johnc

I put the original knuckle back (original bearing) and the major new noise went away. Evidently I got a bad knuckle from the private breaker.

Probably OK for removal, then. But it took pounding to reinstall the hub, still with the axle in place. Now, there is major prop aircraft-like noise increasing with road speed, 10 - 30 mph, not affected by serpentine steering to load/unload wheels. so I wonder if I broke gears in the diff .

Will modest hammering (2-3 lb hammer, no serious damage to axle end, softwood or aluminum spacers worked) to remove and reinstall rear hub communicate any damage to differential end? Axle was not removed.

My trusted but conservative mechanic wants to look carefully before even agreeing to do it, Logic23; he said in his experience the job could SNOWBALL if it's very rusty, in which case he just wouldn't do it.

So, should I take my 99OBW to 'your' shop for the same tank swap?

you can find various fixes like improving ground connections on the flexible board described here but only a complete refluxing of all connections on the small rigid board the meter is mounted on seems to have worked for me (fingers crossed, 500mi so far). I first tried cleaning all the plug and edge connectors with electronic spray cleaner and the ground screws with abrasive plus an external ground connection. didn't help for me. I was inspired by ron917 who followed the same path! Doogalbob on subaruoutback.org has a very specific repair to make to the PCB as well as full discussion of what can lead to a dead speedo.

I drove nearly 30 in daylight when my own alternator was bad, to get the new one! I practiced shorter trips in my neighborhood before venturing 15 miles one way. Of course, the battery was fully charged off-line in my case.

99OBW. I was often having to push the handle the opposite way before pulling to open the tailgate [worked nearly every time; if not, I added operating key back and forth in lock as well]. But since spraying lubricant upwards into lock/handle from the outside, it's worked perfectly for a year or so! Not too far gone, I suppose. John

Eeerily familiar, AnonII! top of my list is to add 3 more washers to the existing shim stack from January and tighten the bolts some more, because I just noticed a trace of soot on the exposed part of the subaru donut. I looked as there was a slight increase in noise level but I couldn't feel any gas leak. I had used an Autozone flange repair so the subaru bolts weren't the right length at all. John

I think I could do saturday. Please keep me up to date via pm! Thanks, John

but if the leak was at the tank end of the rubber hose, visible but not accessible from the removable cover in the OBW floor, there would be no option but dropping the tank, right?

Hope you experts won't mind a generic question [91 Tercel 207K, 4sp]: Mechanic warned me to fix a front wheel bearing at inspection in Nov., so I stopped using the car until I could clear an indoor space to do it [Pocono winter]. Now that I'm ready, we've both forgotten which wheel it was! To find out, I lifted each wheel separately but felt no 12-6 o'clock play. He had warned me sometimes you can't tell that way, and thought his diagnosos had been made after running the car on the lift. So next I put the front end on blocks and drove the wheels in 2nd gear, I think. Very localized, continuous noise immediately showed pass. side was the one to replace! Strange thing [for me] was, however, that after about a minute, maybe less, as the engine speed dropped [engine was initially cold, so warming up a bit?] the driver's side wheel slowed and stopped altogether, while the pass. [bad] one continued to spin seemingly quite fast. I could rotate the driver's side wheel by hand, even spin it a bit, i.e., little resistance, but it soon came to rest again. PLease can someone explain to me what's happening here?

The flange rotted off the rear catalyst pipe, where the spring-loaded bolts are. thanks to subaru360 for diagnosis and suggested repair! I used a flange repair kit 1 3/4inch [autozone's smallest], shimmed to fit the 1 1/2inch [?] pipe and a subaru doughnut gasket. I replaced the springs and torqued them to be partially compressed. Although quieter than before repair, there's still some drumming. took a look with motor running; repair not gas-tight so torqued the bolts snugntite, much better, but now springs are fully compressed and no flexing likely! Hope the next-weakest connections [~170K, looking pretty sad] don't break, in the now rigid system! thanks for any advice/warning! John

anybody know who is the independent mechanic/shop with subaru skills that has been mentioned here? Is the shop really subaru-experienced and reliable? I need to get a heavy engine knock diagnosed without driving too far! it began at 2600rpm and above only [sdo i drive slower] but has now [about 200 mi later] crept sometimes into lower rev situations that scare me. Engine is 2.5L DOHC from JY a year and 9000 mi ago [history unknown], professionally installed in 99 OBW, ~175000 mi by me from new. thanks for any input! John

Mike V, please read my pm enquiry on Klecknersville mechanic!