rporter Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 When I changed the transmission fluid to redline NS I noticed a reduction in gear whine, even though there wasn't a lot to begin with. I don't even notice gearbox whine, it's a normal thing with every manual tranny. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 Is that all? Many had more issues. Sorry, it ain't a BMW, but I do agree it should be better than it is now - it's not anywhere near being the cheapest car these days. As for the whine - I had mine fixed several months ago - it was a rear wheel bearing. I don't think I'd be buying another Subaru. In 18 months and 28K miles of ownership, this was the first time that my car has been back to the dealer for issues. I won't count the time for a new radiator when I busted the lower tank on frozen mud, but that was a very good dealership experience, being far away from home at the time. I had the clicking in the front-end last summer, and tips on this forum had me spend 10 minutes to tighten the bolts on the swaybar bracket in the front. No big deal. This time, it went in for: The wheel bearing (turned out to be the RR)The RR bumper guard was coming unglued (probably from auto car washes), so the ESP covered a new one.The dome light would work erratically. Turned out to be a funky bulb.I had them install the cabin filter, which was not available when I ordered my car.IMHO, in my mind, the only "problem" with the car has been the wheel bearing. This has been a great car so far, and my two trips to two different dealers for service have been good experiences. As to the stutter, I and many others have never had it. I, and many others, do not view this as an issue with the car, but rather an occurence due to the way it's driven. There has been enough evidence of that in other threads. If you observe the "2K Rule" in every gear (ever be in a gear that cruises under 2K rpm) it doesn't happen. My car never sees 5th until I'm doing over 50 mph. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnaught Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 I had what sounds like the same issue (rear diff. whine). I've been trying to tell myself it is "subaru geaar whine" - but it seemed to much to be coming from the rear end for gear box noise. Dealer checked it out during my 30K service yesterday, and replaced the LR wheel bearing. Didn't fix it. They asked me to set up a time when they can have the car for "up to a week" (due to concerns about needing to get parts), and they want to pull the tranny and "check the pinion bearing". checking the service manual, this will be a complete tear-down. at least they now have 2 GTs for "loaner" cars - should be interesting to try a sedan. Yesterday's loaner was a NA Forester - not particularly stunning compared to my GT wagon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted April 1, 2006 Author Share Posted April 1, 2006 The Wagon body amplifies noise, but sometimes it's hard to place it. I thought mine was from the rear, and one day I had a passenger move from up front to the back seat, and the sound was more noticeable back there. Maybe your dealer changed the wrong bearing?? One other thing is that there is usually a minor difference in sound between a bearing and a gear. A bearing noise will usually only be dependent on speed. A gear noise will be speed-dependent, but then it can also change between accelerating or decelerating, and the load and contact patterns change. The dealer was trying to sell me their 30K service, as I'm at 28K. I had looked at what Subaru recommends for the 30K, and I didn't see anything of note (I do my own oil changes and brake jobs). As usual, the dealers list for the 30K includes extra stuff. Beyond the overpriced injector cleaning, they do recommend a couple of good things, namely a brake fluid flush, as well as a power steering flush. I'll do another brake flush when the new pads go on in the next few days, but I went ahead and had them do the ps flush. It's a job that I've done on my other cars, but not a job that I enjoy doing much. Many dealers/mfrs don't ever recommend flushing these two systems, and I can't figure out why. They are good maintenance routines. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I left my car with the dealer this morning for an oil change and to investigate a noise exactly the what you folks described in this thread (aside from the gear whine descriptions ). Yup, a bad rear wheel bearing in my case too. They said it should be fixed and ready for pickup tomorrow. Kudos to Carlsen Subaru for being courteous & professional. Btw, they also said the CEL went off while they were testing/working on it and they'll investigate that too. I hope it isn't indicating a major problem! The CEL hadn't gone off before than since I got the car, so I guess it's lucky timing for me that it did while the dealer was working on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted April 5, 2006 Author Share Posted April 5, 2006 With OBD-II, there's a lot of things that can set it off, many are ot very critical. I trust that they checked the code, and corrected then cleared it. FWIW, I have found that the MAF connector is very touchy. I forget to reconnect it when i changed the air filter last year (and used the AP to clear it), then when I cleaned the K&N the other day and reconnected it, the CEL went on. I jiggled the connector, and the CEL turned off after a couple of start cycles. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joon525 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 OK I think I might be getting this noise. If I jack up the rear of the car is there a way that I can tell if I have a bad wheel bearing? Just spin the hub and listen for some sort of grinding or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06 Legacy GT Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 you might, but very unlikely, you will first hear the meshing of the gears, brake pad to rotor contact and then bearing noise, it might let lost in all the above. Best way is to remove the wheel and turn the hub by the studs, with your ear next to the hub assembly. If it's bad you wheel definitely hear it this way and will also feel it as roughness in your hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joon525 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Just to get more of my information on here, I hear the whine most on the highway at about 70 mph in 5th gear. I'm going to check the transmission fluid level when I get home from work today but I'm thinking that if the fluid was low I would probably hear the louder whining earlier than 70 mph correct? I'm pretty sure this is not an exhaust leak since the whine still occurs when I put the car into neutral on the highway to see if it was the drivetrain or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06 Legacy GT Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 probably so. Any clue on what side? You need to barely be on the gas and coast as much as possible to isolate the bearing noise. Otherwise the exhaust might over come anything else. Try you previous method of jacking up the car and turning the wheel. If it's really bad you'll hear it. How many miles? How hard do you drive it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joon525 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 probably so. Any clue on what side? You need to barely be on the gas and coast as much as possible to isolate the bearing noise. Otherwise the exhaust might over come anything else. Try you previous method of jacking up the car and turning the wheel. If it's really bad you'll hear it. How many miles? How hard do you drive it? 26,000 miles, 90% highway drive, not hard at all since I'm trying to get the best mpg as possible. Yeah like I've said I've put it in neutral with no gas to try to isolate the noise (corner). It's hard to pinpoint though, yesterday I thought it was the rear, this morning I tought it could be the front. I've also just begun to suspect that it could be something else in the transmission (since it's so hard to pinpoint a particular corner of the vehicle). I'll start with the fluid check and go from there I guess. If that turns out OK I guess I'm going to have to jack up each end and spin the hubs (and check the inside treads of the tires for any bubbles or abnormalities). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 Having a wagon I could only tell that it was somewhere in the rear. The noise started at relatively low speed (30-35 mph) and built from there. It was loudest around 50-55 mph, before wind/road/tire noise got louder. Since the sound was 100% speed-related, and did not change pitch between accelerating or decelerating, I knew that it didn't involve gears (tranny or rear diff). if the rear diff was bad, the pitch would change when decelerating. This is unfortuately looking like a pretty common issue on these cars. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 ^^^ Yeah, and both my rear bearings are bad at 27k now, driving the same crappy roads here in SE Michigan as you, Ron... and as Car&Driver (both rears failed at 22.5k.) In my case, Suburban Subaru (Troy) denied the warranty claim because of my very recently installed iON springs - and SOA backed them up! - so I'm going to attempt my own bearing swap next weekend. I'm not done *discussing* this issue with SOA yet, but it's just a $200 + 2 hour repair that I don't want to put off any longer. Wish me luck... Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted July 30, 2006 Author Share Posted July 30, 2006 ^^^ Yeah, and both my rear bearings are bad at 27k now, driving the same crappy roads here in SE Michigan as you, Ron... and as Car&Driver (both rears failed at 22.5k.) In my case, Suburban Subaru (Troy) denied the warranty claim because of my very recently installed iON springs - and SOA backed them up! - so I'm going to attempt my own bearing swap next weekend. I'm not done *discussing* this issue with SOA yet, but it's just a $200 + 2 hour repair that I don't want to put off any longer. Wish me luck... Whatta crock!! It is becoming obvious that the bearings are an issue on these cars, and I wouldn't expect a recall, but a technical service bulletin-type of upgrade would seem reasonable for whatever they screwed up in the design. How they can make a connection between springs and bearings is beyond me!! The noise in mine was first noticed about 20K, then I had Suburban fix it at 28K. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Yeah, I think you make #16 or so with this problem just on this forum, counting in this thread here: http://legacygt.com/forums/warranty-issues-problems/29948-humming-noise-40-mph.html But it talking to Opie, it sounds like it may have just been a bad batch of parts affecting some of the earlier '05s. My build date was Sept '04. According to Opie, the part number has not changed, which means they did not redesign the part. As you say, it's ridiculous that they rejected my claim, but the dealer service rep is just a kid who has been very friendly, but he doesn't know jack. He called the area rep to get approval for the warranty work and mentioned that I've got the aftermarket springs. The area rep denied the claim without looking at the car, and SOA has backed him up. I've been extremely busy at work and haven't had time to deal with it, but I've just sent a letter to SOA explaining the facts of the matter and asking for a formal explanation on just how my springs caused both bearings to fail - the burden of proof is on them, after all. Perhaps I just "drove the car too hard" as they like to tell the WRX kids...! I'm certain I could win a court case just based on the published Car&Driver story alone (same car, same build date, same MI roads, same failure on their stock car) but it would cost me more to even consult a lawyer than it would be just repair the car myself. Parts are due to arrive wednesday and I'll be installing them saturday. I'll take some pix for a 'Walkthrough' as I go, and then update the other thread when (if!) I hear back from SOA. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted July 30, 2006 Author Share Posted July 30, 2006 Mine was also built in September '04 (ordered too late in July to get into the August production). Signed the papers 9/30, picked it up 10/1. If the "bad batch" is the case, they should have enough of a warranty history to pin down "what" and "when". Shades of the Chevy "soft cam" issue years ago when they knew of the problem (well, everyone did!) then they tried to blame owners for not changing the oil properly. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisngrod Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 All of this was replaced under warranty when my tranny went. They were going to make me pay for the clutch and flywheel just cause it had hot spots (but light wear) so I ordered the RPS clutch/ACT flywheel. Wound up paying 150 for that and an oil change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnaught Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 I just dropped off my wagon again. I too have a late 04 build, picked up 9/28/04. I've had a left rear bearing replaced, then three weeks ago, they kept it for a week and replaced 3 bearings in the center differential. I got it back, and had a louder whine starting at ~25 mph, maxing out between 50 and 60, and disappearing ~ 80. I dropped it off this morning, and got a 5AT GT Sedan loaner. - I am now happy I signed up for the extended warranty and dealer service plan. Free oil changes were nice, free loaner cars is now offically worth it. I'll report back on what they find and fix... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joon525 Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 I guess I'll update my situation......I rebalanced all 4 tires and the noise has subsided a substantial amount. I did the check for bad bearings and none of the wheels moved when I pushed on them in the appropriate directions. I still have a little bit of noise (specifically at 60 mph) but it's no where near as bad as it was before the rebalancing. Maybe the bearings are going bad but aren't bad enough to feel with the pushing test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Maybe the bearings are going bad but aren't bad enough to feel with the pushing test? I'd say that could very well be the case. If so, the whining will get louder over the next thousand miles. I did successfully replace mine this weekend at home. Not hard, but a real PITA to reach all the bolts with the car on jack stands. It would probably be a cinch on a lift. I rented a bearing puller (free!) from Autozone to push the bearing off the spindle and it worked like a charm. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnaught Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Mitchell Subaru just called. my bad, not the rear differential. It was the right rear wheel bearing. they replaced the left rear wheel bearing about 3 months ago. I'll pick it up today, and cross my fingers for a quiet ride home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver_05_GTX Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I have this too...Started around 15k miles... Southern states tried to tell me it was just normal whine.... Oddly enough, it hasn't been making the noise the past 1k miles or so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnaught Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 I've had both rear wheel bearing replaced now. My car seems so quiet without that speed-related whine... Much more pleasant to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rporter Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 ^^^ +1 Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberpollo Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 I had both rear bearings replaced today under warrenty. Same problems as everyone else, very noisy, get's louder/higher pitched at speed. They are also replacing the fan relay and the cluster due to the ILL 5, ILL 6 dance my odometer likes to do. Those parts had to be ordered and should be in next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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