I'm getting a swooshing and popping sound from the rear of the car. The sound is loud, and it only seems to occur when my foot is off the gas. It doesn't pop on every single tire rotation but it happens every 2 or 3. It's difficult to say if it's coming from one side or the other but I think it's coming from the right rear. The Bloomington Subaru guys looked at it and said it was because my exhaust was touching the rear diff. I put on some Kartboy long hangers which created plenty of room, the exhaust does not touch anymore, but the popping still occurs. Greg (m155ler) drove the car and he believed it to be a wheel bearing, the tech at Bloomington didn't think it was a bearing. I think it's a bearing also. I've had one of the front bearings replaced in the last 2 months. I haven't gotten any lights or anything from the diff sensor. There is no fluid leaking from anywhere, dust boots are all in place with no tears. Tight turns in either direction do not make the sound more prominent or more frequent. The sound does occur in reverse. All mounts look good for the rear diff. How do I check to verify the bearings are ok? any ideas? Any one in the west side that can drive it to help diagnose please let me know. I'll be in EP all day tomorrow.
Jack up the car, and try to wiggle the wheel in question. By wiggle, I mean take hold of the top and bottom and...well wiggle it. If it has any play, it's the wheel bearing. Although sometimes, it can still be the wheel bearing even if there is no play in the wheel. Did the techs actually look for the bearing being bad? They use one of those stethoscope thingys to listen for it... But as I usually say when giving advice...take my opinion worth a grain of salt I'm definitely not a professional
also if you have 4 jackstands out it up in the air and have someone listen while running it at about 45mph... *****make sure it is stable....
This may get you that darwin award that you haven't been looking for, Its probably not a bad idea to lift the rear of the car and try rotating and moving each tire in different directions.
I would love to see you spin the wheel fast enough.... seeing as most bearing moises unless really really shot dont sound bad till 35+mph... also if it is solidly on 4 jackstands what is the issue... I have done it on a 4 post lift on rolling stands... why would you be worried... if you cant spin teh wheels like that why would you work under the car on jackstands...
heck come to my house tomorrow afternoon.. I will run it in the air... ha ha ha I aint scared cause I aint stupid, I make sure the car is stable...
I'm not scared of running on jacks, I've done it before but I only have 2 jackstands. TSTRBoy thanks for the offer. Sent you a PM. The shop didn't look at the bearing, they stopped when they saw the exhaust touching and attributed the problem to it.
OK after test driving some more, if I turn hard full lock doing circles to the left I get a sort of skip it feel kind of like wheel hop. If I turn to the right there's no skip. The sounds has changed to every rotation when not under load, and some times it feels like the clutch slips.
I haven't, I don't have any replacement fluid and I'm at work. It would not surprise me if there are chunks floating around in there.
