is it possible to break both front cv joints in on shot? or would the pinion have broken in the dif?

Anything is possible, but dual failures at the same time are unlikely.

 

Auto Trans? If you have torque bind and had weak/worn joints it's possible.

 

Pull them off and make sure the stub shafts are OK. You might also drain the gear lube and see if you get metal.

Year? Auto or manual trans? Mileage?

Front or rear diff? What is the car doing to make you suspect the CV joints/differential have failed?

If you break one bad enough it will still act like both are broken with an open diff.

4eat transmission 1990 legacy.... went to cornor store. parked, reversed out, put in drive clunk, no drive. put in park and then drive again and went about 20 feet, clunk lost drive. flicked my duty c selinod switch to lock the clucth pack up and drove home....

now got the front wheel jacked up and in park tire spins freely, cv shafts spins, but on the shaft where the roll pin locks the shaft to the dif splins it appears that it is a least an inch away from the case and seal? took some pictures of it. still tryting to figure out how to post pics....

The stub could have pulled out of the diff, or the stub might have broken. Drain the front diff fluid and check for pieces.

all this happend with in 2 miles of installing the longer outback struts. may that be the problem?

Outbacks use the same axles AFAIK. Though the slightly longer extension may have contributed to the problem, this sounds more like someone pried the axle stub out of the diff to do an axle change and broke the retaining clip.

Is the spring pin still in the CV joint? If you try to move the joint up/down/ or in/out does the whole stub move with the cv joint?

the stub does move slightly in and out with the joint. but not really up and down.

Yeah it shouldn't move in/out at all. Maybe enough to feel a slight click if you push/pull on it hard enough, but hardly enough to actually see.

 

I'd remove the axle and stub, and check the splines on the diff end of the stub.

 

I don't know if the retaining clips can be replaced on these or not. The transmission is assembled with the stubs already engaged in the diff, and they're not supposed to be removed AFAIK. Worst case you may be looking for a new transmission.

kay thanks. more then likely gonna junk the car, its way to rotten to continue with it. gonna grab a 92 turbo sedan to replace the old rusty wagon......

Sucks that a $0.42 circlip could be the downfall of a car.

 

Take the axle off and see what damage if any was done. If it just needs a new clip, you can get one from Subaru, and it looks like (just looking at parts diagram in the FSM) you might be able to pop the stub back in.

ya gonna have one more shot at it, and if not then ill have to get another ride. thanks for the help..

The Auto stub can be replaced without taking the trans apart. The manuals cannot.

great good to know! 7am where im at and worked all night. gonna have a look in the afternoon. hope it works out.

kay. all back to normal. removed outback struts, pushed cv shafts back into the dif reinstalled original legacy struts. thanks again for all the replies and the help!

if i wanted to, in the future install the cir clips would i drop the transmission pan and get at it from there?

Hopefully the stub seal was not damaged during all of that. Keep an eye on the differential fluid level.

 

The stub has to be removed to install the circlip. Thanks Shawn for clarification, the stubs on the auto trans CAN be pulled out, circlip popped on the end and then pushed back into the trans.

 

Also there is no access to the differential from inside the transmission. The differential is an entirely separate unit, just built into the same case. It has it's own fluid and is completely sealed away from the inner workings of the rest of the transmission.