Diagnose Me?
 

I know some of you out there are real good mechanically and can identify what is potentionally wrong with a car based on sounds alone, so hopefully someone out there might know what could be wrong with my dad's Legacy 2.5 GT. When turning the wheel and driving normally, a clunking/rattling/cracking type sound comes from the wheel areas. It only really makes this sound when turning the wheel. The sound isnt extremely loud, but it is noticeable. The performance of the car does not seem to be effected, but still, it can't be good. It doesn't do it all the time for him (or so he says) but the few times i've been in it this weekend it has done it. Sound familiar to anyone?

Sounds like a CV joint to me.

You may be right!
 

Ahhh!! A CV joint! Of course! ....hey umm.....what's a cv joint?

The CV joint is the thingy that connects the diferential to the wheel area... I agree to that diagnosos as well.

I'm sure someone will have a more techinical explination as to what it is...

-Mike

hmm interesting. anyone know how much that would run?

sounds just like the cv. They usually go for around $300, that's including labor. All depending on where you take it. FYI, this is the 1st problem that occurs, the 2nd is that it breaks and the car goes no where. One good thing to do if you plan on driving it for a while is to take your turns really nicely, and not to have any power going to it in the turn, if it's a stick just take it out of gear. this way the teath wont get all chewed up and less parts will have to be replaced hopefully

Here's the explanation:

CV-Joint stands for Constant Velocity Joint. The CV joint is part of your axle. The old fashioned rear drive cars have the drive axles in a housing. The housing is held to the chassis through shocks, panhard arms, and/or leaf spring mounts. This assembly is also known as a solid axle setup or live axle.

You can't use this in the front of a car because the front wheels also steer. In a front wheel drive (or AWD in this case) you have independent front suspension that improves handling and allows the car to steer comfortably. In order to use independednt suspension, you have to use 3 (in some cases four) piece axles. The three pieces are the inner bearing/shaft that goes into the differential; the main shaft; and, the outer bearing/shaft that goes into the wheel bearing.

The parts between the shaft and the bearing/shaft assemblies are your CV Joints. They are covered by a grease filled boot. The CV Joints look like smaller driveshaft Universal joints that are used to connect a driveshaft to axle in a rear wheel drive car. These joints allow the wheel to move with the suspension and be driven by the differential at the same time.

The CV Joints usually go bad from 2 things: being over-stressed or broken CV Boots. Overstress could be from too much power going through the axle or lowering or raising a vehicles suspension beyond the axles' range. Usually, the axles would have to be shortenned or lengthened to keep the correct geometry when altering the ride height. Too much power is obvious but it could also mean too much dumping of the clutch, also.

A torn boot allows the grease to escape so the joint has no lubrication. The effect is the same as draining the oil out of your engine: either something is going to seize or break. A torn boot also allows contaminants such as water or dirt to enter the joint. This pushes the grease away from the critical areas and has the same effect as loosing the grease.

The first symptom is usually the clanking or clicking around turns. Sometimes you may not hear the first symptom or it just doesn't appear. Then you have the second symptom, the joint just breaks and you're not going anywhere. This is not fun. I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago. It was only about 3 miles from when I first heard the clicking before the axle broke. You can also check for a really bad axle by grabbing it when the car is parked and trying to move it. It should have no play in it at the joints. If it has some play to it, have a mechanic check it.

I hope this helps to answer any questions on what a CV Joint is.

me·chan·ic Pronunciation Key (m-knk) n.
A worker skilled in making, using, or repairing machines, vehicles, and tools.
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[From Middle English, mechanical, from Old French mecanique, from Latin mchanicus, from Greek mkhanikos, from mkhan, machine, device. See magh- in Indo-European Roots.]
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;) :rolleyes:

For a Lagacy you may be able to get rebuilt axles for less than new from Subaru.

A rebuilt axle at the local Advanced Auto runs $59.95 , can be installed in about an hour.

keep in mind your going to need that special cv joint puller thingie. Autozone will rent it out to you, i dont know if AA rents tools or not. You may want to get a chiltons manual, they are pretty good at showing you how to do it and exactly what you'll need.

Or if you've got the $, just take it to a shop

The rebuilt axle comes complete with the CV boots installed. You only have to take out the old axle and install the rebuilt one. I did both front axles on the SVX. I just needed a big socket to get the axle nut off and a punch to drive out the pin near the differential.

Boone- The greek prononciation is "me-ha-nee-kos" for mechanic. "Me-ha-nee" for machine or closer translation would be motor. "Me-ha-nee-ma" is more appropriate for machine. I know this because Greek is my native language.

For pulling out the axle all you need is the socket for the big axle nut, a punch to knock out the pin holding the axle on the differential side, and a pickle fork to take off the bottom ball joint. You should be able to get more detailed instructions from Motor, Chilton's, or Haynes' Guides unless you're fortunate enough to have the Subaru Dealer's Service Guide. I'll give a basic idea of what's involved here:

Take the wheel off. Knock the pin out till you have enough of it out to grab with a good pair of pliers, pull it out the rest of the way. Remove the lower ball joint nut. Use the pickle fork to get the ball joint loose from the wheel bearing/spindle assembly. Remove the axle nut. Pry the bottom of the spindle assembly away far enough to remove the outer end of the axle. Then pull the other end out from the differential. You put everything back in pretty much the same way you took it apart. Again, this is only a way to give you an idea of what is involved not as a step by step guide.

I would go for the Subaru Remanufactured axles. They come complete and have a one year warranty. They are also consistent in quality. They start with decent cores and remachine what ever needs it. Then they re-assemble everything using new boots, bearings, and grease. I really wouldn't use aftermarket axles unless you know the shop that did the work. Most aftermarket rebuilders use oversize bearings and cheap boots and call it a rebuild. They last a couple of months to year or so. Besides, the genuine Suabaru Remanufactured axles are about the same price as the other aftermarket axles. If you know some one with a shop they can even get you another 25% off of the the retail price.

Instead of using a pickle fork and risking ruining the ball joint boot try taking off the three nuts holding the ball joint to the control arm.

Naturally I've not used every cv axle available, but I haven't had any problems worth mentioning with any of the reman axles I've used in the past few years. Then again, maybe I've been lucky and didn't know it :)

Good Guess guys, but it was just the breaks. They don't need changed yet though...they're just making weird noises when the wheel turns. We did get the sway bar (or something along those lines) replaced, and now the car turns much tighter.