1 Lucky Texan

does this car have a hill-holder system?

are the axle stubs fully seated in the diff? I say, 90% chance broken axle/CVJ.(10% chance something very, very weird) It explains the rolling when in park, noise, and low 'power'.

I believe some cars in that age range had a recall involving the parking pawl? does the car still move if in park (no parking brake) ? could be a busted axle and the clutch pack is not xfering enough power. what's reversing like? kinda wonder what behavior would be like in FWD mode....

do these guys have a tool for that? https://www.company23.com/products

the more owners soobs go thru, the more likely some fluid has been confused, so, wait until the diff fluid gets changed. Walmart has a synth-blend GL-5 folks seem to feel is a good value. And you get to examine the drain lug magnet for for excessive particles or, *gulp*, pieces.

sure it's oil and not CV grease from a split boot? could it be power steering fluid? maybe there's a way to pressurize the oil system manually to look for leaks....

GD has mentioned before that it is difficult to get 2.0 parts.

There are these gadgets called Coil Sumo springs (they sell other products that seem less gimmicky), but I have severe doubts about their performance and longevity - anyone here tried them? I know only what the ads say. https://www.superspringsinternational.com/coil-sumosprings/

what would be the downside to a load-leveling hitch?

oh, the torx you may need would be a T-70, same crush washer as eng. oil (20mm ?) local parts store or amazon, etc.

I do own a steamer, but just not crazy about the scraping. Seems like a slow-ish approach. Need to find a plastic scraper I guess.... one guy said to idle the car, that gets some heat onto the hood. at least one method can be a back-up for the other.

loosen the fill plug on the rear BEFORE the drain. I used a floor jack on the handle of a 1/2" breaker bar. some gear lube comes in squeeze bags now but, when I did the rear, I used a pump kinda like this;

did that wheel rock up and down at all? or just had the noise?

concerned about acetone as I will be near the front bumper. I have some citrus (limonene) on hand. Iso is cheap and handy enough to have around...may try those 2 before buying anything to specialized (read; expensive) lol

So I bought a 3M rubber wheel gadget to attempt removing the old cracked clear bra from my car. I have seen 3-4 videos and everyone seems to recommend a different solvent/cleaner to use to clean off adhesive residue. Wondering who's done this or something similar and what did you use? I'm attracted to the suggestion of 90% Isopropyl alcohol if there's no downside but, will it really work?

yeah, kinda feels like more than one problem. Rear bushing on front LCA, or??? the steering wheel, is it whining? is the vibration jerky ?

when I did that work, I also went back under the car to re-torque after I drove the car for a few weeks. this is an old thread I put together, pics are gone now I think...some of this may not apply as I was swapping in Prothane bushings. Later, I removed them and put Febest aftermarket in. .https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/lower-control-arm-rear-bushing-transverse-link-replaced-with-prothane-on-03-outback.48910/post-1223905 just re-read that, I used 180 for the mount bolt torque (all 4 places) and 137ftlbs for the end nut (2 places).

older post, likely everything taken care of by now but, who knows?

those are also wicked tight. huge pulling and braking forces are on those parts. sry I don't recall the value.

maybe an axle is not fully seated?

Brats:population ratio

sometimes, if you know everything is OK at the 'source'/sensor, and everything is ok at the ecu or w'ever the destination is - might be better just to add your own wiring start to finish and forget about the original harness.

I once read of a harness that was rubbed-thru by the steering shaft u-joint. I don't recall what the actual problem was but took the guy forever to find that problem.

it's a fair amount of work but, axles will swap L to R. maybe see if the sound follows. (while you'rs doing that , check the axle nut is tight I guess.)

www.car-part.com or maybe LKQ check ebay check craigslist for someone 'parting out' a compatible soob. post WTB in classifieds here, and maybe over at www.subaruoutback.org ...?