Shop Subaru Control Arms

i drive a 95 subaru legacy. ODO: 211 111km. when I reverse my car makes a squeaking/springy noise- like an old spring mattress. Sounds like its coming from the font of the car. Only when reversing though. Just started yesterday. Any ideas? Been googling it and someone on a forum had a simliar problem and a mechanic mentioned control arm bushings?

Kinda have to check it all out - wheel bearings, CV joints and everything to do with front end stuff,

T

How do I effectively inspect & replace the ball joints on the following:
1991 Subaru Loyale
4 Cyl - 4 door base FWD
90,000 miles


It is knocking when on rough pavement and chatters at speeds of 50+ mph when on a left hand turn (bearing left).
Thanks

Ken

In that I'm not certain of front end layout it is one of two ways so I'd do both ways anyway. Hoist by body just enough to pry up on wheel/tire and jockey the wheel/tire anyway for other looseness, or support lower control arm close to joint such that weight of vehicle isn't pressing on joint and same tests. Pretty much no motion should be noted on a joint anywhere. Do with wheels aimed straight ahead,

T

So i also have a 90 subaru legacy (and a 91 Caprice for that matter) along with my sunbird. Until i find a simple solution to fixing my sunbird's wobbly engine and coolant smell i am driving this. When i first bought it there were a laundry list of small problems.

I fixed most of them, one that went out after i bought it though was the blinker. It was working fine and then it just stopped working. It was the only thing that went wrong so i didn't think it was a fuse. I only found one fuse box under the drivers side interior... anyone know of any others? i don't have the manual.

Also the tire on the right front side seems to wobble. At first this was a bent rim, i got a new rim, it helped a lot, then last friday night i slid on some ice and went blasting over a curb. The front right tire took the brunt of the damage. I bent the control arm really badly. I went and got a new one and had muffler man put it on, the donut that was on there drove fine. Now i got the old rim back on there with a different tire (i blew the first one up in the hit) Now the tire wobbles like crazy again. I never went fast with the donut on, so im not sure if it would have wobbled with that on, its not hardly noticeable until about 50 mph anyway then gets annoying at 60 and really a hazard around 70. I suppose it could be anything, but im hoping its the tire. Anyone who knows a bit have any ideas? Is it true that if you have a car sit in one spot for a while that the tires will wobble when you drive it later? What is a good way to check and see if the rim is bent? it looked okay to me when i had it off...

Or any ideas on the other problems i have with my subaru for that matter....

Yesterday my car hit a patch of slippery slush on the highway, fishtailed and spun into the ditch pretty hard. I had to have it pulled out by a towing co. He mentioned that i should pressure wash it due to snow being packed throughout the bottom of the car, which i haven't had a chance to do yet. He also mentioned that i may need to take it in for an alignment.

The only problem i'm having with it is the shaking. When i first started to drive it after it was pulled out of the ditch, it would shake right away. Now it only seems to shake (and its BAD) when i'm going at least 50 mph or faster.

Could this be because of the snow? Does it sound like it could just need a simple alignment? Or does it sound like it could be something worse?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I just recently hit a curb in my subaru. The impact bent my lower control arm on the right side. This caused a really hard pull to the right. I also have had a good number of tires that were wobbly and it was just the rubber, or a bent rim. You're problem however seems to most likely be something other than the tire. I would venture a guess that you bent something in your steering. If you take it to a place that does alignments just ask them to look at it, if anything is visibly bent they should know, thats how i found out my control arm was bent, but it was quite a bit obvious, lol.

I really could use some advice. I have a 97 Subaru legacy 2.2l. It sat without starting for about 2 months while I replaced a control arm and brakes. It ran great when I drove it 2 mo ago but now it will barely start. It will only run if I hold the gas pedal just above idle and keep the RPM below 1000. Above 1000 the engine backfires and is real rough, release the pedal and it dies. The exhaust system will get red hot after a couple minutes running. I removed the front cat. to make sure the exhaust isn't clogged. There is nothing blocking the intake. I drained the gas and put new in, no help. I removed a spark plug, it was covered in gasoline. The check engine light is out while its running. Maybe the computer is screwed up because the batt was dead?
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

While I was checking the timing and spark, I remembered that disconnecting the batt will reset the computer. I did that and it started up and runs great now!!

Were all the plugs wet with fuel or just the one?
You may have a fuel injector stuck open and dumping fuel into the cylinder?
Just guessing?
Dan.

Thanks Dan,
Stuck injector sounds plausible. I took 2 spark plugs out. I'll look at the others.

Just to add another idea. If the fuel system checks out ok, check the ignition system. If you have no spark on one or more cylinders, the fuel will be ignited in the converter causing it to overheat and glow red also.

Steve