SolarYellow510

I'm going over all the hoses on my '05 OBXT. Turbocharger boost control line is 16 years old, and I figure it should be worth refreshing it like all the rest. This is the part Subaru lists for this car: (The description is obviously wrong, and the price is silly.) But it looks like the right part and is keyed out of the diagram correctly. "Turbocharger Oil Line" 14447AA120 https://www.certifiedsubaruparts.com/p/Subaru_2005_Outback-25L-TURBO-5MT-XT-Limited/Turbocharger-Oil-Line/49226888/14447AA120.html Is there any reason I couldn't use this part for the same years WRX (and with a $3.59 price tag)? Orifice A. 22326AA260 https://www.certifiedsubaruparts.com/p/Subaru__/Orifice-A/49231643/22326AA260.html Is there some non-obvious functional difference like the length of the hose or the diameter of the orifice in the pill? Sorry if this is common knowledge in the community. I've been unplugged from the Subie life for a long time. Did a search and didn't find any relevant hits.

Amazingly, there were two Outback XT Limited manuals for sale at the same time in Austin when I got mine this summer. The other one had been painted.

Fortunately, my pinch bolts weren't as bad as that, but they are both going to be replaced with new ones next time I'm in there. Hope you chased the threads in the upright with a tap to clean out all the rust. I learned a long time ago to use a wedge in the pinch slot to open up features like that. I was able to get it done with just a normal slotted screwdriver. It looks like you were actually getting into the ball joint with the chisel, which probably didn't help much letting it slide out. I scraped the inside of the bore with a razor blade and hit it with Scotch-Brite and WD-40 to clean it up before installing the new joints. I was surprised how much tighter the front end felt with new ball joints. Worth it.

My advice is, if you don't know the full history of your axles, get the Duralast and have it on hand before you start the job. Return it if you don't need it. Did this job today. Replaced both front lower ball joints at the same time, and was surprised how much tighter and more precise the front end feels now. The old ones didn't seem worn out, just had torn boots (see below regarding dealership) and 130k miles on them. I was uncertain of the procedure for the outer, so I picked up the Duralast reman ahead of time in case I ran into problems I couldn't solve. Saved my bacon. Once I got the axle out and the joint apart, and took the shaft over to the parts washer to get it nice and clean, I realized there was no snap ring where there clearly should have been one. I looked in the parts washer, and there was half of it. On the splines of the axle, you could see where the ring had been out of position when the joint was pressed on and, rather than sliding inside the CV hub, it was sheared into two pieces. The other piece was presumably covered in grease and is probably just somewhere inside the boot. I'm assuming this was done by the Subaru dealership that replaced the outer boot before I bought the car and damaged it in the process, causing me to have to do this job. I am not taking it back there to have them fix it. They screwed up everything they touched - this was just the farthest-in part I've seen. Realizing this situation, and not having a snap ring on hand, I switched to the Duralast axle. The sheet metal guards for the hub bearing and tranny seal were not present on the reman, so I switched them over. Found a large bearing puller and tapped them off, then tapped them back on the reman axle very carefully with a copper hammer and a brass drift. I had access to a lift. I got everything apart normally, and even pried the axle away from the tranny so the snap ring was out of its groove, but the larger portion wasn't past the oil seal. I then lowered the car so I could remove the other three arms of the lift and lifted it back up under just one corner. Unorthodox use of a lift, but not much different than floor jacking it. Turned the steering a little as the car angled and the low side moved toward the lift arm. I put a jack stand under the lift arm just in case. Worked perfectly. Not a drop of tranny fluid came out. I made sure I had a super-clean glove finger and dabbed a bit of tranny fluid on the parts of the inboard CV that would be inside the tranny, especially the oil seal surface, before inserting it. Once the reman axle was in the tranny, I lowered the car to get the other arms back under it and lifted it to normal working height to finish the job. Used a very large pry bar between two studs to hold the hub from turning while I torqued it with a super-high-quality torque wrench to spec. Seems to drive perfect.

Thanks for the response. Already had the socket (thanks, Suzuki) and access to impact and air tools. Bought a torque wrench that will cover 162 ft-lbs. You would too if the wheel had ever come off your race car because the CV axle nut was overtorqued with an impact.

My PS outer boot is letting little drops of grease out from two small holes that appear to be from mechanical damage rather than age and deterioration. I have the Beck Arnley replacement boot and the banding tool. The factory manual says the outer joint on my 2005 OBXT can't be disassembled, implying I'd have to remove the non-leaking inner joint and slide the new boot over that end. Andyjo's post above seems to be saying that once the axle is out and the boot is off, I should be able to drive the joint (which I'm interpreting the descriptions to mean is a ball-and-cage style) off the shaft with a large punch? Does this mean the entire joint and outer stub come off as an assembly, or does the outer cup slide off, leaving the greasy ball and cage parts? Is it reasonably straightforward for someone who's very mechanically experienced?