97 legacy gt hesitation and now shaking issues..

[97scooby]

Hello all, I have a Few questions for you guys if thats ok...I'll give you the run down on the car then describe the issues...I recently bought a 97 legacy gt awd 2.5, but the 2.5 was replaced with a older 2.2. The car itself has 205,000 miles, but is in extemly good shape for the year and it being a maine vehicle, i'd say it never saw winter before i got it and this is the first winter ive had it. the 2.2 that is in it is, as far as i can tell, a 92 or 93, and supposedly had around 125,000 to 150,000 on it. I gotta say the car is in great shape and has run awesome thusfar, but the other day when heading home, the car kinda hesitated and lost power, its done this 3 times in 2 days so i put plugs, wires, oil, filters on it and today we took it out and it didnt act up the way it had before, it ran fine, but now it seemed to aquire a rather heavy shake around 45 mph and up..it was bad enuff to see in the steering wheel and could easily be felt by all passengers..i even stopped and checked the tires to make sure they wernt falling off.. it didnt seem to affect the running of the car or stopping but around 45 it would get a wikid shake like the rotors were warped or something..thats the only thing i could compare it too. its not a stopping thing, its just crusing along... We really love this car and would like to get this straightened out.. thanks for any info.

[johnceggleston]

just a guess, but it sounds like a front emd problem, could be tires, steering, tie rods, ball joints or maybe even struts, but they seem less likely to me.

 

but to be more clear. it would be helpful to know if it is an engine / transmission vibration or a wheel/ steering/ chassis vibration.

[97scooby]

to be honest im not sure what kind of vibration it is...im really starting to lean towards it being in the drivetrain but im not sure..sorry, im really not a mechanic

[naru]

Unbalanced or bent wheels.

 

Ice build-up perhaps?

[nipper]

Lets go with ice for now.

[97scooby]

I think Ice could be a possibility, We just had a major storm, and the car wasnt shaking before, just hesitating, I put those parts metioned on it and now, after the storm, it shakes....but i did have plow truck trobles and i had to blast the scooby thru a snobank to get it out of its parking spot, and i had to rock it back and forth 3 or 4 times before it came out. i was thinking maybe ice in a rim caused one wheeel to be WAY out of balance, but it has the spoked subaru wheels on it and i cant see anything big in there. When we noticed the shake, we drove for approx. 30 miles..I kinda thought that between driving and hitting maine bumps in the road would have knocked any snow loose..i would think anyway, but I think I will try to get it in my bros shop and see if i can put it on the lift to really see whats packed under there. as i said, i put the parts on the last time we drove it before the shake, and i had it on the lift for the oil change and i looked under it(probly not a hard as i should have) and didnt notice anything out of the ordinary..nor did my bro who is a mechanic..We were actually talking about what great shape its in.

 

I think its safe to eliminate the struts as they are pretty new.(replaced by previous owner shortly before i got it) they might have 6-8000 miles on them.

 

this is very odd, like i said im not a mechanic but I am from a family of mechanics and Im not completly dense on the subject, but I can say that this car DID NOT shake at all before, maybe a lil rough at a idle but nothing big, it was always wikid smooth going down the road and this is a serious shake right out of the blue, not something that has been getting worse and worse, always was smooth, started the hesitation thing, put on the new parts, now a super shake...I dont know, but I'm hoping Ice....I gotta get inside tho to help it out, temps in the single digits here today.

 

Im just starting to think that this is one awd scooby that refuses to go in winter....i think the previous owner babied and garaged it and its not happy with its retierment home...lol..thanks again for all the comments, thoughts and ideas!

[nipper]

Well have you ever moved Grandpa from Miami to Maine? The same thing

 

Ice in the wheels is a very common issue on all cars and trucks. There is someone on another list SCREAMING how dare the dealer sell him a car built for snow that has snow freeze on the driveshaft and wheels and he should not have to spray anything in preperation to avoid it.

 

I think it is maybe the third time of being on other people's lists that i actually called somone an outright donkey and if he was my customer i would laugh him out the door.

 

Once the weather gets into summer (over 30 degrees) and things belt, go crazy with a can of pam and spray the wheels, wheelwells and if you can the shields aover the driveshaft.

 

The suspension doesnt usually freeze up on these (some cars do, but hey it happens it is called winter for a reason) so that should hopefully solve it. Consider a set of stealies with snow tires for your area.

[logic23]

I had a customer do this ( rock in a snow bank)and messed up the ring and pinion... I keep it to show customers what not to do . could also be a tire with a broken belt. Jack it up, spin the tire and look for a bump in the tire. Oh winter fun times.

[97scooby]

I just thought I'd report that It must have been ice build up. took the scooby out yesterday and there was no shake. maybe very slight but nothing like it was. and since the tune up it hasnt pulled its hesitation trick. I did find a vaccum line unhooked when i did the tune up so i think that was the culprit for that. thanks again for all the thoughts and ideas.