Gear clunk with 01 Outback MT Need input!

[Dead91silvia]

I have a customer that has an 01 BH OB with a 5 speed and it's got a weird clunk.

So when it's cold, just a few miles into driving, it's fine, nothing. When she first brought it over, I didnt feel or hear anything out of the norm. She says it's bad when it's been driven a bit.

So the next day after she had been driving home from work she stops by the shop. I go to back out of the driveway and turn it around and "clunk!".

I have felt this type before and it's always been a rear diff, however with it not ding it with it being cold, I was wondering if it could be the center diff?

I know a few of you guys work on these things at shops also and could use a little help on this one. She is about to do both, but I would rather her not waste money on parts and labor she doesn't need. Thats how I keep my customers..

Any help would be great!

[2point5GT_Dan]

Center diff.

My car does it only after long trips or high way trips.

I will be swapping it out in January so stay tuned to my member thread to see if that fixes it.

[Dead91silvia]

That would be good to know. She's about to have me replace the rear diff, but this would be good to know if this fixes it.

[chevyman1968]

If its only on turns then I would say the center diff clutch pack is shot and is binding up. Mine was shot and the car wouldn't go any speed without bucking and making a clicking/clunching noise. It threw three teeth off the spider gears and it locked together. Replacing the center diff is not bad at all. Its 9 14mm bolts on the back of the trans and it slides right out. I did mine out of car though. Its supposed to take around 4 hours in car. Honestly the hardest part is getting the rollpins out of the shifter joint thingy haha idk what its called. Just make sure to use a torch to heat everything up! There is a really good post on Subaru Forester.org about replacing it. I found the post after the fact so it didn't help me.

On another note. My rear diff did clunk before it went, but it was only started about 5 mins before the pinion gear sheared off. Is there a high pitched whine when you get to around 35-40 mph?