99 Forester L Auto. 81K. Newly acquired, I'm not totally familar with the sounds yet. The cars a couple hundred miles away, so I'm doing a remote diagnostic. I replaced the passenger side axle assembly and balljoint after a grease drip showed a cracked boot. There was a slight howl from the front, after, so I suspected a wheel bearing was eventually needed, but didn't think it was related.

 

Reported to me today that serious smoke (I'm assuming leakage on exhaust in same area) made the drive have it trucked to a shop.

 

I'm thinking it was the stub axle bearing and seal that failed. That fits with the howl, which I thought was a little too inboard to be the wheel bearing.

 

Is it a standard procedure to replace the differential-side "stub" axle bearing and seal when you do the axle itself?

definitely not standard to replace those bearings you speak of. i'm not sure of your car but on older subaru's replacing even the seal on the front diff is tricky as it affects some internals of the diff itself. is this still a 4EAT transmission, that's what mine are so some things may still be similar. i'm sure others that actually know your car will speak up.

definitely not standard to replace those bearings you speak of. i'm not sure of your car but on older subaru's replacing even the seal on the front diff is tricky as it affects some internals of the diff itself. is this still a 4EAT transmission, that's what mine are so some things may still be similar. i'm sure others that actually know your car will speak up.

 

Gary, thanks for a quick response. It's an auto, and SOHC, so it's a later production.

 

2 q's. How about replacing the seal? And does the diff dispstick get locked in some how? It came out of a tight fit, and went back in a little loosely. That was the only thing I touched yesterday. It's at a good indie shop now, so I'll know in a few hours. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

Maybe this is all nothing, however. I didn't knock off the blob of grease that was on the a-arm when I did the axles, so maybe it got knocked off with all the rain we've had.

definitely not standard to replace those bearings you speak of. i'm not sure of your car but on older subaru's replacing even the seal on the front diff is tricky as it affects some internals of the diff itself. is this still a 4EAT transmission, that's what mine are so some things may still be similar. i'm sure others that actually know your car will speak up.

 

The "lots of smoke" came from the diff dipstick, which dropped it's o-ring when pulled. It blurped a good amount out the filler hole, and again, right onto the cat. I thought it was a lot looser when I put it back in. Only one of the several mistakes I've made with this car so far.