OT: Subaru outback spare tire issue

kitemare · Since 23 Mar 2010 265 Posts Seattle, wa Obsessed

I have a car question that has me a little stumped so I'm seeing if anyone has any thoughts to why my car did this. Figured everyone in Hood River owns a subaru, someone is bound to know about this Very Happy

But before I ask my question, figured I would indulge everyone with a funny, laugh at me story about what happened.

So I own a 96' subaru legacy outback and was out in middle-o-nowhere ID (if you have ever been to fairfield to snowkite, I was near there except for another 2 hours further north and even more remote) and my car ran over a nail on the way back home and it was going flat. Wasn't a big deal, pulled over to the side of the road and got the spare out from the back and jacked up the car, (really glad my car had a jack, highly encourage everyone to have one) and swapped out onto the tiny spare tire.

Everything was looking ok so we reloaded the back of the car and figured we could drive the 30 miles on the spare back to Boise and find a les schwab. Wrong. Got 10 feet and I hear this aweful gringing nose, stop and look at the spare, and it had gone completely flat, ridding on the rim. grrrr.

Still, we are where there is no cell service so the only thing we can do is to swap back on the going-flat-via-nail-tire and hope we can get to a gas station and air up the spare. Eventually we make it the a gas station, 30 minutes later, and we fill up the spare and put it back on the car. Finally we think we will be able to get back to boise and get the bigger tire fixed.

So we load back up the car and start driving but once we hit 20mph, there is this aweful grinding noise, immediately I check the spare and it is holding air just fine. So we try driving again, again the noise comes back so we head back the 50 feet we had just made back to the gas station. I take off the spare and figured the brakes where grinding on the side wall of the rim but there was no visible damage to anywhere on the tire, the rim or the brake setup. So I try switching the spare to the other side and see if the noise happens on that side. Long time latter, we have the tires switched and are ready to see if it makes noise. By this time we had gathered quite the posse (as the town we had stopped in had a population on 250, on a weekend) but they were really nice and one of them was a retired mechanic, so he hopped in the car and we drove and as soon as we got near 20, the grinding noise came back and continued until we slowed back down to 5mph.

So he hoped out of the car and had me drive back and forth infront of him and we determined the noise was coming from the center of the car, not the spare wheel. But the wierd thing was it was only making noise when the car was in gear and under acceleration, when I put it into nuetral, the noise went away.

So he figured it had something to do with my universal joint since it was a tad loose when he went underneath my car. But I had the idea that we should try before we started messing around with anything more major. I suggested putting back on the bigger tire, the one with the nail, and seeing if the noise went away. which it did. Making us both perplexed.

Ended up filling the tire with the nail back up with air and figured since it was a slow leak and we where only 30 miles from boise we could drive back, filling it up at each gas station along. Once we got back to boise, we called maybe 10 tires places, all were closed until we got ahold of all places, a walmart. They fixed the hole for $10 and where the only ones open on a sunday. Helpful hint next time any of you get a nail in your tire and everything turned out ok.

So here is my question: The retired mechanic was thinking it was something that was going on just with the universal joint because it was a tad loose. But my thoughts are that because my car is full time all wheel drive with limited slip differentials in the back that with the spare wheel being so much smaller than the regular wheel, when I was going forward, the speed of the right part of the axel with the small spare was going faster than the left part of the axel and caused my car to freak out where the two parts of the axel meet and was due to the difference in size of tire rather than my Un. being a little loose.

Seeing if anyone has had this problem or had any ideas on it. I plan on getting my Un. Joint check out regardless but if anyone has any thoughts, that would be appreciated?

Hein · Since 08 Mar 2005 1314 Posts Possessed

I'm no suby expert but sounds like you might have damaged your transmission/differential running vastly different sized tires on opposite sides. Especially since your space saver spare went flat. Or it could have put added strain on a CV joint which is now toast. Definitely change the trans fluid but it may be too late.

search the forums at nasioc.com Not sure if the there is a forum for the Legacy but the drive train should be same/similar to the Imprezza.

Kite Montana · Since 07 Nov 2006 6 Posts Kook

I have a 97' Outback Wagon, The AWD system is really sensitive, because you had an under-inflated tire or a different size tire on there it was probably activating the AWD system. It was making noise because without the same size tires on there the whole system was out of balance. I had the same thing happen with my spare tire one time, I drove it slow for about 25 miles and it didn't damage anything.

Subarus are great cars, but they are just sensitive that way. I wasn't happy with mine until I took my car to a mechanic that only works on Subarus and could tell me how everything works on it. Now its the best kite wagon I've ever owned.

Joel

pdxmonkeyboy · Mon Aug 16, 10 11:24 am

Knowing subarus, the sound may have been coming from a angry lesbian that some how got caught in the wheel well.

But yeah, as other have said, your tranny is probably really hating you right now. Change the fluid like Hein said. If its still making noise with the regular tire on there..you have some issues that need to be addressed pronto. You can generally assess your CV joints (more so the fronts than the rears) by driving in tight circles backwards. Sloppy CV joints will pop and grind... something to think about when buying another subaru.

Try to acquire a full sized spare to avoid problems in the future.

Hein · Since 08 Mar 2005 1314 Posts Possessed

dan79 · Since 22 Aug 2009 20 Posts Longview, WA

An acquaintance of mine works for Les Schwab. When I had a flat I swapped out two tires that needed replacing and he put the fear of god in me about all wheel drive disasters when you only replace two tires. You have to relace all four andYou have to be careful and rotate your tires often, the Subaru dealer never mentioned tire replacement. If this happens again they also tell you to disable cruise control, I think there is a switch near the hood release.

kitemare · Since 23 Mar 2010 265 Posts Seattle, wa Obsessed

Hey thanks to everyone who replied, I did go and check the universal joint, and it is fine, not really sure why he said it was loose. As far as the spare tire goes, I only drove it for 5 minutes, just when we were problem solving, so I know nothing major happened with the tranny.

But it does have me worried about the next time I get a flat,

I got a mechanic friend who is going to look at it tomorrow. more answers then I guess.

Just everyone go out and check your spare, that's all I have to say Very Happy

mikeinhoodriver · Since 23 Apr 2009 427 Posts down wind somewhere Obsessed

Call Andy at ShadeTree Auto in White Salmon. He is a great Subie guy and will know exactly what was going on with it. 509-493-2392

jackZ · Since 13 Apr 2008 355 Posts Devon Alberta ca. Obsessed

Kitemare ,
I'm a mechanic (wishing to be retired but not , I work on heavy equipment but , ) and reading your story I would say the noise is from your differential or awd system.
I don't know if your aware of how a diff works but it's there to make up for differences in wheel speed , while turning and if a wheel spins etc . These gears will make noise when turning at high speed .
It really does nothing until there is a difference in traction or speed between the wheels .
AWD operates on differences in wheel speed as well so it could be activated as well .
Is there a slower driving speed recommended while on the spare ? Most likely all will be fine once the tire is repaired and reinstalled. We don't walk well with one leg shorter than the other either, LOL.
Good for you taking the initiative to check it all out though , keep it safe .
JackZ

dancingwind · Since 18 Jul 2007 321 Posts Obsessed

I hope your car turns out to be fine with no major/any damage. Don't see why a spare tire that SUBARU, INC supplied their car with would cause any type of damage! You would think SUBARU wouldn't supply a part that would damage the car in any way!!

It's a good idea to supply your trunk with a tire repair kit and a mini air compressor when planing long trips into the unknown!!

Keep us posted!!