farmer

This was the left one.

Changed the bearing/hub and took care of the problem. The noise was a low level whirring noise for those diagnosing something similar. Not sure why wheel bearings on these would be a problem, but in Googling it seems to show up a lot. I would say if you plan on changing a wheel hub on these I would shoot some PT Blaster in the back of the mount a couple of times and days before the change out. That would be around the perimeter of the outboard CV. (I wouldn't get it on the CV boot, but I'm not sure it would make any difference.) If there's rust in there the hub case may come out hard and the penetrating oil will make a lot of difference.

Thanks for the response. I'll go ahead and take it out to be safe. It's got about 85K. Just started making noise.

I'm replacing the rear hub on a 2014 Forester. The bearings were getting noisy on that corner. This one has ABS. Should the sensor be removed before taking out the hub? Thanks a lot.

No, it wasn't destroyed. It has some deterioration at the rubber, as in cracking, but nothing separated. It's interesting as to how it caused what it did. The smaller rubbers at the bottom were making contact, leading me to think the large outside cushions may have been a little collapsed. I suspect this was the original and over due for replacing. The wheel shaking just started about 10K ago, so no complaints about the Subie. It's my main set of wheels here in Iowa. Does about everything for me.

Well, I swapped the transmission mounts and the steering wheel shake has stopped altogether. Good for another 266,000 miles. Thanks for all the responses

i got the new one today. It shows the same part number, but this one is a little taller and only has two mounting bolts plus the center one. I wonder if this is a modification to help the vibration problem. It looks like it's about 1/4 inch taller in the rubbers. The possibility is the old one had collapsed slightly. It did look like the rubbers were pulling off the metal a little. I'll get this thing is and see how it works. Thanks for the responses.

Yeah the shaking stopped after prying on the mount. That's the only thing I really did anything with. The rest of the stuff I just checked. No, the shaking hasn't returned, but I haven't driven it a lot of miles. I have a Subie mount on order.

I had the same steering wheel shake I've read about in a number of other posts. There is no doubt it was coming from the mount. In checking for possibilities I checked rotors, ujoints, carrier, etc. When I got to the mount I pried on it, looking for some type of separation. I never found anything suspect on any area, but when I started driving it again the severe shaking stopped. Question is: What does the mount do to the alignment of the tranny to the CV s to cause this? The shaking would be fairly broad at lower speeds and shorten at higher speeds. It made sense this was transferring something from the axles. Thanks for the help.

I changed out the right rear bearing and it went pretty well. Using a slide hammer to pull the hub took out the outer race and hub, leaving the bearing cage and both bearings. The cage was stuck in the frame and I got that out by screwing the mounting bolts for the cage in from the brake side, then tapping against them with a punch to drive the cage out. Worked pretty good. I found the bearing cage only goes in one way. Found out the hard way, as usual. No more noise from that corner, bearing change seems to have done the trick. Good for another 250,000 miles. Appreciate the help.

Thanks a lot for the replies. My Subie has been a test of faith since I got it at 205,000, but I count on it and wouldn't part with it. The noise is a rolling sound - about like what you'd have with a tire rubbing, but off/on through a turn. It's definitely coming from that rear right side. I was afraid it might a differential problem with noise riding down the axle. I checked the caliper on that side and it was released against the brake pads. When I started getting this sound I checked the hub regularly to see if I had heat in it - thinking the brake was dragging. The hub was always cool. I pulled the wheel right after I stopped at home and the brake was cool and released at that time too. I'm going to pull the hub on that side today and I'll post back. Your help is much appreciated.

2000 Outback 250,000 miles, never a problem with the undercarriage. Just started a little bit of rolling noise in hard turns to the right. It seems to be coming from the right rear. Since it shows in the turns I thought it would be the wheel bearing. I jacked up the back of the car with both rear wheels off the ground and the front two still on the ground. The left wheel turns reasonable easy, but the right wheel turns a lot harder. I didn't know if this would have to do with a limited slip differential in the AWD. Either turning of the wheel spins the opposite the other direction, being normal for a differential. Question is one side turning harder than the other normal? There's no play in the hub bearing and it just started doing this about a day ago. No noise on the straight aways. Thanks for the help.

Having researched this further it seems this engine has an oil buring problem that starts as early as 15,000 miles. Has anyone else seen this in the 2012 - 2013, 2.,0 engines?

How does the 2.0 in the newer Subies stack up against the older 2.5 engines - longevity/problem wise. This is the 148 HP non turbo. I see the Impreza mpg is rated at 36 mpg for the sedan with the CVT. Is that a good number or is it over stating it a little? We have the 2014 Forester with the 2.5/CVT and that one will be a member of the family for years to come, I'm sure. I'm hoping to pick up another car for a kid soon and the information is much appreciated. Thanks for any input.

Thanks a lot. I was hoping to get 150,000 miles plus out of the car for her. That'll be 4 years of driving at grad school for her. I have the 00 Outback sedan w/245k and still going strong. I never knew if that car had a head gasket problem in its past. Will an additive stop the oil leak you're referrring to?

I'm looking at a 2005 Legacy Limited for my daughter. It's in nice shape (46,000 miles) and it isn't the turbo engine. Does this 2.5 have the head gasket problem that shows up occassionally? Or are there different version of this engine that have to be considered? Also what should I expect to get for gas mileage on it? Appreciate the help, as always

This definitely an AWD, John. I have had the oil temp light flash for even the MAP sensor on my 2000 Outback.

I've seen this topic in a number of places and the culprit is often given as off size or mismatched tires. I'm wanting to add another Subie to our "stable" and have an '07 legacy automatic in mind. It is low mileage with new tires, but a flashing AWD light. When you drive it you can feel the out of sync torquing. It's fairly subtle, but still there. My question is what might be involved with fixing this thing or would it be better to stay away from it? Also is there a code planted by the Flashing AWD light? Apparently nothing OBDII which I scanned for. Appreciate the help as always.

That was a Gates, Lucky Texan.

Now that you bring that up, I just had a water pump bearing go out on a pump with less than 30,000. The belt was slapping the cover and sounded like an internal engine noise.

I'll keep those oils in mind. We haven't had a lot of Subies around here but we really like them. My wifes new Forester really took care of our concerns with winter weather. I've had to do fair amount of work on my 2000 Outback, but it's settled down to be a pretty reliable car. I had wondered a little about the thin oils in some of these engines everytime I hear about a rod bearing problem. Engineers can do a lot with the oil relief spec at a rod bearing and the pump volume, either to up the flow through or to build pressure at the bearing face. Still, when I hear spun bearing or rod knock I think maybe the oil isn't quite right. Out here you can't change the bearing spec, but you can change the oil.

Yeah, I don't doubt that. The older engines in other makes would use the 20-50 Valvoline racing oil for heat and pulling environments and that was thick stuff out of the can. Seems like this 00-20 and 00-00 is all new gen stuff but it's been around awhile. I thought it was more to help out on the government mandates on fuel economy. For those I stick with the manufacturers recommendations pretty close.

The mileage isn't always an indicator of the wear on an engine. RPMs can wear out an engine on a low mileage vehicle. That has to do with the in town or hill climbing that keeps the engine in the lower gears. Vehicles that run open highways for extended intervals can have a lot more miles but less actual engine wear. I would be cautious of a low mileage car from the center of New York City or Chicago. In terms of viscosity of the oil you have to be careful with the heavier oils that would difficult to push through the bearings to get a flow that would cool the bearings. Some of the engines that call for 00/20 have such small reliefs to hold the pressure in the bearings that a heavier oil with less flow through will actually heat up a bearing the low vis oils keep cool.

Don't use the TStat from O'reiilys. I used to work for them. Get the Subie job. In the pics above it just looks healthier, but it also has the bleed hole with the dangler check valve to bleed through air bubbles.

Why do you say it's a headgasket issue? Is that because it's a common problem with overheating? I would pull the thermostat and see if that stops it. That would give you another path to either fix or crutch it along.