the strut base correctly. It likes to slip out of place while you are messing with the spring compressor tool. Reassemble the strut and mount. - Install top mounting nuts (they don't need a lot of torque so take it easy). - Install lower bolts/nuts. - Connect brake hose and bleed the caliper. - Alignment is probably a good idea - but I never got around to it on my Legacy's rears. For the front struts an alignment is a MUST - it will drive you crazy, make the steering wacky and screw up your tire wear. If you do fronts, might as well get a 4-wheel alignment.....I mean really, when was the last time you had it done anyuway?

You might want to check the slide pins on the calipers. If they got wiped down but no high-temp grease applied, then they could bind and make a lot of racket. And it's just plain bad for your brakes.

In case you hadn't already read up on this thread, you should check it out to see if it will help you get going again. I suspect that there is a circlip in there you cannot see under the mess that is preventing it from being pulled off. http://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/cgi-bin/ryderfp/technicalbulletins/acClutchfail.jsp Here is a peek at my little hell on this exact problem. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=465950&postcount=10

I want to say that there is at least a quart in there, maybe 1.5. You should be able to catch a lot of it with a pan. But if you tilt the motor a lot on the way out, it will probably spill some on the crossmember . Spread some towels on the crossmember and the floor.

<----uses calendar (not a watch) to measure 0-60 time in Legacy Wagon.

Can you see wear spots on the fender liners? This would indicate the tire is touching there. Also check brake caliper slide pins since weight and direction changes cause these to shift if they are binding. And check all rubber bushing at the sway bars - if these are bad, you might exaggerate the suspension geometry with the additional weight and cause parts to rub against one another.

Yeah, it is filled with fluid and is just heavy enough to be a PITA when seperating it - but it isn't crazy heavy. It is probably rusted to the driveplate. So it should just pry off once all four bolts are removed and lots of Liquid Wrench applied. You should replace the seal if the torque converter came off.

Here is a completely unsafe way of doing it during my 96 Legacy's rear strut replacement. My friend in the picture insisted on doing it this way instead of waiting until morning to get a "proper" spring compressor - and his idea of proper is from Harbor Freight.:-\ DON"T DO IT THIS WAY!

Don't forget about the auto trans oil cooler connections if you got them. Two little hoses that connect to the radiator by the battery. Not much holds that radiator in place.

A common problem on the power window cars is that the drive mechanism that bolts to the inner door panel works loose. The nut that holds a stud on the motor assembly to the sheet metal backs off and the entire thing wiggles. Over time, that movement causes the stud to gouge out the hole and you might even lose the nut somewhere in the door panel. Take the door panel off and make sure the hardware on the sheet metal is tight (10mm I think). You may need to align some stuff if everything is loose. Also lubricate the gears/cable on the crank and tracks for the window. Any binding there tends to make fasteners want to twist off easier.