How's it going, everyone?
My boyfriend recently replaced the clutch in my '05 Outback XT and we seem to have a hiccup now. We think the driver front axle was going bad since before the repair, but now the clunking has increased ten-fold! It has only added to the annoyance of the whirring noise caused by the center differential bearings these transmissions are famous for.
The noise used to present itself when making VERY slow left turns. You could feel a slight repetitive clunk in the steering wheel to coincide with the noise. Now, it does it on turns in either direction below 20 mph. Moving around in parking lots is awful!
The axles were supported with zip ties while the transmission was out, so I don't suspect that they became ruined in the repair process from being hung by their own weight. However, axles are a wear item and it certainly sounds like axles. I'm really just wanting to know if any of you agree or if there's that random person who will have had a similar experience and can tell me it's something else before I go buy axles. Wishful thinking, perhaps!
Thanks for the suggestions!