My friend has a '98 Outback with an AT. When we were driving on a brand new asphalt road you couild hear this high pitched whine coming from somewhere in the front of the car behind the engine but in front of gear lever. When he releases the accelerator and coasts it stops. When he goes to accel again the whine comes back immediately. Any takers? The car has about 110K on it. TIA
I'd immediately check the circumference of all the tires though it may be too late. The center diff clutch pack can't handle different sized or extremely different WORN tires being mixed on the car.
He could try putting the FWD fuse in under the hood. Though I confess I'm not sure this would disengage the CD enough to stop the whining.
Of course, there could be something different going on.
Carl
1 Lucky TexanMatt wrote:
I'm not sure I understand your reply. In the AT the center differential is built into the tail of the tranny (so I'm lead to believe) and it is sensitive to 'torque bind' from use of 1 or more tires of different circumference used on the car. Indeed, if you check your manual, you are instructed to force the car into FWD mode (with the fuse under the hood) if you have a flat and must use the donut spare.
As I said, the tranny could of course have a problem unrelated to the CD.
Carl
1 Lucky TexanLe> Subaru says it was from the transmission:
I could be way off here and/or stating the obvious, but you also might want to check the AT to make sure it's got enough fluid in it. .? Just a thought.
--Decimal Cat
Not that I am lazy or anything :) but could you point me to the exact article. TIA.
Since I can't be certain you have a real problem, the beginnings of a problem or inherited a problem from someone else PLUS you haven't confirmed or denied the present or past mixing of tire sizes on the car. I think you will have to educate yourself.
do a search at USMB for 'torque bind' and/or 'wheel size' or other phrases associated with your symptom. Or better, register and post your DETAILED question in a new thread. You'll get good help.
Carl
1 Lucky TexanMatt wrote:
To the best of my knowledge the tires are and always have been the same std. size. I'll check the USMB too.
The main reason for concern is that I have heard that noise before from a old quantum wagon where the a bearing in the rear differential was going bad.
My old XT-6 AWD AT never made that noise and my 98 Outback 5sp does not either.
I could see where a little whine is normal but this is very pronounced. I will do some more checking and post a more detailed analysis as you suggest. Thanks.
Well, given your experience with other vehicles as you list, I'd say your in a good position to diagnose this a little deeper yourself. Could be you're just experiencing sometype of early failure of a component not directly the result of any 'mistreatment'. Still, experimenting with the FWD fuse to disable the 'clutch pack' may lead to a solution.
good luck!
Carl
1 Lucky TexanMatt wrote:
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