when i first bought my 99 subaru L wagon, one of the first things i did was change the tranny fluid and do an oil change. i didnt notice that both my axle boots were ripped until i had already filled the tranny up with uncle scottys cocktail mix. not wanting to waste the fluid, i decided to wait to replace the axles. its almost time for my next oil change and up until now, the axles havent begun to click yet. this is my DD but i will be driving it 5hrs up north at the end of the month. should i just keep driving it and wait for them to start clicking or should i just replace them?
i know that the fluid has nothing to do with the boots, i just happened to notice that they were torn after i already filled the tranny back up. the cocktail was more like $40. i didnt want to drain it back out and risk getting sand and debris in the tranny oil so i let it be. which boot is the one thats replacable, the inner or outer? do the auto stores even carry them? i couldnt find any off of autozones and oreillys website.
few things. first. throw the cocktail out. it may make the trans shift nicely. but it'll wreak havoc on all your bearings in short order. I've been there, done that, never again. Sorry to say it, but you've already wasted the $40. don't destroy a trans in the process (alright, I exaggerate, it'll be 10-15k miles before you really start to noticeably damage anything, but IMHO, do it now and be done with it). next, you don't drain the trans to replace/rebuild the axles. take the suspension apart, and then pull the axles out. the fluid has nothing to do with it. third. don't replace the axles. You've got a better chance of making it on your 5 hour trip (Lutsen? Ely?) on your dry OEM axles than any "new" remanufactured axle you could buy. DO NOT make the mistake of spending money on terrible remanufactured axles that will fail (internally, with the boot still in-tact) in short order. Spend $10 on a couple extra tools (beyond the ones already needed to remove/replace the axle), and $35 or so for 4 new boot kits, and have brand-new OEM axles that will last a hundred thousand miles or more with ease. how-to: http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32974 like I said in that thread: those axles were totally dried out, and had a crapload of sand and stuff packed in there..... I heard another neat idea on the XT boards the other day. swap the front axles from one side to the other. so the torque is applied to the other side of the race/cup. if you've got pitting on one side that's causing it to bind under power, just put the force on a different part of the axle. some have claimed to have seen enormous improvement from this (although I think it has more to do with a good cleaning and fresh grease). Sorry for the essay.....hope it helps
im not doubting chux's way, because he is extremely intelligent. however, if you didnt want to clean the insides, mess with all that grease and what not, you CAN get oem re-man ones from johns auto parts that come with a stellar warranty (2 year warranty or something crazy like that) for $120 with a $60 core refund (gotta bring back your oem one dude, sorry) and from my experience they work great! i replaced my drivers side axle about a year ago and then just did my passenger side one a week or so ago. and i had two of them on my old maxima that worked well aswell. and yea, the transmission fluid has nothing to do with your axles because the part that connects to your trans is female with a pin running through it.
well i bought the wagon from an auction so theres no telling how long the boots have been ripped but no clicking as of yet. its sucks to hear that i wasted $40 on the cocktail. i read so many reviews on nasioc so i figured it was good. i did however notice that my ISB is getting louder now but i figured it was a sign of old age. what should i replace it with, regular subaru MTF? as for the axles, im a honda guy and new to subarus. so you dont need to drain the MTF before popping the axles out? thats what ive always done on my hondas. if you dont then doesnt the MTF leak out of the axle seals? i went to autozone and oreilly's and they both didnt carry repair manuals for my year. so to rebuild the boots, where can i buy them from? would i have to go to the dealer? thanks for that link. i dont know how i missed it. my cousins and i have been going on an anual fishing/camping trip for the past 3yrs. the first two years were at crane lake and last year was at kabetogama lake. we didnt get to go to some of the fishing spots we wanted to last year because the weather was not cooperating with us. 2-3ft high waves are kinda dangerous on an 16ft aluminum boat (perfect weather the afternoon that we leave ). this year we're gonna rent some boats from the ash river resorts since they are closer to the campsites and fishing spots we wanted to go to last year.
thanks for that info 9blackmax6. honestly i would prefer not to have to clean and repack the boots. i might just do it your way.
A subaru reman axle with core MNSOC price is $ 143.96, I have eleven godzillion in stock. Without membership $182.47
Oooohhh ... those are remanu'ds you guys carry? Damn, I thought they were new ones. Do you even sell new ones, and if so how much are they?
Jebus H Mary ****ing Christmas. Now I'm second guessing my decision to toss that one with the ripped boot in the trash. Balls.
you don't have to worry bout gear oil leakin when replacing front axles. at least not with your tranny..my 6spd, yes.
I believe that most of the 5spd transmission have stubs which stick out of the front differential, and the axle is a cup that slides over the stud. So when it is removed the stub doesnt come out of the transmission so you will not loose any fluid. This is not true on the STI six speed and most subaru rear diffs where the axle has the stub which slides into the trans and locks in with a spring clip. As chux stated OEM axles are the best. however I often find it hard to resist paying the same or less for a (crappy) reman to drop in and not have to mess with rebuilding the joints. I know Chux puts (or did) put alot of strain on his driveline components especially concerning angles, which will seek out weak spots in a hurry. For daily driving a reman will work fine (I have ~100k on one of my remans), for purposes that are extra demanding (ie offroad or extra power) might be worth it to stick with OEM goodness. If you do get a reman make sure to inspect it while you are at the store, I have had it happen more than once that the new reman axle they gave me has a torn boot, or the cup/stub flops around very easily or even makes loud clicking noises.
