Forester Axle Bearing Problem in Hawaii

[Loy]

Just another witness to the recurring axle bearing problem.

Happening to our 2000 Forester L.

Thanks to the many who are posting solutions to it.

However, here in Hawaii, we're in a pickle.

There is only one Subaru distributor on this state: Schuman Carriage
Motors. Our Forester is bought from the Waialae Subaru in Kaimuki.
Even we may find a sympathetic ear with Subaru of America, Schuman
Carriage dictates whether any warranty repair will be honored and the
ultra high markup on the Subaru parts.

We took our car again to Schuman Carriage few months ago with mileage
still under the powertrain warranty. They rudely dismissed it this
time as tire noise and ransomed us $100 for "diagnostic" fee at that!!!
A reputable tire shop later confirmed that the problem is the bearing.

Potential Subaru buyers in Hawaii beware!!!

Schuman Carriage recently also just closed their repair shop but
keeping its dealership and distributor ship. This creates a even
bigger headache for the Subaru owners here in Hawaii.

Some of the air conditioning indicator lights also gave out recently at
50,000 or so miles.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Are there no independent Subaru shops that can order parts from the
USA? I can't believe Subaru will sell cars where there is no
franchised repair shops.

 

[Alan]

Dude, Hawaii IS in the USA. I think you mean "the mainland".

 

[tom]

i bought my '02 legacy wagon used with 85,000 km on it, so i was a bit
nervous. to play it safe, i had it serviced at a dealership, and in
addition to a major service (timing belt, differentials, etc.), they
also rotated the tires, and off we went down the highway on a family
vacation.

we got about 750 km away from home. there was a loud noise on the
right side at highway speeds, which seemed to vary with speed, but
didn't change when i dropped her into neutral. had to go to a strange
dealer in a strange town, a long way from home. the mechanic's first
guess during the test run was wheel bearings, and he had me convinced,
too.

about an hour later, i got a call from the shop that my car was ready!

turns out the wheel bearings were fine, but when he started to pull the
wheels, EVERY SINGLE lug nut on both the front and rear wheels on the
right side was loose! (i.e. not even finger-tight.) he checked over
the bearings, torqued the nuts, and 15,000 km later, everything's still
fine, touch wood.

the fancy alloy wheels that came with the wagon need to be retorqued -
it would be nice if someone had told me that (and even better if the
owner's guide would include recommended torquing values).


........ tom klein

 

[Loy]

Finally found a capable mechanic friend to do the job after weeks of
unfruitful/unpleasant calls and visits to the Subaru dealers here in
Hawaii.

To clarify, Schuman Carriage Motors is the sole Subaru distributor here
in Hawaii. They are not affiliated with Subaru of America as they get
their cars directly from Japan. Schuman operates one dealership on
their own as the Waialae Subaru but also sells thru Ohana Subaru in
Waipahu and Five Star Subaru on Nimitz.

Parts picked up from Schuman parts department (also doing business
under Subaru of Hawaii) for this repair:
28016AA030 roller bearing $63
(be careful not to get the OEM 28016FC001 ball bearing)
28016AA050 oil seal $12
28016AA110 oil seal $11
28016AA110 oil seal $13

It took about 3 hours for us. Taking apart the old, replaced bearing..
this irregular wear mark is visible in both the inner and outer races
on one end stretching about 60 degrees.

Word of advice if you must go to one of the Subaru dealers here... DO
NOT give your car key or vehicle registration paper to them BEFORE you
are given a written estimate detailing the parts, labor rate, and labor
hours. All three Subaru dealers here tried pull the otherwise on me.
One still stuck it to us on the interpretation that an open hourly
labor rate with no estimate of labor hour constituted a legit fee for
the diagnostic that now conclusively proves to be false! Another
popular line used is "we don't have the parts here so we can't give you
a written estimate right now"...

Hawaii state laws entitle you this despite what the service dept people
at these Hawaii Subaru dealers may lead you to believe...

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/vol10_ch0436-0471/hrs0437b/hrs_0437b-0015.htm

The Forester is getting rave reviews from this year's Consumers
Report... perhaps it is a reflection of the hardwork put in by Subaru
of America and the mainland dealers... somehow I just can't buy that
the same applies here.

 

[Loy]

The $11 oil seal is meant to be 28015AA100 in my last post.