brus brother

I have a 2008 OB with chronic, migratory and recurring heat shield issues. 135K miles in the rust belt. Years ago when it first started, car was in for a free oil change at SOA. I always enjoy the up-sell conversation when in for the "free" service... "Sir, you are due for your headlight rotation. I see you have your kids in the car. You probably want to take care of this now." I always decline, telling them they are not my kids, so not my problem. Besides, I do most simple work myself and rotate the headlights as per manufacturers schedule of maintenance. OK Back to the heat shield noise. The tech proceeded to bang around with his hand on the exhaust and once the noise was located (to my horror) he inserted a self tapping screw into the exhaust. But what he actually did was drill ONLY through the heat shield but NOT actually into the exhaust pipe, wedging the shield in place, eliminating the heat shield from rattling. Phew. In the past I used stainless steel hose clamps (per USMB recommendations) where straight runs allowed but recently ran into a new loose heat shield on a bend that defied my attempts with a clamp. Pulled out my nut driver and a self tapping screw and voila, NNM (noise no more.) Sounds like OP may have figured out his noise but just wanted to tell an old timer's tale of yore. Now, get off my lawn. ;-)

P0420 for 8 years gas mileage never altered (even with the black tape). Car ran great all those years. There was another trick of installing a resistor on one of the O2 sensor wires and while the P0420 disappeared, another code popped up instead. If you end up not getting a resolution, you can erase the code with a $20 reader and cruise will work until the code reappears. You can also just read codes on a routine basis and allay concerns if you fear a code warning that the rear tires are about to fall off. I think that code is Pwtf! Seriously, I wish you luck. Hope you can report good news.

check wheel for balance

yeah, use the spare as a placeholder as you swap tires L to R or forward aft.

My experience with drive shaft was when taking off from start and I would feel it in the center as ido suggests.

Roadside assistance only available in New England ;-)

new tires? if lug nuts tight try swapping tires back to front. see if noise travels with tire. possibly defective tire. common things occur commonly.

lug nuts tight?

from bio looks like 98 legacy

2002 subaru outback 4 cyl according to profile jumped timing?

05 OB had P0420 at 105K until I junked the car with 200K miles. Tried replacing the cat (aftermarket) without change except more change out of my pocket. Computer is tuned real tight for emissions. It may clear itself but will come back. I bought a $20 code reader/eraser so I could pass our testing every two years. Clear code, ru at a partiocular sequence to set system checks as ready then run to get emissions test good for 2 more years. I think I did that for the last 8-10 years of ownership. Put a piece of black tape over the light Costs nothing. If recent purchase, prior owner probably knew the tricks.

Click and Clack once recommended a new driver be given a nice square car like a Volvo (or Forrester?) so they can turn it into an oval.;-)

dang. effective July 1 if passes.

Driving the kid's 2019 OB with CVT,, acceleration seems to lag for a second or two from stop. Different than my 08, stomp and go. Is this inherent in CVT design?

couldn't find anyone around CT to take mine... who did you use? worth shipping?

check all grounds/connectors front and rear. as 1LT suggested move a known "good" bulb around as well.

Never did the rebuild. Just replaced the one O-ring on top and all was fine after that. Local dealer price was about $2.

Sorry I doubted you. #7 is LINK so it isn't a donut after all. With that in mind, it now looks to be a pretty large gap in your first pic with really rough mating surfaces. I've never used something like THIS or THIS but it would require cutting out the joint and mating the "bandage". Without a lift, it can be challenging. I remember someone using aluminum roof flashing (or was it a beer can) to wrap around a hole in a pipe and secure with SS pipe clamps. As suggested above, shop around smaller non-chain muffler shops and see if someone can't just cut and weld in a hard splice or ask if they would use the flex joint linked above?

OP's first picture sure looks like it is a (rusty) spring+bolt connector on one side so ... flex joint? The further aft junctions don't use springs as posted by Imdew. That being said, the collars are pretty shabby and might still leak around the donut. BTW, I have an issue with my 08 where the rear pipe Vs off to the rear mufflers and have bought time using furnace grade high temp caulk from Home Depot.

dave Welcome to the board. You identify Boyds as your city. If it is Boyds, Martyland, (Go Terps) take your photo into Autozone in Germantown and with year and model, they will sell you the exact donut gasket which as the name implies is shaped like a donut (not flat) and the spring bolt setup like this LINK that you will need. Looks like the donut and spring bolts will set you back around $25 total. The picture posted above by Imdew is the joint in your picture (minus the rust). Called a "flex joint" the springs and the thickness of the donut allow for... "flex" as the exhaust flexes and vibrates, preventing exhaust leaks. Don't overthink this. You might be able to cut through where the donut sits as described above by Heartless. A shop would probably torch the bolts off and be done. You might get lucky but trying to unbolt it the way it is rusted will probably torture you by rounding off the bolts and nuts.

Wasted 1.5 hours today at dealership only to find out that I have the latest software already installed. Apparently, the system isn't even smart enough to report that, but only that it is "unable to download, do you want to retry". Too much technology not ready for prime time. And we'd trust self-driving cars?

Just tried updating the head unit software over wifi and it fails. I have good wifi signal in garage. SOA said it must be brought to dealer. Tech friend suggests that if you miss an update or 2, the wifi download/update will fail. I had auto download and auto update turned off. Some suggest that it's best so as to avoid interrupted install. I will chat service tomorrow and report back as it would seem best under the circumstances to leave auto download set to ON but only install when assured of no interruption. Anyone else have this experience?

STOPPED IN GEAR with foot on brake, I had the vibration. Put car in neutral and vibration stopped.

I asked Uncle Google about "subaru vibration cv axle when stopped" and the search returns a bunch of discussions. I picked one for a quick look and the above link has discussions about CV rebuild and other tolerances and types of engines more prone to vibrations. While it may seem counter-intuitive, I did experience the above mentioned phenomena after axle replacement on my 05 OB.

There is an odd issue with some aftermarket cv axles that cause a vibration when stopped. I can't remember but if I recall, if you put it in neutral the vibration stops... Sorry i can't be 100% sure of the symptoms but there are discussions hereabouts.