ThosL

The whole shaft. Was also at the local junkyard and picked up a brake caliper with hardware for $35; and there were two rotors in the junked vehicle for $15 each, so that is the least some will pay. And on the cv joint, nothing beats Southend auto in Lyndonville, Vt that installed cv axles for $90 or less part included, and had 6 month warrantees on used Subarus they sold for $2200 each.

I followed a recommendation I saw on this site about the online orders of Advance auto parts. You go online to do the order then on checkout, you enter a bunch of discount codes and reduce say a cv joint cost from $64 to $44 each. I don't know why Auto Zone, Pep Boys or Napa don't offer comparable deals or do they?

A local vehicle recycling yard has two replacement spindles, $65 each, very fair price. Plus they recommended a local mechanic that will do the job. Hopefully I get this job done at a reasonable price, after the problems are nailed down by them. No sense in changing out parts if they aren't bad.

There are many types of mechanics; the best are honest, fair, plain-speaking, communicative, not under-handed, surly, two-faced, incompetent, greedy, pig-headed, refractory, irresponsible, or evasive. Many parts places have lifetime guarantees on some parts where the charge covers the small percentage of parts with those claims. So for every part that does fail a small number of replacements are requested and claimed. It is usually a very steep obstacle to overcome to get any type of guarantee honored. I know with what I have sold over the years well into the millions in parts and services I have always been happy to cover any irresponsibility on my part with refunds. The shop kept me waiting until the end of the day until they got to the Subaru; The mechanic who checked out my car had me sign the following acknowledgement. "Advised customer vehicle is unsafe to drive and should not be on the road. Right front wheel bearing and hub are falling off of car, right front pads and rotors are grinding metal to metal. Possible damage to caliper, tie rod (sic) need to be replaced an (sic) ball joints are broken. Both left and right front axles need to be replaced. This vehicle is not safe for the road and should not be driven. Advised customer of all the issues and conserns (sic). Customer denied work at this time. "

The shop put the Subaru up on the standard lift to examine the front end and showed me the wobble in the front wheels. CV joint boots are torn; the grating sound I was hearing was actually the brake rotor, metal on metal on the worn pad. Last oil change I asked Monro to check out any defective front end issues, the guy said he saw none, less than a couple months ago. Another mechanic did rear wheel bearing a few weeks ago, no mention of the other issues. Probably replacing the wheel hub/spindles would make sense at this point, getting them used from the junkjard if I want to put a lot more miles on the vehicle.

Mileage was around 50K on the two front wheel bearings since it was done; I can get original records. Axle nuts were not touched in the two years. Can struts not performing up to par cause the problem? Thanks.

I went to a local repair shop a couple years ago for my front wheel bearing they replaced. They also installed a ball joint and tie rod end. Fast forward two years, today I had the vehicle up on the lift and they said I needed them replaced again, also the CV joints and a tie rod or two. Estimate = $1700!. They said the vehicle had gone over the mileage guarantee.... Do I have any options here, shouldn't the parts place guarantee bearings or do they sunset those too? Also do problem CV joints or other such issues lead to wheel bearing failure?

Thanks for the feedback; a friend tried to make progress and we were not able to, not the right tools, and the rentals at Auto Zone, etc. did not help.

My friend Sam has been trying to help me to do the CV joint on my 99 Outback. Unfortunately one strut bolt is still frozen as is the ball joint retaining bolt. We tried lots of PB Blaster (Auto Zone had the lubrication PB, not the penetrating type which I got elsewhere). I used a breaker bar with a Stanley 1/2 inch to 3/8 adapter which twisted off the adapter! Sam was thinking the torch would be a way to loosen the bolt, I don't have one. Are there any tricks here we are missing?

My sister had one of these codes, that her catalytic converter was below sensor level, though she recently passed emissions. If she runs premium gas would that help? Does any product help with these? The lady at Auto Zone after finding my cat. code came up on a 99 Outback with a 2.2 said probably the misfire or other less than optimum combustion triggered it. Is that right?

I got into this with a friend with more tools than myself; the lower bolt would not turn though we tried WD40, etc.. So he started loosening the strut bolts and saw the Abs that would also apparently have to be removed. I know when a mechanic did the other knuckle, ball joint etc. it was a bear, and actually the driver's side ball joint is bad too which can be a challenge getting it out of the knuckle if frozen so I may need to go the mechanic route.

My Advance unit was a Carquest CV joint, I figure they are all coming from the Orient now anyway, I didn't check this one out for place of origin. $50 with discount. South End auto up in Lyndonville, VT was getting under $100 installed, which is dirt cheap with all the hassles.

I knew a mechanic up in Newington who was very good and reasonable on small engines, Mike Cretella. I would check with the auto parts places in your area to see what their recommendations are. And are the hourly rates real hours??

The reality is that many jobs rated "piece of cake" are in actually tough in many cases due to dozens of potential problems that mechanics are well versed in but do it yourselfers are not. If I want to work on anything on my car I have to do it outside on the pavement in a parking area that forbids working on cars, but not enforced. If you have lots of tools that helps but technique is critical. I wonder what the prevailing wisdom is on PB Blaster vs. WD40 vs. Liquid Wrench.

1999.

Probably if the WD40 can reach in there.

A couple youtube videos on this:

One problem I ran into was the connectors can be hard to get apart without damage; on the various price options, online orders can save $$$.

I ordered this radiator, figured that it would be compatible with my Outback, not a fit right? http://www.ebay.com/itm/261421769013

I was able to get it off with the breaker bar at Auto Zone, so problem solved there. Still haven't really gotten into the job.

I started into the job but can't get the axle nut off, I don't have a breaker bar just a large wrench handle and the 32mm socket which I borrowed from Advance. Also there are warnings on the new axle directions, it looks like there are plenty of ways to go wrong on this.

I'd ask the local auto parts places for recommendations; Advance, Napa, and Auto Zone; never fails for me. If you are on a budget tell them.

Thanks for the advice; I picked up the part following advice earlier on online purchases of Advance parts for $50 with discount. Also have some loaner tools but am low on tools otherwise. I will have to figure out how to jack it up unless I can get my floorjack out of storage.

Thanks for the advice; I got an estimate of an hour plus from a local mechanic; I will try to pick up the parts and do it myself.

I did one of these on a Subaru I had that was a late 80s model. My driver's side CV joint is getting bad; for an advanced beginner mechanic, parts changer how tough is this? A couple years ago I had my front wheel bearings done, so hopefully nothing is frozen in there.