ttmuench

Well I've gotta give the site some props. Your prompt replies were all very helpful... thanks. So I put the car up on a lift this afternoon and pulled the axel (had to do it anyway... outer CV boot was leaking). Then I was able to pull the axel stub out from the differential and it came out with no resistance. I inspected the female and male splines, cleaned the axel stub and pounded it back in. Next, I check for axial play in the axel stub and found there was very little (perhaps this answers tcspeers question). So I proceded to replace the CV boot and put everything back together. Case closed. I feel like I dodged a bullet...was thinking it could have been much worse... Guess, I should have taken a bit more care when swapping out the suspension dampers.

Re: Differential side bearing retainer problem? The stub shaft is held in the diff. with a C-clip. It probably just snapped out. Don't know why but maybe you do. I recently changed my struts, perhaps the c-clip somehow worked itself loose while the steering knuckle was detached from the strut. Will the internals of the differential fall out of place if I fully remove the stub shaft? Guess I'm wondering if I can take the stub shaft out without causing more problems.

Well I'm a bit baffled. I have a 1994 Legacy L wagon with an automatic transaxel. I notice the my front passenger side inner CV joint had moved away from the center differential. Additionally the spring pin is still in place. In fact, it appears that a portion of the center differential has come free and moved away from the differential with the axel. I can see the cross hatched sections on the differential output shaft. I have not yet begun trying to remove the axel in order to get a better look. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there anything I should do or avoid doing when I take things appart. Does the side bearing retainer screw into the differential case? Is it reasonable to think that this might be repaired with the transaxel still in the car? Please comment.

I purchased the part at subaruparts.com for $25 plus shipping and handling. The part number for their website is 22630AA041. It was easy to install. First I removed the air intake pipe that runs between the throttle body and the air filter box. Then I unplugged the sensor. Using a deep socket ( I forget the diameter) I removed the old sensor. After doing so some coolant leaked out. I used a rag to plug the hole until the new sensor was ready to install. Then, I installed the new sensor. Placed a bit of dielectric grease on the connector and replaced the intake pipe. There are a bunch of vacuum lines attached to the intake pipe so make sure their all reconnected properly. I did notice quite a bit of scale build up on the old sensor and believe that this may have been responsible for the sensor's intermittent response. You might try cleaning the sensor with some vinegar or appropriate acid, and reinstalling. Its only $25 bucks for a new one, but if you don't have to spend it why do it. If you try this please post your results.

Well, after cleaning the plug the idle problem eventually came back. About a month ago, I finally broke down and bought a new temp. sensor. Since replacing the sensor I have had no problems with an irradic idle. Looks like this is the correct solution.

Thanks for the comments. The car seems to be running fine now. I cleaned the connectors on both the IAC and temp sensors. Then I applied dielectric grease to the connection (note: in the past, just the engine temp sensor code has come up, and putting dielectric grease on the connector seemed to fix the problem) I'm starting to wonder if the grease on the temp sensor connector boils off due to the heat in this region and then starts giving me bad contact at the connector. A budy of mine mentioned just cleaning the connectors and not using grease as a way to avoid this failure again in the future.... then again maybe the temp sensor is just intermittent and should be replaced. Any thoughts on replacing the sensor since things seem to be working okay now?

(94 legacy wagon - automatic) Having trouble starting with the engine cold. Will start if I slightly depress the accelerator upon start. After engine starts the engine idles properly. Check engine light came on. Pulled the codes. Came up with engine temp senor and air control valve. I cleared the codes, and none have returned yet. When the engine is warm there is no problem starting. I plan on cleaning the IAC with brake cleaner as suggested on the forum. Any ideas on what are the causes of this malfunction?