My son has a 1997 subaru legacy wagon. He is feeling, but not hearing, a skip in the passenger rear at 10 mph or in reverse. Am I looking at a new differential?? The car is 2500 miles away so this is the best info I have. Thanks.

a skip?

 

Differntials ROAR when they go bad. If you have ever heard one, it really is a unique sound. Also it gets louder with speed.

What is the engnine/transmission/mileage on the car.

 

nipper

Sorry but I'm not sure of the engine, it has ~16,000 miles on it, the car was a salvage, but was checked by our mechanic prior to purchase. It is an automatic transmission. We drove it to MT in August and it was great.

 

a skip?

 

Differntials ROAR when they go bad. If you have ever heard one, it really is a unique sound. Also it gets louder with speed.

What is the engnine/transmission/mileage on the car.

 

nipper

I just talked to my mechanic and he said it's not unusually to feel this with AWD vehicles and to not do anything except maybe to flush the transmission. Apparently, its the hub for the AWD in the tranamission and even if it's replaced it will start to do it again. One test would be to pull the fuse on the AWD connection and run the car in FWD to see if it stops.

 

Sorry but I'm not sure of the engine, it has ~16,000 miles on it, the car was a salvage, but was checked by our mechanic prior to purchase. It is an automatic transmission. We drove it to MT in August and it was great.

You need to insert a fuse on automatic Subarus to disable the AWD. There's a little thingy on the passenger side of the engine bay up by the strut tower labelled "FWD." Tell him to put a fuse in there and see if the noise goes away. In all honesty, though, some noise is normal. 4WD and AWD vehicles have alot going on in the drivetrain and are thus noisy. It's kind of a fact of life with them; a little tradeoff for the benefit of great traction.

You need to insert a fuse on automatic Subarus to disable the AWD. There's a little thingy on the passenger side of the engine bay up by the strut tower labelled "FWD." Tell him to put a fuse in there and see if the noise goes away. In all honesty, though, some noise is normal. 4WD and AWD vehicles have alot going on in the drivetrain and are thus noisy. It's kind of a fact of life with them; a little tradeoff for the benefit of great traction.

 

What size fuse do you use to make it FWD?

I'm pretty sure you just pull the fuse and break the AWD connection. That leaves the car in FWD only.

 

 

 

What size fuse do you use to make it FWD?

i have a 5 amp fuse in mine. Actually what it does is fullly energize the ducty solenoid, which from what i gather closes off the hydraulic circuit to the clutch pack.

 

 

nipper