9 replies to this topic

[Richiesub]

My 08 impreza has a whine. You can hear it slightly all the time although at around 70kmh (Only i can hear it at low speeds) and up it gets louder and you can feel a vibration through the floor variable with speed on/off on/off both sound and vibration. hard to describe.

Driving on the freeway sends me crazy. I took the car to Subaru and they are saying that its from the front transfer area and they didnt get enough time to diagnose it...

Could it be simple as a transfer oil change?

Is the oil in the gearbox used for the transfer also?

Its not a wheel bearing as i had front left changed (to fix it) and the sound is still evident in neutral. 5spd manual.

would love others input

[RXJezza]

Hi,

My car does this as well minus the vibration.

I've been told it's the viscous coupling.

I just changed the gearbox and diff oils and it got quieter but its still there.

[bobbyjimmy]

viscous coupling.

= Centre diff.
Which is sealed, so changing the oil has no effect.

To the OP, change the oil and see what happens.
You might need a T70 torx bit to drop the oil thou.

[Richiesub]

yeah the vibration is very minor but its there. I am wrecking another impreza at the moment so it might be a good idea to swap the centre diff and see and then try changing the oil, the car only has 57000kms on it

[SAV84C]

Change the oil first before swapping diffs

[RXJezza]

Ah ok, well I changed my exhaust at the same time so maybe I just thought it was quieter.

[U-Shell]

My 08 impreza has a whine. You can hear it slightly all the time although at around 70kmh (Only i can hear it at low speeds) and up it gets louder and you can feel a vibration through the floor variable with speed on/off on/off both sound and vibration. hard to describe.

Driving on the freeway sends me crazy. I took the car to Subaru and they are saying that its from the front transfer area and they didnt get enough time to diagnose it...

Could it be simple as a transfer oil change?

Is the oil in the gearbox used for the transfer also?

Its not a wheel bearing as i had front left changed (to fix it) and the sound is still evident in neutral. 5spd manual.

would love others input

Ah ok, well I changed my exhaust at the same time so maybe I just thought it was quieter.

I would be careful driving around with a knackered center diff. I had the same thing happen in my Gen 3. Try not to drive it to hard, because if it spills the silicone like juices from the the viscous into the gearbox, it munches the syncros and becomes a much more expensive job to fix. It cost me $1100 to replace with a reco WRX centre diff.

I tried changing oils and giving it a flush, had no effect. As BobbyJimmy said, it's a sealed unit, so changing oil is unlikely to fix it.

[Richiesub]

Damn checked the oil in it and it looks perfect and clean, looks like ill be swapping over the centre diff. Anyone done this before can give any advise. Shouldnt have to take the whole box out right?

[Mulgzy]

I have that same noise in the wrx that I just bought. Thankfully I work next to Subaru service centre. They think it's a chipped tooth in the transfer case... And they told me I just need to take the gearbox out, then the transfer case bolts off from the back of it. Apparently it's easy to take apart and change the gears in there. Think u can get gear repair sets from Subaru.

Once I finish the engine work on mine I'll be dropping the gearbox out and trying it. If you think you're able to take the gearbox out yourself then I wouldn't bother buying any reco parts because it'll cost a lot more than taking it apart yourself.

[U-Shell]

If its a 5 speed WRX, every one I've heard has that whiny sound. Even the N/A 5 Speeds do it. Almost sounds like straight cut first gear in my car. Try changing to full synthetic oil with a Nulon G27 additive. Made mine a fair bit quieter.