Noise During Turns

[STEVE D]

I Own A 1998 Outback With 85000 Miles. 3000 Miles Ago The Inner Rear Wheel (during A Tight Right Or Left Turn) Would Start Binding Up And Make A "chattering Noise". Our Local Subaru Dealer Had Closed (there Are Not Many Subarus In Las Vegas) Unable To Figure Out The Problem I Took It To A Local Repair Place That Said They Worked On All Wheel Drive Vehicles. They Said The Rear End Needed Rebuilding-so I Had It Done ($1500.00) It Took 3 Weeks To Get The Right Parts!

After The Rebuild The Car Still Had The Same Problem! The Noise Would Not Happen When The Driveline Was Removed-so I Checked The Driveline And Found All 3 U Joints Were Bad-i Had The Driveline Rebuilt

For $675-the Repair Place Paid For Half Of That. After Repairs The Inner Wheel Still Chattered During Tight Turns!!!!! Then They Wanted To Take Out The Transaxle For Investigation (estimate Was $1800)-i Did Not Have It Done, Instead Took It To A Friend That Owns A Transmission Shop-he Would Not Work On A Subaru-he Felt The Transmission Needed Rebuilding. At Home I Replaced The Transmission Fluid (i Was Using Mobil 1 Synthetic Atf-it Was Changed 35000 Miles Ago)with Penzoil Atf And Replaced The Filter. The Noise Has Not Been Back Since (2000 Miles). My Wife And I Love The Car But I Would Never Buy Another One As Local Shops Will Not Or Cannot Work On The Car And The Nearest Dealer Is 30 Miles Away And Parts Are Expensive. I Have Performed All My Own Car Repairs And Maintenance For Many Years ,I found this car hard to work on and have had to special order most parts (eg transmission filter). Hope this info helps someone.

[NV Zeno]

Try taking it to Wally's, on Sahara (If I remember right). He's got a great reputation among the Acura/Honda crowd, real honest shop.

 

Was the Sube dealer on Decatur that went under?

 

PS: You need to get that car up to Lake Tahoe, more Subarus than anything else..and everybody knows how to work on them:) .

[STEVE D]

Yes - It Was The Subaru Dealer On Decatur-had An After Thought Since My Posting-now I Know Why The Subaru Spokesperson Rides A Bicycle.

Will Keep The Dealer On Sahara In Mind-thanks

Also Lake Tahoe Is A Little Bit Out Of The Way For Me- But Thanks For The Mention

[NV Zeno]

Steve, Wally's is not a dealer, it's an independent repair shop with an excellent reputation. I think they're on (West) Sahara, or at least on that side of town. Can't go wrong there.

[Reason01]

I had a chatter noise when I took sharp turns, like pulling in parking spots and crap like that. Both front axles were bad, Subaru tried to screw me after a week after I bought it and they didnt want tp replace it. They must have greased up the whole front end. So I brought my argument to the owner and he had both axles replaced. After that nothing but nice smooth turning.

[sea#3]

STEVE D

What you are/were experiencing was the AWD system binding up. Usually when you are pulling into a parking space or a U-turn . What is happening is the drive line is torquing up and causing the rear wheels to hop ( usually the one with the least weight )

changing the ATF helped , probably the new fluid being a little different viscosity than the synthetic

It's to bad you don't have a dealer in your area because there is an update on the clutch pack and the extension housing for this problem in the AWD

The problem may reoccur

 

sea#3

[timn29]

I also have that same noise with my '98 Outback. Shortly after I bought the car (4 years ago) the dealer replaced the transfer clutch(es). It drove and turned fine and quiet until a few thousand miles later the noise and vibration returned. So now I'm faced with this issue again with the dealer telling me it's the transfer clutch(es) again. I am going to replace my filter and fluid this next week to see if that will fix it like STEVE D.

 

IS THERE ANY TIPS AND TRICKS I SHOULD KNOW BEFORE I DIVE INTO THIS? OR CAN SOMEONE POST POINTERS ON SWAPPING THE AT FILTER AND FLUID? Any help and wisdom would be tremendously appreciated for I love my Subie and don't want to permanently hurt her.

[timn29]

I found out a quick, safe and temporary fix for the vibration during turns some are experiencing with the clutch pack system. You can override the the AWD system by inserting a 20A fuse in the single fuse box under the hood near the firewall on the pass. side. This turns your Subie into a simple front wheel drive vehicle...basically it's like castration, but it eliminates the binding-up of the AWD system till you can get the car into the shop and repaired properly.

 

 

Thanks

[subyrally]

chack your cv joints, what you described sounds exactly like a bad cv joint on your front axels. ive replaced many an axel. usually it starts with a torn cv boot, if and when the boot tears, the grease gets flung out and it gets dirt and road stuffs in it causing wear faster than it should. when it clicks around turns, its usually cause the axel has gone bad.

[timn29]

I'm 100% sure it's not my CV joints. When I tested my AWD system using the method I posted above that confirmed the noise and vibration is coming from the AWD system, but thanks for the thought.

[friendly_jacek]

I found out a quick, safe and temporary fix for the vibration during turns some are experiencing with the clutch pack system. You can override the the AWD system by inserting a 20A fuse in the single fuse box under the hood near the firewall on the pass. side. This turns your Subie into a simple front wheel drive vehicle...basically it's like castration, but it eliminates the binding-up of the AWD system till you can get the car into the shop and repaired properly.

 

 

Thanks

Acctually, someone recently (couple of weeks ago) reported here ruining the AT components by using the fuse for several months.

So, it is not as safe unless it is very temporary.

[timn29]

Thanks for the warning. I should have stressed "temporary" a bit stronger in my post. I do recommend that "trick" for making sure that the noise and vibration is AWD related though.