wekjo

Had a couple of country ya-hoos replace the exhaust gaskets on the Y-pipe and the catalytic converter. They diagnosed the cause of the blown out front O2 sensor and gaskets as being a plugged converter. No one had noticed that before and tied it together, including the high buck german car repair shop. Engine was running smooth and not making a vacuum cleaner noise so I guess all of the symptoms were not there. After rasseling around installing the new direct fit dual converter pipe, they pointed out to me that the carrier bearing was shot and I should think about that too. Well duh! Though I have collected replacements for almost all of the bushings in the rear end, I am going to do new struts, strut mounts, and bushings all at once; I am going to replace the drive shaft first, which includes a new carrier bearing. Given the obvious run out in that bearing I am going to put my money on that bearing being the cause of my drive-train slop.

Thanks for your thoughts. I took the car to the shop which replaced my head gaskets, seem to know what they are doing. They put it up on a lift which held the car up by its wheels, not the frame. They poked, prodded, twisted and levered around everywhere and found no mounts nor bushings which exhibit anything but minimal wear. Given the price of labor to drop the rear end down press the bushings out and replace them and reassemble it, they declined to do the work as they felt whatever the problem is, replacing those bushings would not be the right fix. I looked on youtube, saw a number of subaru trailing arm bushing videos but those trailing arms and bushings are quite different than those on my Outback. Those entire trailing arms can be purchased new for less than 80 dollars and looks like an owner with hand tools and jack stands could replace them in his driveway. The trailing arms in my car cost over $200 each and are much more labor and tool intensive. The drive shaft passes through it. So are there any other thoughts or tests to exclude the coupling or the transmission? Watching those guys wrassle the shafts around under my car makes me believe that neither the front nor the rear differential is the culprit, nor any of the CV joints.

2002 Outback 2.5 manual transmission, 139,000 miles. What i have is a noticeable play in the drivetrain. This is most annoying and evident when going down long slight grade hills at freeway speed. Cruise control lets off and you lean forward in your seat, you slow down a bit cruise kicks back on and it snaps you back. I have had this car since it rolled over the 100,000 mile mark and it has been the same. No other car I have owned, and they have just about all been manual shifts, ever did this. I have changed the clutch, and both front drive half shafts to no avail. What I am looking for are some simple checks to rule out the transmission, the front or rear differentials, or the coupling. Some mechanical part is taking a beating and I would like to replace it before it fails at the worst possible time and place. I suspect it is the transmission as the effect is more noticeable as you get into higher numbered gears. It does not grind, vibrate, or grab whilst making sharp slow turns. Problem is just as noticeable with cruise control turned off. If anyone has had this problem and it was the transmission, is there anywhere to send it off exchange for a rebuild.