Subaru trouble..

[64V-K7]

Anyone here ever work on a Subaru Outback, specifically the CV axles.... My past adventures have taken me through the Volkswagons and Acuras and never has the axle maintenance ever given any problems. However Subaru has managed to make the task great for their owners to get to and remove, but absolutely miserable to re-install.
Recently had to reboot the inner drivers side on this 07 and it was great to NOT have to deal with compressing the coils spring to remove the axle, just unbolt the lower strut, move things out of the way and pull the axle out....
Returning it, however required a special tool to expand the differential cover seal, so the circlip doesn't to any damage on the way through. So not knowing this will put you in my position.. Before returning the axle to the car, looked into the darkness and saw the seal spring hanging, with a small flattened section. So the seal was damaged on the pullout and now has to be replaced. After that a special Subaru tool has to be used to spread the seal before inserting the axle. Fortunately, this is an automatic, as if it were a standard trans, then the differential cover would have to be removed to replace the seal and this cover maintains the carrier preload adjustment...
So now have to order this tool $30.00 and shipping enough to get it here in a couple days to finish this one.. Not a happy camper...

[CJMiller]

Before returning the axle to the car, looked into the darkness and saw the seal spring hanging

There's your mistake right there. NEVER look.

[studegary]

Why do you say that you "had to reboot" it? Had it failed? Were you just doing this as PM, rather than waiting for failure? How many miles on that '07?
I have only owned a couple of Subarus and do not consider myself even knowledgeable on them.

[what huh]

I have been a Subaru owner since the day I got my drivers license. 16 different cars and counting. Turbo, auto, manual, RHD, old, new, brat, justy, svx, list goes on ....ANYWHO

I do all my own work and enjoy it because they are not that hard to work on..... UNTIL Toyota came around in '07 and screwed it up

I have owned one car that was part of Subaru and Toyotas "brainchild" .... 08 Legacy GT .... I will never buy anything newer the 07 from Subaru every again unless I buy it new and have a maintenance plan with it cause Im not working on it.

That being said, MAN they have some nice cars that have come out in the past 5 years I will own a BRZ one day if the NSX (my dreamcar) doesnt make it here first

Sorry that you are having trouble. I wish I could help. I dont even know what you are talking about with the seal spring.

What happen to the good old days when the axle was being held on with a compression pin or better yet nothing at all, ... Just pop the ball joint to give the axle the clearance it needs to pull out the trans or diff

[jclary]

Why do you say that you "had to reboot" it? Had it failed? Were you just doing this as PM, rather than waiting for failure? How many miles on that '07?
I have only owned a couple of Subarus and do not consider myself even knowledgeable on them.

I have not owned a Subaru, but have had several cars with "booted" CV joints. Most of those closed (booted) assemblies are supposedly "permanently" lubricated. However, once those rubber boots get old and crack, all bets are off. That is when the lubricant attracts all sorts of grit and grime that will destroy the joints. At that point, the lubricant serves as a sort of "cutting oil" to aid the grit in grinding away the metal. Once the rubber splits, the only alternative to replacing them...is called "neglect."

[studegary]

I have not owned a Subaru, but have had several cars with "booted" CV joints. Most of those closed (booted) assemblies are supposedly "permanently" lubricated. However, once those rubber boots get old and crack, all bets are off. That is when the lubricant attracts all sorts of grit and grime that will destroy the joints. At that point, the lubricant serves as a sort of "cutting oil" to aid the grit in grinding away the metal. Once the rubber splits, the only alternative to replacing them...is called "neglect."

Yes I agree, but there are kits for most cars that I am familiar with to repair/replace defective boots without pulling the shafts.

[jclary]

Yes I agree, but there are kits for most cars that I am familiar with to repair/replace defective boots without pulling the shafts.

Yeah, I have installed a couple of those. Just to get me by long enough to trade. Not getting rid of the car because the boots had cracked, but it was trading time.
And... it was just one of several repairs I try to do to remove an obvious eyesore that could degrade trade-in value.

[hausdok]

Bob,

Your disassembly procedure doesn't sound correct to me.

The axle shouldn't just slip out of the inner CV race and through the boot but it sounds like that's exactly what you did.

You are supposed to free the wide end of the boot, pull it back out of the way and then remove the wire retaining ring to release the inner race from the CV joint. Then you remove the axle with the inner race and boot still on the axle. You have to be careful to capture the balls.

Once the shaft is out you need to remove the snap ring that secures the inner race to the axle. Before removing the inner race from the end of the axle, the relationship of the inner race to axle needs to be marked so that you can reassemble them in the same position. Once the snap ring is removed and you've marked the relationship of the race to the shaft, slide off the inner race and wire retaining ring, cut off the clamp on the small end of the boot and remove the boot.

Before trying to slide the narrow end of the new boot over the axle, use some electrical tape to wrap the splines so that they don't damage the new boot. Spit in the tape, slip the narrow end of the boot over the taped splines, remove the tape, put the wire retaining wing over the axle, slip the inner race back on while keeping the marks aligned, reinstall the snap ring, grease up the race, grease the balls, insert them, packs some more grease into the joint, slip the balls and inner race into the outer race, reinstall wire retaining ring, slip the wide end of the boot over the outer race, equalize pressure by prying the edge of the wide end of the boot up just enough to let the air out and then install the boot clamps.

Studegary,

The boots on the outer CV joints of Subarus are permanently assembled and aren't meant to be replaced by a do-it-yourselfer' but the inner boots can be replaced without special equipment. One normally takes the entire axle assembly, sans inner joint components, and turns it in as a core for a new axle assembly.

[64V-K7]

Bump....... The rest of the story....

Bob,
Your disassembly procedure doesn't sound correct to me. The axle shouldn't just slip out of the inner CV race and through the boot but it sounds like that's exactly what you did.

Hi Hausdok,
I think you misunderstood my spiel. To remove the CV axle, all I had to do was unbolt the axle nut, then the lower strut mount and brake stuff and once the spindle was clear, the axle could be twisted around and pulled out of the differential case. Very easy..
The reverse went like this....
After the inner CV joint was rebooted, I went to reinstall it and looked in the differential case to see what was inside. What greeted me was the spring from the axle grease seal hanging in the differential cover opening, so now the seal had to be replaced .... The differential has a circular 5" cover that screws into the housing and the seal is in the cover.
The replies from three Subaru forum boards were mixed as to how this is accomplished. Granted there were those who knew what I was up against, but didn't quite relate things entirely. It seems that in some transmissions, the seal has to be replaced from the inside of the diff cover and unscrewing this cover will disturb the carrier bearing clearance. I downloaded a bunch of FSM's for the car and found that the one I was working on didn't require the cover to be removed, rather the seal was installed from the outside. The FSM also said there was a tool required to reinstall the axle. Cost was $27.00and I had one shipped.
So this AM, I went to get the seal and the counter-bot at this dealership did ALL he could to intimidate me into thinking the cover had to be removed to install the seal. This is after I showed him the Service Manual pages, indicating the procedure, part number, etc.... He said " you'll find out that the easiest way to do it is to remove the cover, install the seal and a new cover o-ring yadda yadda yadda. (((What he DIDN'T seem to think necessary to mention, were the ramifications of unscrewing that cover plate and disturbing the bearing clearance))) It's more like he was setting me up... So, I bought 2 seals and an o-ring and told him the unused parts would be back tomorrow.
Installing the seal could not have been easier... Pry out the old and tap in the new. I made a seal pusher out of a piece of PVC filed down to match the diameter of the seal shoulder. The axle went right in and everything was buttoned up in 20 minutes... and I didn't need that special tool, so that's going back...

[hausdok]

Bump....... The rest of the story....


Hi Hausdok,
I think you misunderstood my spiel. To remove the CV axle, all I had to do was unbolt the axle nut, then the lower strut mount and brake stuff and once the spindle was clear, the axle could be twisted around and pulled out of the differential case. Very easy..
The reverse went like this....
After the inner CV joint was rebooted, I went to reinstall it and looked in the differential case to see what was inside. What greeted me was the spring from the axle grease seal hanging in the differential cover opening, so now the seal had to be replaced .... The differential has a circular 5" cover that screws into the housing and the seal is in the cover.
The replies from three Subaru forum boards were mixed as to how this is accomplished. Granted there were those who knew what I was up against, but didn't quite relate things entirely. It seems that in some transmissions, the seal has to be replaced from the inside of the diff cover and unscrewing this cover will disturb the carrier bearing clearance. I downloaded a bunch of FSM's for the car and found that the one I was working on didn't require the cover to be removed, rather the seal was installed from the outside. The FSM also said there was a tool required to reinstall the axle. Cost was $27.00and I had one shipped.
So this AM, I went to get the seal and the counter-bot at this dealership did ALL he could to intimidate me into thinking the cover had to be removed to install the seal. This is after I showed him the Service Manual pages, indicating the procedure, part number, etc.... He said " you'll find out that the easiest way to do it is to remove the cover, install the seal and a new cover o-ring yadda yadda yadda. (((What he DIDN'T seem to think necessary to mention, were the ramifications of unscrewing that cover plate and disturbing the bearing clearance))) It's more like he was setting me up... So, I bought 2 seals and an o-ring and told him the unused parts would be back tomorrow.
Installing the seal could not have been easier... Pry out the old and tap in the new. I made a seal pusher out of a piece of PVC filed down to match the diameter of the seal shoulder. The axle went right in and everything was buttoned up in 20 minutes... and I didn't need that special tool, so that's going back...

Oh, OK,

I see what you did now. Well, now you know why one wouldn't normally pull the outer race and stub out of the differential in order to replace those boots. Since it pulled right out, it sounds like you've got a later series. The earlier series you pru the outer race out of that seal just far enough to allow you to drive out a retention pin and then you remove the outer race and stub. In later models it pulls right out with a little encouragement. You're right, that bearing retainer plate shouldn't be mucked around with. Next time you have to change a boot, follow my steps above and you can leave the outer race and stub in place and won't have to go through all that again.

I believe you about the Service Manager. It's not really a dishonest thing he's doing; that service manager is supposed to gin up as much work for his mechanics as he can. Although sometimes not discouraging folks from doing their own work can generate a lot more work for the shop than discouraging them, he probably sensed you were competent enough to figure it out yourself, thus the need for his discouragement reflex to kick in so he can try and get that work for his guys.