St.Jude's Road To Perdition - A 2003 Subaru Legacy // The End. TTFN!

[R Lutz]

On 15/06/2025 at 06:35, St.Jude said:

The lightbulbs are great, so much better than the Osram Night breakers I’ve used before 100% recommended.

They will fail soon. I know this. 

[St.Jude]

1 hour ago, R Lutz said:

They will fail soon. I know this. 

To be fair they've already out lasted a button battery in a key fob!

[St.Jude]

So today I decided to tackle the front wheel bearing and give it an oil and filter change.

The job did not go well, oh no it didn’t. Actually it’s postponed.

Judging by the knocking I’ve been getting and the MOT history, I thought the anti roll bar bushes needed doing. So went to GSF and ordered them to pick up today - but they didn’t have them. Fine, can still do the wheel bearing.

Except when I Jack it up, I don’t think the ARBs are toast. No, it’s the wishbone.

So I’ve placed an order with Autodoc for £65, and hopefully have them at the end of the week. I did try to carry on with the bearing but to be honest I can’t really do it in situ. Thought I could. Reasoned if I’m taking the wishbone off anyway I may as well wait until then.

In the mean time, it’s not going anywhere. I can now at least sort the headlights properly and carry on with the oil change.

No idea why it’s upside down but look at the underneath:

A few brown bits, but it looks good. The plastic hasn’t even rusted away 😉

[St.Jude]

Made a slight mess of filling it with oil, but I blame the apprentice for that.

[St.Jude]

It doesn’t rain, it pours. Literally. Lovely all morning for me to do Dad things like the shopping. I get to this job and it fucks it down rain and hail.

When it eventually stopped I got to it. Old wishbone came off putting up a fight. Rounded the Allen key thing for the drop link so thought fuck it, cut it off. Trip to Euro Car Prats, came back with a drop link. Good to go!

Oh no. Ball joint cover is split and GSF are the only ones with a replacement, available Monday. I did find that a bit of superglue could put it together if I was stuck, and I nearly went that route.

Until my 14mm socket decided it had enough of undoing nuts and bolts and married itself to the 2nd to last bolt holding the wheel bearing on to the hub. I had to batter the socket off of the bolt and it eventually came off. Didn’t check the socket until I put it on the last bolt and wondered why it was spinning. It’s rounded off the head of the bolt.

Found my bolt remover tool and put it on, but the space is so tight I can’t get a socket on to it.

So I am having a good day.

I am thinking of getting an imperial socket that’s roughly 13.5mm (if one exists) and muller that on to the bolt. If that doesn’t work then I am going to have to remove the hub completely and attack it on the bench.

Also need to look for a Subaru dealer to get a new bolt from, as that one ain’t going back on.

[St.Jude]

Replacement bolt ordered by a fairly local Subaru dealer - nearly £9. So it’s nice to see Subaru pricing is similar to Toyota!

Also realised my nut/bolt extractors, well they’re not all the same. I didn’t know the ones I had could be got where they attach to a ratchet. So I’ve got new ones on order which will get me out of this bind.

The ones I have are good if there’s not much space behind and you can get a spanner on it. But I’ve plenty of room here so will upgrade the tools.

Also purchased a new 1/2” 14mm socket to replace my fucked one.

[St.Jude]

Over the weekend the mother in law decided to clean the house while we were away. I say the house, more so moved all my shit and broke my coffee machine cleaning it. Meant to be grateful she’s “helping” apparently, fuck off.

The result of this is that the 14mm 1/2” socket I purchased went walkies. Funny as it was together with the tools mentioned above. I ended up using the 3/8” socket and hoped for the best.

The ball joint I split the boot of was fixed with super glue, as the stuff really works well with the rubber apparently. Don’t doubt it as it set hard. Wrapped it in electrical tape to make sure it all stayed together to keep dust and dirt out.

Forgot/didnt realise the hole where the giggle pin goes through was corroded up. Drilled a hole through that just in case, as I had intended to use a lock nut here. But the lock nut wouldn’t take to the thread so ended up with the giggle pin. All good on that front.

Everything went back together fine. The nut extractor I got from Amazon that attaches to the ratchet worked wonders and got me out of a hole. Everything back on, took it for a spin - steering is a bit off but I know it will need tracking which will be done this week.

From the bit of a test drive I did, no more knocks. No new knocks either. But there is still a bit of a drone. So I may have more than one bearing that needs replacing, but I’m not sure to be honest as it could easily be tyre roar too.

[grogee]

Split pin

Jiggle pin

Giggle pin

[St.Jude]

46 minutes ago, grogee said:

Split pin

Jiggle pin

Giggle pin

The politics section makes more sense now.

Not even sure who I’m meant to tag in this, could be so many!

[Dyslexic Viking]

Good someone makes sense of this because I don't.

[St.Jude]

Finally had time this morning to get the front tracking sorted as it’s been all to cock since I did the wishbone.

It’s up on the ramp and as any good owner who’s had their arse bit by Japanese cars, let’s look for rust!

Looks worse than it is really. A can of clear Waxoyl wouldn’t go far wrong here.

But what about sills?

Checked behind the black mudguard thing, looks absolutely fine really. Bit orange but it’s not rotted.

Same here.

Am I right to call this a unicorn given it’s on 180,000 and this is as bad as the rust is?

[Metal Guru]

On 27/09/2025 at 09:12, St.Jude said:

Finally had time this morning to get the front tracking sorted as it’s been all to cock since I did the wishbone.

It’s up on the ramp and as any good owner who’s had their arse bit by Japanese cars, let’s look for rust!

Looks worse than it is really. A can of clear Waxoyl wouldn’t go far wrong here.

But what about sills?

Checked behind the black mudguard thing, looks absolutely fine really. Bit orange but it’s not rotted.

Same here.

Am I right to call this a unicorn given it’s on 180,000 and this is as bad as the rust is?

Rust is surely more dependant on time (age) than mileage?

[St.Jude]

3 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Rust is surely more dependant on time (age) than mileage?

It’s all related.

High mileage would mean it’s been out in all weathers, especially when they’re salting the roads etc. Compared to a trailer queen.

But tbh it’s less about the mileage it’s more the age of this car knowing they love to rust. The RAV4 and Land Cruiser were similar ages to this and had already had welding before it got to me or required it. 

[St.Jude]

So, slight problem has occurred. “Took long enough” I hear you cry!

I have a loud drone when I drive, trying to work it out I think it’s coming from the front left. So I’m down to changing the other hub on the front. Fine. Fuck it if the wishbone on that side requires a bush, it can wait.

But that isn’t my problem.

I have noticed that the steering has progressively gotten heavier. I still have PAS, but the oil from what I can see looks black. So I will elect to change the fluid when I do the hub. But, I have noticed when I’m manoeuvring the car to park that the battery light comes on.

So obviously I am being optimistic and thinking the fluid is old and causing the pump to work super hard. Because the alternative is that possibly the pump is on its way? But I would imagine it would just go with no warning?

Answers on that one below please.

[bezzabsa]

I don't know what bit of this Image scares me more - the 'floppybit' or the hair!!!! and i'm even more convinced its a blokes floppy bit!!!!! 😮

[Dyslexic Viking]

7 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

I don't know what bit of this Image scares me more - the 'floppybit' or the hair!!!! and i'm even more convinced its a blokes floppy bit!!!!! 😮

This is a photo @grogee took of himself so you know.

[St.Jude]

8 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

I don't know what bit of this Image scares me more - the 'floppybit' or the hair!!!! and i'm even more convinced its a blokes floppy bit!!!!! 😮

So I checked to see what you wrote, and you share that photo again. And my wife sees it. Que 5 mins of explaining the joke and that I’m not gay.

[grogee]

20 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

This is a photo @grogee took of himself so you know.

I wish I was that thin

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

I don't know what bit of this Image scares me more - the 'floppybit' or the hair!!!! and i'm even more convinced its a blokes floppy bit!!!!! 😮

Shouldn't that be in the photo of you thread?.🤣

[djim]

I just caught up on this and have a couple of ideas from back when I had my outback. PAS pump was whining on mine from when i got it but it did quiet down A LOT when I gave it some new fluid. I did it the lazy way and used a syringe to empty the reservoir then filled with new and worked the steering back and forth lock to lock a few times and repeated many times. You mentioned that yours looks black so fresh fluid is definitely the first thing and it is pretty cheap as I think it just uses ATF. You'll hear the difference quite quickly. 

Secondly the droning - I had a road speed dependant drone that drove me mad in my outback, I convinced myself it was bearings on the way out and started planning to get them replaced but around the same time i bought a set of new wheels for it with a different brand of tyres on, same size etc. but, I think all season rather than 'summer' (which I would think would be noisier) and it completely solved the issue, couldn't hear a thing and felt like a much smoother drive. The tyres on the original set of wheels were a decent brand too if I remember, but for whatever reason they were really noisy in some circumstances presumably because of how they had worn. I realise that not everyone has a spare set of wheels around the place but perhaps you could borrow something of swap them front to back and see if it makes a difference? 

[Rightnider]

14 hours ago, St.Jude said:

I’m manoeuvring the car to park that the battery light comes on.

Maybe a slipping auxiliary belt?

[ruffgeezer]

Do these have a two piece crank pulley with the inner bonded to the outer with a strip of rubber to act as a damper? If aonthey are prone to failure which would give the issues you describe.  I'd paint a tippex line across both bits of the pulley, and then start it up, if the lines move out of alignment, your pulley is toast.

 

[St.Jude]

2 hours ago, Rightnider said:

Maybe a slipping auxiliary belt?

It has chirped a bit since I got it but nothing screaming. Doesn’t scream either when the light comes on. But something to change.

1 hour ago, ruffgeezer said:

Do these have a two piece crank pulley with the inner bonded to the outer with a strip of rubber to act as a damper? If aonthey are prone to failure which would give the issues you describe.  I'd paint a tippex line across both bits of the pulley, and then start it up, if the lines move out of alignment, your pulley is toast.

 

Is this what you mean?

Mine is a BP5, but without looking then it might be. I’ll try and have a butchers at lunch if I can and do the tipex.

8 hours ago, djim said:

I just caught up on this and have a couple of ideas from back when I had my outback. PAS pump was whining on mine from when i got it but it did quiet down A LOT when I gave it some new fluid. I did it the lazy way and used a syringe to empty the reservoir then filled with new and worked the steering back and forth lock to lock a few times and repeated many times. You mentioned that yours looks black so fresh fluid is definitely the first thing and it is pretty cheap as I think it just uses ATF. You'll hear the difference quite quickly. 

Secondly the droning - I had a road speed dependant drone that drove me mad in my outback, I convinced myself it was bearings on the way out and started planning to get them replaced but around the same time i bought a set of new wheels for it with a different brand of tyres on, same size etc. but, I think all season rather than 'summer' (which I would think would be noisier) and it completely solved the issue, couldn't hear a thing and felt like a much smoother drive. The tyres on the original set of wheels were a decent brand too if I remember, but for whatever reason they were really noisy in some circumstances presumably because of how they had worn. I realise that not everyone has a spare set of wheels around the place but perhaps you could borrow something of swap them front to back and see if it makes a difference? 

You know I have a spare set of wheels but without looking ancient tyres on them. However the bearing is like £30 so it seems a cheaper thing to change to see if the noise changes.

If the engine doesn’t shit itself in the interim 😂

[andy18s]

8 hours ago, djim said:

I just caught up on this and have a couple of ideas from back when I had my outback. PAS pump was whining on mine from when i got it but it did quiet down A LOT when I gave it some new fluid. I did it the lazy way and used a syringe to empty the reservoir then filled with new and worked the steering back and forth lock to lock a few times and repeated many times. You mentioned that yours looks black so fresh fluid is definitely the first thing and it is pretty cheap as I think it just uses ATF. You'll hear the difference quite quickly. 

Secondly the droning - I had a road speed dependant drone that drove me mad in my outback, I convinced myself it was bearings on the way out and started planning to get them replaced but around the same time i bought a set of new wheels for it with a different brand of tyres on, same size etc. but, I think all season rather than 'summer' (which I would think would be noisier) and it completely solved the issue, couldn't hear a thing and felt like a much smoother drive. The tyres on the original set of wheels were a decent brand too if I remember, but for whatever reason they were really noisy in some circumstances presumably because of how they had worn. I realise that not everyone has a spare set of wheels around the place but perhaps you could borrow something of swap them front to back and see if it makes a difference? 

Just put new winter tyres on our legacy and the road noise is noticeablely louder as we expected,but nothing turning the stereo up a bit doesn't cure.  

[ruffgeezer]

4 hours ago, St.Jude said:

It has chirped a bit since I got it but nothing screaming. Doesn’t scream either when the light comes on. But something to change.

Is this what you mean?

Mine is a BP5, but without looking then it might be. I’ll try and have a butchers at lunch if I can and do the tipex.

You know I have a spare set of wheels but without looking ancient tyres on them. However the bearing is like £30 so it seems a cheaper thing to change to see if the noise changes.

If the engine doesn’t shit itself in the interim 😂

That's the part, I can't tell from that picture if yours will be two piece or not, but there are a lot of youtube videos describing wobbly crank pulleys and how to replace them on the Legacy. 

[St.Jude]

2 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

That's the part, I can't tell from that picture if yours will be two piece or not, but there are a lot of youtube videos describing wobbly crank pulleys and how to replace them on the Legacy. 

Went out and did the tipex thing.

Fucked down with rain but it’ll do. Will report back later when I drive home.

[ruffgeezer]

I would suggest a line as marked.  The dsrk bit is the rubber bit that can fail, if the inner and outer come out of alignment, that'll be your issue.

[St.Jude]

3 minutes ago, ruffgeezer said:

I would suggest a line as marked.  The dsrk bit is the rubber bit that can fail, if the inner and outer come out of alignment, that'll be your issue.

OH!!!!

Will do that now, sorry I thought it was across the pulley.

[St.Jude]

Drove home 13 miles, checked the mark and it doesn’t look like it’s slipped. But the steering was fine. But I can keep an eye on it.

[St.Jude]

I made a mess of the PAS fluid. Bought too much, lost the receipt, fuck sake. Also expected a return line to make sure I could do the flush but I only see one pipe going to and from the reservoir. Didn’t touch it, just used a turkey baster but that was a fucking mess too. So I’ve topped it up until I get to work where I’ll have worked more around the system.

Managed to change the passenger bearing without having to remove the wishbone like last time. Pure faff but happy I did it. I think I will need a new shock absorber on the front left as it looks a bit damp (but given the weather I will just keep an eye on it. Ball joint on the passenger side has a broken dust cover too. So they’ll be changed together.

The bearing that came off was fucking awful. Never felt anything like it, and was so much worse than the last one I changed. Feels like a skateboard on rough concrete. So it’s good it’s changed anyway.

No time for a test drive unfortunately so tomorrow morning to work will be when it gets tested. I expect a nice quiet drive!