I have a 2004 Sub Outback with a MANUAL transmission. Three months ago the car started crabwalking when turn hard left or right (like a full time 4WD on pavement). Then that stopped and the car started to occasionally “slip” in R,1,2 gears. This would be accompanied by a loud grinding noise. It gradually increased in frequency. I also started feeling a slight thunk when shifting or letting up on the accelerator in 1st and 2nd. Finally, after several visits my mechanic became convinced it was a bad AWD unit and replaced that unit, and changed the transmission oil. He said the clutch was fine. The first day the car ran great, but by the next day it was slipping worse than ever (basically undrivable). What do you think my mechanic should do next? I live in a remote area and do not have easy access to a certified Subaru mechanic.
Please explain; what is an “AWD unit?” Never heard of it.
Also, please tell us the current mileage on this car, and give us an indication of how closely you’ve followed the factory maintenance schedule. Please be honest.
Manual transmission Subarus use a viscous coupling to connect the front and rear wheels. Is that what was replaced? If so, I’m glad I didn’t have to pay the bill.
Binding in the AWD system (crabwalking) in manual transmission Subarus is often a result of neglected transmission/differential oil changes. Your mechanic changed the transmission oil only after “several visits.” I suspect he’s not overly familiar with Subaru vehicles.
Subarus can be tricky. I’m a Subaru owner, but I wouldn’t want to own one without access to a mechanic who understands them. Luckily, there is a very good independent Subaru specialist within a reasonable distance of my home.
I suggest you do whatever is necessary to get this vehicle to someone who really understands the Subaru AWD system. Otherwise, you could spend a lot of money unnecessarily.
And just what is an “AWD unit,” anyway.
Thank you for your taking the time to respond. Subarus are very common in rural areas, and are considered relatively dependable despite the lack of regular certified maintenance.
As I understand it, what I’m calling the AWD unit is located on the back side of the viscous couple from the transmission. I saw it - it’s a relatively small (4" x 10") machined cylindrical part. It cost about $850 to replace.
The car has 85,000 miles. The maintenance schedule only recommends inspection, not replacement of gear oil at this point. I’m relatively sure that this is not the problem. This is our 3rd Subaru in 22 years, and we’ve never changed the gear oil in any of our vehicles. Also, our mechanic is the a former service manager for a Subaru dealer, and he has only seen 3 other Subarus with drive train problems. He is stumped.
I agree with you about getting the car to a more knowledgable mechanic. Unless we get a good lead soon we will probably pay a tow company several hundred dollars to take the car the 100 miles to nearest Subaru certified mechanic.
I was going to state, tranny/diff oil changes are simply inspection every 30k miles not replacements. Two relatives with over 200k miles on Subaru’s and not a single drivetrain issue except front axles have NEVER changed the diff/tranny oils.
Not sure if your car has a Limited Slip Diff on the rear but if does you may want that checked out.
I would focus on the condition of the cv joints in the axleshafts in the front and the rear of the car. Do you hear clicking when you make those hard left and right turns?
BC.
OK, now I’m $1500 in the hole and really stumped. We’ve replaced the viscous coupler and the clutch. The car is still making a zipper noise and not accelerating properly. In fact, it can barely accelerate in 1st and Reverse. Starting to seem to me like a transmission problem. Does anyone have any ideas?
Hey BC, you’re pretty close. Back to the autoshop and guess what? The left rear axel was separating from the rear differential. Gear oil was dripping out. The mechanic speculated that the axel was slipping in and out which might explain why it was an intermittent problem. Sure doesn’t look like we needed a new clutch!