suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Hey guys....Happy New Years first. Ok its been a while since I have been here but I got a new problem I would like you guys to help me diagnose with the issue. Now this only happens some of the time. It didn't happen on my way in this morning but it happened to me on the way home today. When turning the wheel to the right there are slight jerking motions in the wheel to the right. sometimes it happens once and sometimes it happens a few times. When driving straight or turning left there is no jerking. I have been told this could be the power steering pump going....is this the case? Thanks in advance for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_kirky Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I had the same problem once on an older wagon and about 100 miles later the CV axle broke in half. It was easy to diagnose at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Ok....I am pretty bad when it comes to cars. I'm guessing that by the sound of this, this is a very bad thing. What am I looking at to fix this? All the help I can get is appreciated. Oh yeah, this is a Green 95 Subaru Legacy with around 190,000 miles on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyhorse001 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Do you hear a whining noise from under the hood? or do you hear a popping noise from under the car when turning to the right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 I don't really hear anything. Just feel the wheel jerk to the right. It feels as if it is almost losing traction for split second but its not. Only seems to happen when im driving and turning to the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Scroll down and look at the "Similar Threads" near the bottom of the page. One of them reads very much like post #2 above; see: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24118 I'm not saying that's what you're experiencing, but it bears investigating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Are all the tires of the same size and properly inflated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 check your CV boots and ball joints - very easy to look at and see if the rubber is ripped or torn. might be obvious. does the steering ever seem to "drift" while you're driving? for instance while going straight it will seem to go right for a second? or does it have a slight delay in steering...turn and it seems to take a split second longer than normal? this would be warn out...or completely missing steering rack bushings. very cheap and very easy to replace. although it doesn't sound like you have these or other symptoms than when turning right. if it's only when turning right i would inspect the ball joints and tie rods. have the axles every been worked on - new boots, new axles, etc? and if so were the parts Subaru or other? if it's other - then that is almost certainly your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Tires are the same size and inflated to the right pressure. On the way in today all was fine till I started hearing a noise. The wheel wasn't jerking any but I was hearing a noise from the left side. It sounded like there was some snow/ice caught rolling around in the wheel well as I thought it was that. It never went away and seems to get worse when I was coasting down a hill in Neutral (Low on gas and funds). When I put it back into drive it wasn't as loud as it was but it was still there. It made it presence known for the rest of the trip. Sometimes it got a little worse then other times but for the most part stayed the same. The next crappy thing happened when I finally got to work. I pulled into the spot, put the car in park, let off the brake and the car started to roll back out of the parking spot. I put my foot on the break and put the car in drive and pulled forward again thinking maybe I slid on some ice. Did the same thing. Got it back to the spot and put the E-brake on and it stayed. So my Park is not working now. Is my subie gonna die? Please someone help me. I need this car to work a little longer. Is there anyone in the Tenn/North Carolina Mountains in the vicinity of Boone or Mountain City/Johnson City that could help a fellow out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 You have a broken CV joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 You have a broken CV joint. Agree, you need to get this car into a repair shop asap, before it strands you some where, or causes a traffic accident. Have the shop check for a bad CV joint. Your car is not safe to drive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 You have a broken CV joint.Seems very lucky that the failure became obvious in a parking lot, and not on a highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 WA if what you say is correct and it sounds like it is to me, how did this happen " put the car in drive and pulled forward" Would the AWD allow him to do this? If it's gone: first the car will need flatbedded second with the weather the E-brake may stick on. third it is not a real expensive repair (2~5 c-notes) Subaan this is a warning you may want to investigate this on your lunch break as you may need alternate transportation to get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 WA if what you say is correct and it sounds like it is to me,how did this happen " put the car in drive and pulled forward" Would the AWD allow him to do this? If it's gone: first the car will need flatbedded second with the weather the E-brake may stick on. third it is not a real expensive repair (2~5 c-notes) Subaan this is a warning you may want to investigate this on your lunch break as you may need alternate transportation to get home. Yes, the AWD will move the car via the rear wheels being driven. But the car will not hold in park, due to no pressure to the transfer clutch pack went car is turned off. I have seen these joints break with boot still in tack. At first glance the axle looks normal, but the shaft just spins inside the cup. First one was an OEM remaned axle installed 13 months prior to failure. That is when I stopped spending the big $ on OEM remaned axles. No, the car should not be driven, things can only get worse by driving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 " put the car in drive and pulled forward" Would the AWD allow him to do this? in my experience subaru's are not very drivable missing front axle power, i have experience twice, both in automatics. you can "move" them, but they exhibit very noticeable issues. i drove an XT6 around a little with one broken CV joint (BRAND NEW crap aftermarket axle a week old)... anyway, it would not drive properly. it would basically spin the front axle, then the rear would get more power and push it forward..then it would spin the front again...etc. it would rev, lock-up, move, rev, lock-up move...it's like the TCU was confused. it would move but not without noticeable confusion and erratic move/not move/move/not move type driving around in the parking lot. i got a 96 Legacy LSi this year with a bad front diff. it would do something similar...it would rev, you could hear the front diff spinning but not moving, then the TCU would kick more power to the rears and the vehicle would move. if you gave it too much gas it would spin the front diff...light on the pedal and it would maintain enough power to the rear to drive it. an interesting note for this guy - the ebrake, as WA mentioned, did not work in this Legacy. and certainly that would affect steering feel somewhat. but - i'm not sure how he keeps driving it without noticing anything else, that's confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 My point was simply that with a totally broken CV the axle would spin (possibly flail around) and the action of the car would feel real strange. Maybe it's the DOJ but that's doubtful. Either way... Mr. Suban need to make some arrangements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 but - i'm not sure how he keeps driving it without noticing anything else, that's confusing. He did notice other things. 1) Steering wheel jerking. Classic sign of binding in a CV joint. (not just a worn CV joint) 2) Nosie got considerably worse. When cage inside outer CV joint brakes, ball bearings no longer contained, total desruction of the joint is now underway. 3) Once destination was reached the car would not hold in park. Total failure of CV joint allows axle to just spin+ open front diff=car rolls in park. If there is any torque bind problem with the transmission causing to much power to be transfered to the rear wheels while driving, the drivability issues that you mentioned would not nessasarly be noticed. Have seen this also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 What would/should I investigate? I am 34 miles from my home here at work. Would I be able to drive this thing home if I went slow or should I really find another way home? I hope this doesn't cost too much as I am flat broke. This sucks big time. Anyone in the area of Boone, NC wanna fix this for me? WAWalker - There is actually some of that "torque bind" problem going on in the back too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 What would/should I investigate? I am 34 miles from my home here at work. Would I be able to drive this thing home if I went slow or should I really find another way home? I hope this doesn't cost too much as I am flat broke. This sucks big time. Anyone in the area of Boone, NC wanna fix this for me? WAWalker - There is actually some of that "torque bind" problem going on in the back too. I would NOT recomened driving it. That could very well lead to a more expensive repair. And if your flat broke.........................well. You said your not good with cars. Do you know what the front axles look like? These are all things you can try. It is most likely going to be an outter CV joint (closest to the wheel). If the boot is broken on one side or the other it should be obvious. Grab the axle shaft and try to move it up, down, forward, back. If the joint is toast, the shaft will move a lot. Jack one front wheel up at a time, turn wheel by hand, watching axle shaft to see if it turns with the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAWalker Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Oh, and torque bind is hard on axles. If it is bad enough and not fixed it will wear axles out prematurely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 The Boots are both intact. I have checked that out today. I actually called over to a guy who specializes with Subaru's and it will run me $175 each side to fix. So I think I am just going to figure out how to get that done. I should be able to drive it a short distance to his shop right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Oh, and torque bind is hard on axles. If it is bad enough and not fixed it will wear axles out prematurely. Is torque bind where when you turn the wheels when driving say to park in a parking space you hear a feel the back wheels kinda studder? How do I go about fixing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 He did notice other things. right, i meant with the transmission - shifting and such. but this explains that: Is torque bind where when you turn the wheels when driving say to park in a parking space you hear a feel the back wheels kinda studder? How do I go about fixing this? yep, that's torque bind. and this was the missing piece of information. this is what is causing your problems. you don't need to replace both axles, if money is tight just replace the bad one. when torque bind first starts usually you can change your fluid and make sure all your tires match and are properly rotated and you alleviate any further damage. back then it would have been a cheap fix. you can still try it, but by now the damage is probably done and a fluid change won't fix it. your AWD clutch pack is probably in bad shape and needs work. that's a rather expensive ordeal to pay someone to do it (roughly $500), the only good thing is that the transmission does not need to come out to fix it. the other good news is that your transmission isn't entirely hosed...if you did fix it and kept the fluid changed it may last the life of the vehicle. you have some options - you can run it in FWD - install the FWD fuse. this may or may not work since you've driven it so long like this. if it drives fine in FWD and eliminates the torque bind, then you're good. if it doesn't work you are essentially in "permanent" 4WD. you can remove the rear half of the drive shaft and just run your now "permanent 4WD" car in FWD. that's a FREE fix and the car will drive and perform flawlessly. i've done it. an even cheaper fix would be to remove both front axles and just drive it in RWD as it is. you would need to remove the outer joints and leave them bolted into the front hubs, but you'd entirely remove the axle, giving you RWD only. this would save you $175 for the front axles and "fix" your torque bind for now. you could easily drive it like this for a long time. i know people driving in RWD with transmissions that have torque bind. the FWD option is a better one though, i don't like the idea of relying on those clutch packs to continuously deliver all the power to the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Thanks to all for your help. I wish I had the money to get this car totally up to awesome shape. I love this car a lot and rely on it very much. Its just tough to find the money to fix it most of the time. I didn't drive it home and will be waiting till next week or so to get it fixed when I finally get paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suban00b Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 I got it to the shop. Should be able to get it on Friday. Will let you all know whats up. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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