1995 Subaru Legacy New Axel Noise

Hi:
I don't thing there is anything that needs to break in. Did he replace the axle and CV joint only? To me it sounds like the hub bearing is bad. The pulsation may be from a warped brake rotor. Check inder the car to make sure by accident the backing plate (behind the rotor) wasn't bent and rubbing against the rotor when you drive. Make sure the wheel is tight too.

Let me know what you find. And yes, I would take it back and let then hear it.

Joe

Thanks will bring back next week and let you know.
djd

Just an add-on to Jacobandnicolas' post. They are right on with their diagnosis. I happened on this post just by accident. If the shop that replaced your axle had to "hammer" the spline out of the wheel hub, they may have damaged the wheel bearing in the process. I did it myself once on a Subaru. You may want to have this checked. The wheel bearings aren't very sturdy.

Hi there.

Well, I did bring it back to the garage. He implored me to drive it for a week.

To his credit the noises have lessened significantly--like 80% but they do reappear from time to time.

The pulsating when braking is clearly coming from the front right, which is what they worked on. It has reduced significantly, but is still there.

As for the metallic scraping sound when veering (not necessarily turning) to the right (like when one gets off an exit of the highway and has a gentle curve at relatively low speed veering right)--there is still a faint metallic whirling sound.

I guess the question is whether I'm doing any damage by just driving on because I don't have much faith in going back to the same garage and don't have the money to have the work done over again at another garage.

In previous message I meant front LEFT. DRIVER's side.

I still feel it is the bearing. The interesting thing is another tech here, James Weizel, ran into this post, read it, and said the same thing. Did they tell you how much longer you had to wait for it to go away? If so, wait that amount of time and if it is still there, they need to be responsible for any additional damage caused plus correctly repairing the original problem or returning your money.

Keep me in the loop so I know what is going on.

Joe

Brought the car in today. He said that he can't replicate the metal whirling sound on a road test. He looked at the bearing and it looks fine. And that the vibrating when braking is due to a "portation" ?! in the rotor. He insists this isn't his problem, suggesting that when I had the brakes done (at another garage 6 months ago) they installed a defective part. He advised taking the car back to them. And said that there is nothing wrong with the axel he installed and the rotor was not damaged during the installation. He also said, I'm not doing any additional damage by driving the car. Since the vibration from the rotor is slight and since the only solution is to replace it, he suggested just driving the car unless/until it gets worse.

I'm annoyed because I was having NO problems with the car until the guy at Jiffy Lube told me the that the axel boot had ruptured and needed to be replaced. When I brought it in to have the "boot" replaced, he told me the whole axel had to be replaced (which may or may not have been true) and now I have a new axel which makes a metal whirling sound from time to time and uneven brakes (which I didn't have before). In sum, didn't know I had any problems. But in the process of getting the boot fixed, I introduced two new problems, which do annoy me when I drive.

Bottom line: I don't know enough about cars to argue effectively with this guy. I'll have to shop around to find a mechanic that I feel I can trust and go there with the next repair. Car has 100,000. Figure I should just drive it till it get to expensive to maintain.

Portation of a rotor is usually a result of manufacturing. Somrtimes, when they cast the brake rotors at the foundry, they get an "air pocket" in the casting. When they finish machine the rotor the air pocket, flaw, isn't exposed. BUT, as the brake pads wear the on the rotor, the flaw is exposed. This condition rarely causes any problems, but may be felt slightly as "pulsing" on the pedal when brakes are applied. I don't know what to tell you on the whine you are hearing without actually hearing it myself. Here, I have to agree with your mechanic. I would drive the car hopeing it ceases. If it gets worse, I would take it in and have it checked. I still wouldn't rule out a wheel bearing going bad. Sometimes, in the early stages, they are hard to detect. If this be the case, the noise will get gradually worse and give you plenty of warning before it becomes a danger. Hope this helps.