[slyman]

04 Forester, about 210k miles. Was pulling out onto the street and heard a weird thud/clanging noise from the back right tire, which was accompanied by a little bit of a dragging feeling. Pulled over, could see anything out of the ordinary underneath and figured I could make it home. The clanging would only happen when turning right but the dragging got worse as I went.

Got pretty close to home and there was a very loud explosion and a lot of grinding, pulled over and got it towed. Still nothing unusual underneath.

Transmission and motor seem fine, although the check engine light went which worries me. Sensor on the driveline? Was thinking rear diff, or driveshaft.

Any ideas? It's at my parents now, haven't had the chance to get under it yet, need to grab the older obdII reader to check that code.

 

[DragonHawk]

I'm far from an expert, but clangs and explosions don't sound like a sensor to me.

 

[slyman]

I'm far from an expert, but clangs and explosions don't sound like a sensor to me.

Right, I didn't mean it was the sensor haha, that was a second question, which was, is there a sensor downstream from the transmission that would've shown a check engine light or did the engine get screwed up because of the main issue, the explosion.

"Explosion" might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but something definitely gave way, loudly.

 

[Mr.AC]

Welcome..
Sucks to hear that. From what you describe, could be a few things. I'll start off by reading what the check engine code is.
If you felt it dragging it could be the brakes, or rotor/drum combo. Or it could be the wheel bearing.
Jack the car up, take off the wheel and inspect the brakes. Do the wheel bearing test before you take the wheel off. Look it up on youtube.

Post back if you can. Its worth it for some one else down the road.