unibrook

My 2001 Forester with 112k miles seems to have transformed itself into a 2-stroke engine. I check and fully expect to need to top up my oil level monthly. I am guessing it burns a quart every 2k miles or so. Smokin like a banshee with a cheap cigar habit.

That pretty much rules out a wheel bearing. When your wheel bearing is growling, the noise is speed related, but unrelated to neutral or in gear. My bet is on the diff.

Many thanks guys!

YMMV, but I have driven thousands of miles on noisy wheel bearings. But most of our driving is around town. If I were doing mostly hway driving, then I would get them replaced sooner rather than later. If local driving, do it at your leisure within a few months. just my .02

Thx GD, is your supplier willing to sell to retail via mail or not? Also, if not, and I go the SKF bearing from rockauto, does it come pre-greased, or do I need to repack it? thx.

Should I prefer the NTN, Koyo, or NSk over the Timken? Does it really matter? Do they all come pre-greased with no need to repack them with other grease? Anyone have a vendor they like on price etc? I need the seals too. 2001 Forester. 112k miles. Rear bearing. thx

Your front 02 sensor only has 25k on it, and that in itself sounds too young to fail, but since you had so many other things done to the car, perhaps the other issues led to early failure in your front 02 sensor. Bcuz, if this misfire under load problem is only happening when the car is warm..........your symptoms are classic front 02 sensor signs. My front 02 sensor needs replacing every 40k miles like clockwork. 2001 Forester with 112k on her. I say replace it, and report back here.

I checked the ABS code via the little black connector and the wire leads that were dangling above left of my clutch pedal, but no code flashed out. Since the ABS light had not come on for a few days, I guess it cleared itself out. Will watch and wait to see if it acts up again.

This was a heckuva entertaining thread! I love the reply asking if the cams are for sale!

Crikey guys, get yerselves a Yamaha Zuma and put yer troubles all behind you!

That is some funny chit right there.......responding to yourself a couple of years later!

I just went ahead and replaced mine when I got the code on my 2001 Forester with about 105k on it at the time. Easily done, if you go that route. I dunno about bypassing it.

Rear Forester bearings slide out in opposite direction of the differential. You can use the Harbor Freight tool, aka Hub Shark method. This leaves the knuckle on the car while you do it. Of course, I use the word "slide" above in a........ahem..........kind of way.

Ok, thx, will do. and then will report back here. My bro thinks it is the ABS Modulator buzzing when the light comes on. He thinks it might be a sensor going bad that is triggering the light and the modulator buzz. So first thing this weekend, I will check the ABS diagnostic connector to see what it tells me. Will report back here.

More symptom clarification. Definitely intermittent, and usually only if car is cold. It might not be the horn, the noise sounds almost like a buzzer...about half the decibels of the car horn. That noise stops after 10 seconds or so, but the ABS light stays on for the duration of that particular trip. I know I have a rear wheel bearing growling that I have to replace soon, could that be making the ABS light up.......is there any associated buzzer in that system? (yes, will check battery and wires this weekend)

Seems to only happen for 10 seconds in the first minute of driving our 2001 Forester with 112k miles on her. The ABS light will come on, and the horn will honk itself at about half power, then both ABS and horn turns off. Horn will function fine if I then honk it myself. Any ideas?

Thx very much for posting your resolution! That will help the next guy.

What the above said about soaking it and warming up exhaust first. Then remove air snorkel, so you can lean over the top front passenger corner of car to reach it. I used an adjustable wrench to remove it.

Yes. I have had rear bearings make sound both ways. My current noise changes when cornering, but my first bad bearing did not change its noise at all.

Is it misfiring under load, and only when the engine is warm? If so, you might replace the front 02 sensor if that hasn't been done in the last 50k miles.

Has the front 02 sensor ever been replaced? If not, I would do that.

It can be easy to lose perspective if Subarus are all you ever drive and work on. You can begin to think your Subaru sux because of the rear bearings, the head gasket horrors, the torque bind etc. So, every now and then, I do some research on competing cars to see if they are really any better or worse. I find Truedelta dot com to be a good resource since it relies not on any industry input, but rather on real owners' experiences. Since the Forester is my appliance of choice, my thoughts often drift to alternatives like the Honda CRV or the Toyota Rav. Today I looked up reported repairs on the 2007 Honda CRV. Lo and behold, lots of repairs of rear diff torque bind came pouring in....and at early mileage too. Sometimes less than 20k miles on them. The first fix attempt seems always to be replacing the rear diff fluid, which often works.

You are due for a front 02 sensor if it has not been replaced yet. Does the misfire/hesitation only occur when car is warm? If so, replace that front 02.

Expect to use a breaker bar to loosen the plugs if they haven't ever been changed.

Do the slow, full lock turns in a parking lot. To see if you are getting any torque bind. If not, then you should suspect wheel bearing(s). my .02