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!

Is the extension housing on an automatic the same as on a manual transmission? any changes in 1997-1998-1999?? thanks!

Nothing is actually broken but sometimes it just won't unlock. I tried to repair this by cleaning and lubricating but no success. what works every time though is pushing the opening lever forwards (opposite of opening, which is to squeeze it towards you), then operating the remote or drivers 'unlock' rocker switch one more time!

thanks for the detail!! i am happy to say TWO HOURS battery disconnect was the trick [or possibly three start/stop cycles, as that happened as well, in testing the battery disconnects]. CEL is now off and sensor itself is apparent problem. next i will check it out physically. is any draining of coolant necessary? posts vary on this point.

but several people have described installing a resistor as a temporary correction of the CEL on this particular sensor. the ECM is said to see this, in the self check, as acceptable. grossgary, i agree the existing sensor is probably bad but i would like to be as sure as possible, before i drop 90 at AZ or even more at Subaru!

checked the code again at AZ, 0325, knock sensor. disconnected sensor, inserted 500K resistor to ground: CEL still on disconnected battery, CEL still on looks like wiring fault,not sensor? anyone tell me which pin in ECM as if open circuit, i won't find it by looking for continuity!

Manual trans. mechanic says thrust bearing is bad and while I agree it doesn't feel so good, no sounds to my ear, so priority lowered. He quoted $500 to do that [half parts, half labor]. Not sure if anything else is included. how to trust a used transmission, if i were to consider doing it with my friend? I had this done on a Trooper 10 years ago [~ $900, i think], and the shop warranted it at least for a while to be sure it was working when installed, as found, I think. If fact, it wasn't so good and they took it back for rebuilding, if I remember rightly, at no further cost. It then was good for 8 years to my knowledge. Maybe i should try them again!

CEL has been on about 50% of the time since install [4000 mi, 6 mos] of a used motor following seize-up of original [probably a bad timing belt change]. The sensor is said to have been deliberately transferred from the dead motor to this one, 'to match my ECM'. I am sure I can change it [no thanks to Haynes, but thanks to USMB!!] but before I do that, I could [a] try a tank or two of Premium; if it stays OFF, I really may have an engine knock and replacing the sensor won't do any good; then $90 goes to better gas. Light coming ON tells me nothing. Measure the resistance while the light is off, and put in a resistor instead of the sensor [or just use 500K]. If the CEL comes ON, there is a defect elsewhere, like in the wiring and replacement is pointless. If the CEL stays OFF, that would point to a bad sensor, right? thanks for the elegant recent discussion on TB; this is an amazing Board!!

so, there's no choice about fixing the TB. can anyone direct me to a description of the job? The part is about $500 so evidently there's over $500 of labor in R & R, judgine by the numebrs I see on the board. I might be able to get a part-time mechanic to help me, if there are no special tricks to the set up, simple remove and replace?

Manual Trans, 160K.

I am pretty sure I have this [18 - 24 mos now] but meantime many other things have gone bad. I would like to disconnect the rear drive partly to confirm diagnosis but also to accept 2WD at least until the winter, instead of costly repair. I cannot sensibly put any more money in until I have a few months of no repair costs! Is there a description of how to do this somewhere [for long term use]? Nomention of viscous coupling in Haynes up to 1998. Do I need real 1999 onward edition? thanks John