idosubaru Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I can drive it and as long as I don't push it , it goes pretty good and occasionally bucks. it does this while turning or going straight. sounds like torque bind. I took it in parking lot and did some real slow turns both ways and it definitely binds. ( feels like I braked ) the mechanic thought it was the passenger front axle and replaced that. the owner took it for a test drive and said it was the front diff.. that is torque bind. Reread my previous post. You are 8 bolts away from having a perfectly drivable car for free, it's definitely worth keeping. It'll be FWD after you remove the rear half of the driveshaft - 8 12mm bolts, that's it. Very easy. Then you can plan to repair it if you want - simply replace the center diff, which is easy and doesn't require trans removal. Install a known good used one or buy a new one. Or just drive it around in FWD and get studded snow tires in the winter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Um..I have a 97 Imp OBS with a 5spd and it has the fwd fuse holder under the hood. If you cant go into fwd mode with a manual then why is it there? You should start another thread rather than confuse a thread for a guy who has a non-operational car that's costing him lots of money to not get fixed and mechanics are telling him it's not fixable. The 5 speed subaru's don't have FWD fuses, so at some point someone was trying to be cute, added it, or the car has been swapped, front end clip/wrecked, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abog Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Roadsubie, if you are thinking of selling it as is I would be interested. I am in Reno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 gary. I will try taking off the rear drive line either tonight or tomorrow and check back in with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 just to be sure it is the back drive shaft about 3 foot long.??? it doesn't seem to hard . I just have to remove a heat shield and a 6 nut foot long cover and the 8 nuts. I'll wd 40 everything and gonna try tomorrow. I just want to make sure im taking the right shaft off. I couldnt find any pics in my manual or any videos on you tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 you'll have so many future options, what to do, what to do!?! 1. get studded snow tires for the winter and enjoy your free repair, for the life of the vehicle! 2. convert it to RWD for mad subaru burnouts 3. replace center diff 4. sell your mechanic/trans shop on a half day of Subaru consulting from me. $500 +air fare. (20% commission for you). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 you got it, the back 3 foot-ish section, bolts to the front flange of the rear differential and then again at the carrier bearing which is bolted with two bolts under the vehicle. the front half should stay in the transmission, don't remove that. may take some force but it should wedge out from between the exhaust and vehicle underbody, i've never had to remove the exhaust to get one out. get some PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench (any auto parts store, Lowes, etc, has it). WD40 won't really help at all. But you're out west, so you can probably sing a song and all the bolts will come out. LOL my 1988 Subaru i had shipped from California and it's a breeeeeze to work on. amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 ok, will do. anytime I attempt a repair , it takes about 3-4 times longer than the average guy. just not too experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Or, more accurate to this discussion, "You cannot run a normally operating (non-failed) 5spd in 2wd." got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 got it. sorry my reply reads so abrupt, was trying to be clear and concise so it didn't shift gears from the original question. doesn't read very conversational, and i'm a big JCE fan, so hope you didn't read it that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 sorry my reply reads so abrupt, was trying to be clear and concise so it didn't shift gears from the original question. doesn't read very conversational, and i'm a big JCE fan, so hope you didn't read it that way! Thank you for "outlier" Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 "outlier" had to look up that word. ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 no problems here. as i said, i don't understand exactly how it works, and since i drive autos, i don't really need to. i just have to guard against giving advice on anything i don't know about, because i tend to have an opinion on EVERYTHING. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 grossgary finally got back on here after some kind of server glitch. the only thing I can repay you with is a laugh. took almost 4 hrs to take the rear drive shaft off. you were right about the wd40. only about 3 nuts came off with it and then had to use the pb blaster. they were still hard to break free. some I had to use a cheater. plus I had to break 4 14mm bolts on a cover over the rear diff to get to the 4 back nuts on the shaft. then pry the cover down. anyway, it was late in the day and had to get cleaned up for a Mother days dinner with wife so could NOT take it for a test drive. probably will have to wait till Saturday as my workday is 14-15 hrs and I sleep rest of time. "Auto Science" website has some good pics of the transmission as long as an explanation how the center diff fails. if it is my center diff, he says most of the time there are some pieces of metal in the whole transmission. i'll report back after a test drive. whether this works or not , THANK YOU very much for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 good job getting it done even though it was a debacle! the right tools, stuff, and experience help a lot. rust belt folks have seized fasteners to deal with all the time, i'd hope to never go at those driveshaft bolts with just one normal wrench in the rust belt. 1. must use 6 point wrenches/sockets 2. interlock two wrenches for leverage: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/BasicsofBasics/How%20too%20Basics/DSCF9471.jpg i'd never anticipate getting those nuts off with just one wrench unless it's REALLY long. 3. use a penetrant. ideally you spray it on the fasteners days or hours ahead of time, not just right before to allow it to soak. on really bad ones you can soak rags in penetrant and then wrap them around the rusty parts. have a soaked rag wrapped around those driveshaft bolt/areas for instance. 4. if you get the driveshaft positioned just right you can get 3 bolts out at one time without rotating anything, but that probably only comes with experience since there's some "give" between when you turn the wrench and the driveshaft stops and begins to loosen the nut/bolt. lots of little things/experience make it go much quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 unfortunately, the damage must be more extensive than we thought. I put it in reverse and it moved about 3 feet and then clunk, and then nothing. the front drive shaft rotates a little bit off and on even in neutral. when I put it in any gear , the front drive shaft is moving but the car doesn't. oh well. it was worth the try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk99obs Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 You should start another thread rather than confuse a thread for a guy who has a non-operational car that's costing him lots of money to not get fixed and mechanics are telling him it's not fixable. The 5 speed subaru's don't have FWD fuses, so at some point someone was trying to be cute, added it, or the car has been swapped, front end clip/wrecked, etc. Or it could be that they use the same wiring harness on both cars, and just use the features needed depending on what features that car calls for. For example, a 99 impreza-auto uses the same body as a 99impreza-manual, they just added and took away different components to accommodate the different drivetrains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk99obs Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 (edited) unfortunately, the damage must be more extensive than we thought. I put it in reverse and it moved about 3 feet and then clunk, and then nothing. the front drive shaft rotates a little bit off and on even in neutral. when I put it in any gear , the front drive shaft is moving but the car doesn't. oh well. it was worth the try. I would replace the transmission with a junkyard unit. I got a used 99 outback tranny for my car a couple years ago, with rear differential for $500, and its been fine. They offered me one with less miles for 800, with a warranty, but I didn't have the money to spare at the time. If you can pull the tailshaft, thats half the battle of ganking the whole tranny. I'd just get a used one, and put it in there yourself. I came from Hondas, and had never worked on Subies before, but I put in my tranny, rear diff, new clutch, flywheel, etc. no problem in a couple days, and I've driven it to Canada and back, and otherwise beaten the piss out of it offroad, without any trans issues. You could probably do the whole thing over a weekend for less than a grand, and maybe a grand and change if you wanted to do a clutch while you're at it. Its really not that hard. Edited May 18, 2014 by blk99obs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 blk99obs you did that without pulling the engine? I don't think I have the expertise to do it myself. how far off the ground would I have to lift the car? btw. I took the rear drive shaft on the hope that it was my center diff was bad but apparently its the front diff. thanks for the suggestion. im on vacation for the next 2 weeks and live close to Reno so I can do some snooping around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 anybody want to do an insurance job,? ( only kidding, big brother ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I've done 2 5 speed replacements in the last few months. It's a little bit of a chore, but it's not very technical. http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t128163-diy-clutch-replacement-pictorial.html This is a very good write up that includes clutch and pilot bearing replacement if you so choose. Everything should be the same as your outback except you may have a clutch cable instead of a slave cylinder. (Which I found even simpler.) I did mine without the luxury of a transmission jack. You can open the front doors and wrap a few ratcheting straps to hoist it. I muscled it onto the front subframe, tied it off so it wouldn't fall, then jacked it up from behind with a few floor jacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Or it could be that they use the same wiring harness on both cars, and just use the features needed depending on what features that car calls for. For example, a 99 impreza-auto uses the same body as a 99impreza-manual, they just added and took away different components to accommodate the different drivetrains. i'm very aware of that, but in this case it's not the case, the manuals do not have FWD fuse holders. the possibility of it being an outlier is more rare than some other reason so it's unlikely. unfortunately, the damage must be more extensive than we thought. I put it in reverse and it moved about 3 feet and then clunk, and then nothing. the front drive shaft rotates a little bit off and on even in neutral. when I put it in any gear , the front drive shaft is moving but the car doesn't. oh well. it was worth the try. so now you can buy a failed VLSD center diff, install it, and run it in RWD instead. LOL yah, front differential binding means you need another transmission. www.car-part.com or classified section here save the center diff if you do swap transmissions. was the gear oil ever changed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 adventure Subaru: that is an excellent picture tutorial that I will keep forever. gary: thanks. going to reno tomorrow to talk to a couple shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NV Zeno Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Road: "Independent Automotive" on Bergin way (just off Mc Carran/80, might be Sparks over there). Those guys are great with older Subes, prob the best I've seen in Reno. Unless of course you'd like to try Norm's up here in Tahoe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 independent quoted me 2500-4000 for my headgasket job 5 years ago. thanks but no thanks. I bought a 97 legacy from a couple at southlake that used Norms. they are very pricey too. ( but I appreciate the heads up ) there is a place that does headgasket jobs on / off greg that does them for about 1200. keys speed or something like that. my guy in truckee recommended Trans Craft in Reno but he quoted me 1000-1800 or more for the tranny job. not gonna give a guy a blank check. going to talk to a couple more shops. I can wait for a good deal since we have good back up vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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