ok, thanks for all the help and suggestions. I have made notes and am going to the shop tomorrow to take it for a ride and another shop if it is drivable for a second opinion.

UPDATE

 

picked up 99 outback today and took it on a 20 mile drive trying everything I could think of.

 

on either a right or left hard turn it would buck/clunk several times. if I turned real slow it would do it maybe once. it seems to bind a little or feels like brake on until it bucks clunks and then fine.

 

going straight it might buck once or twice until I got up to 55 on freeway and as long as I was going straight and flat there was no noise. maybe it would buck/clunk when I accelerated.

 

downshifting seems like when it would be bad. the bucking would be more violent.

 

took it down some long down grades at 45-55 and put it in neutral. no noise at all and down hard turns and moving steering wheel back and forth........nothing.

 

even took some hard right/left turns at 25-30 mph in neutral and nothing. nice and quiet. as soon as put back in gear the bucking was hard.

 

as long as I took it real easy it wasn't so bad. a little bucking. but when it was under load going up hill or punching the gas it bucked hard 2-3 times and then nothing.

 

the whirling/slight roaring sound is still noticeable at low speeds and it goes away when in neutral coasting or when clutch pedal is pushed in. someone here said that sounded like throw out bearing on clutch ( last clutch 90k ago)

 

I tried to take it to 2 other shops to get more first hand opinions but they were both closed. must be a mechanics holiday today.

 

well, sounds like tranny , huh? original guy told me 600 for used tranny, another 6 for labor and he said he would do the clutch just for parts since it looked like the axle didn't need replacing.

Had 4 calls this week all broken 5 speeds all bad awds all have noise in tail sections of trans do 5 broken standards to every one auto

Had 4 calls this week all broken 5 speeds all bad awds all have noise in tail sections of trans do 5 broken standards to every one auto

 

Wow.....

 

I service more clutchpack troubles and torque bind on automatics 5-1.

 

The 5 speeds it usually always the main bearing, pop out of gear issue.  The center diffs I've seen fail are actually the spiders binding/grinding not the VLSD itself.

Autos far outpace manuals in terms of sales/ownership so even if the manuals have a higher rate of repair/maintenance, one could still easily see more automatics in the bays.

Well by the time I see them is so bad cant tell what let go mostly bearings I have found that putting in 4.5 L of gear oil helps to keep awd alive. Keeps bearings in oil all the time I think low oil levels and downhill grades mess them up

would a 5 speed from a 2003 work as a replacement?

remember the kiss principal.

would a 5 speed from a 2003 work as a replacement?

 

Per what was said earlier it should, but I would stop where you are.

 

As mentioned a lot of people have come up with a variety of possibilities and they differ from the shop.

 

If I understand right you currently have the car at an "Auto Repair Shop".  If this is the case, find out if there is a transmission/driveline specialty shop in the area and see if they can do a diagnosis.  

 

I'll give an example using a non-subaru.  I had a pinion bearing going out in my '01 Durango which was obvious to me but others argued with me about it.  Finally took it into a shop that works on rear ends/transmissions to get a proper diagnosis.  Turns out it was.

 

Here's the kicker though.  The cost to put a used '01 rear end under it would have actually been close to the same as repairing the rear end that was in it, if not more.  I went a different route and put an '03 rear end under it and swapped to disc brakes, but a typical person wouldn't have done that.

 

An "Auto Repair Shop" usually wouldn't touch the rear end and would have recommended a rear end swap (had 3 recommend that) for around $800 vrs I could have it repaired at the transmission shop for $700.  

 

With a rear end swap I did all the work myself though, which is why I went the route I did.   But I'm sure you get the point at the difference between a specialty shop for transmissions and a general repair shop.

 

lstevens76. You do realize this thread is over a year old.

 

lstevens76. You do realize this thread is over a year old.

 

Actually I didn't.  Now that you mentioned it though I realize someone resurrected it. lol

i thought i updated for everyone.

 

watched you tube videos and took tranny out and to shop. it was the VC. the guy had some used parts to replace a damaged gear and tail section. labor was very reasonable.

 

it only took 10 hrs to reinstall tranny ( ha ha ). never have attempted this before.

 

well, it has been going strong for last 6000 miles. knock on wood.

 

thanks everyone.