legacycentral bbs

Drove home 40min on highway,car was running great. As I turned left from the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp the car started shimming, it felt like it was pulling on the right front. I put the clutch in and coasted and it kind of went away but started when I let out the pedal. I limped it home, I checked the c.v shaft which looked o.k. except there was a slight film where it plugs into the trans. I drained the trans fluid and when I saw the drain bolt my heart sanked. There was tiny pieces of gear teeth stuck to it. I pulled out the center diff and the metal on the outside looks slightly discoloured, but not cooked like in the center diff thread. The spider teeth are o.k., I looked up inside the trans from the drain bolt hole and there is no broken teeth that I can see. I have had this 93 legacy for 8 yrs and had the trans rebuilt about 5 yrs ago. I don't know what to do next and I really miss driving the car. Any input would be greatly appreaciated! Also I just wanted to say that I have been a visitor on this site for years and it has been a tremendous help, I should have registored a long time ago and I hope to give back starting with a few helpfull things that I learned while taking the center diff out. I'll try to post some pics when I get done work tomorrow.

Welcome to the BBS.

I'm assuming you pulled the trans, but did you split the case halves or just pull the rear extension and center diff out? Does the center diff one that can be disassembled? How big were the gear teeth?

Any pictures you could share would be helpful, and if you need a place to host them, let me know.

I feel for your situation, Im on my 4th 5mt.

Sounds like it's time to pull that trans out...

Like 777 said post pics if you are able to.

Hi, sorry I left a few things out. I just pulled the rear extension and diff out. It is a phase 1 diff which I'm pretty sure can be rebuilt, which would probably be cheaper than $700 for a new one. I tried to find one through car-part .com and the toronto subaru club, but sofar I haven't had any luck. There were at least 5 or 6 gear teeth a couple of centimeters long I was really hoping just to get the car through the winter and get a newer Subaru. I've got the green light from the Mrs. to turn this into a rallycross car after I get a reliable commuter, it has 318000 km on it. I was thinking of taking the diff to a shop near my work that have a great rep for working on subies and seeing if they will rebuild the diff and then I'll put it back in the car. I have 1 liter of syn 75w140 and 3 L of 75w90 semi syn that is GL-5 rated which i thought would be alright just for the winter. Do you think it would be alright to run it around town like that or would I be doing more damage? It only starts shimming when it heats up, and that might go away if the diff is rebuilt.I just want to leave my wife a car to get around because I'm borrowing her car and my shifts at work are 24hrs. I do need a place to post my pics if you could help that would be sweet!

Email the pictures and I'll host them.