Weird grinding noise from front

I was driving this afternoon and went to make a sharp u-turn at around 15 MPH. As I pulled the wheel all the way, I THINK I was re-engaging back into second gear and I also think I had the wheel almost turned 100%. That's when I heard an odd and unnerving grinding noise, as if the teeth or gears of something were slipping. I know that when I have the wheels turned all the way while parking or making a u-turn at slower speeds, there's a lot more resistance that I can feel in the drivetrain and AWD system. But never has it made any noise. Is this normal? Is this the non-electronically controlled AWD taking power away from a slipping wheel (possibly from turning so sharp)?

Umm, it's your steering pump over working it.. dont lock the wheel, or you'll burn out your steering pump.. many WRX and Evo owners killed their pumps by doing donuts in the snow over steering lock.

 

Keefe

Honestly, I don't think I had the wheel locked. The car has a pretty tight turning radius and at the very end you can almost feel the wheels shift in...if you know what I mean. That's not how far I was. I definitely didn't hit the limiter, that's for certain. But in any event, the power steering pump can make a gear grinding noise like that? It almost sounded like a lighter version of someone grinding (manual transmission) gears. And no I wasn't grinding my tranny gears!!!

I think that you should definatley demo this for your dealer.

 

It is not very common but the differential could be binding ......

as I said its not very common but just to be safe you should check it out.

 

Parousia

Hey, I'm also hearing this. Sometimes it happens when I'm turning the wheel on a >90 degree turn or just under hard acceleration from 1 to 2nd gear. I have a 5EAT though. Input please = (. This only happens sometimes, and it happens more often when I'm not travelling in a completely straight line.

 

During the school semester there were some back country roads and I heard this noise sometimes when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear hard (Sport mode), but I've almost eliminated it by keeping the steering wheel dead center throughout the shift. I'm hoping this isn't gonna be something I'll have to reach into my own pocket for.

 

It doesn't happen when I downshift, only 1->2 hard upshift. It feels/sounds as if it's coming from the transmission (behind radio console).

 

edit: actually, it also happens sometimes when I'm making a low speed turn shifting from 1-2

Do you guys think this can have anything to do with the thread "Creaking/popping sound....". I notice the nose lifts when I accelerate hard, and comes down again when I shift/let off the gas. Input please!

ok quick thing about warrant cases. if your car is under 3-year/36,000 mile warranty still all you have to do is goto the dealer and act like you know nothing about cars and complain about every little thing. They will fix the problem for free, but if you burn your clutch you'll probaly have to beg for a freebie.

 

Back to your question- its either brakes, wheel barring, axle, or a power steering issue. warranty it

 

 

Enlight : is could possibly be your Engine/Transmission mounts.

Creaking/popping sound....

thanks, it's probably just related to the creaking popping sounds. this forum is great

I had an 01 legacy GT sedan that had a similar problem starting at 70,000 miles. It was difficult to diagnose but was eventually found that there was a problem with the center differential and viscous coupling (sp?). Unfortunately/fortunately the powertrain warranty had expired and they were asking $2400 to get it repaired, so I ended up trading it in for a new GT.

 

The symptoms that I experienced were whenever the engine was warmed up (after about 35 minutes of driving) and I did a full turn in either direction I would hear and feel a grinding. It only happened at low speeds since the steering wheel had to be fully turned. If your still having problems have your mechanic check for that...

 

Good luck...

 

I experienced the same issues with my '05 Legacy GT LTD. First, I thought it was the clutch, then the wheel or maybe the suspension. It would make a strange noise turning around corners, hitting certain bumps, taking off from dead stops, and shifting and downshifting into 2nd gear. It has been at the dealership for 5 days now and today they replaced the left axle. The car has only 5K+ miles and it has also had the ECM replaced because the cooling would not shut off. This is my first subaru and so far it has been disappointing. Hope this helps.

Have the dealer check the cross members for loose bolts.

My 05 VDC with 1,000 miles experienced noises coming from the left front when making right turns at low speed. It sounded like there were loose rocks in the left front. After replacing the strut mount, strut, left drive shaft, consulting with Subaru and sitting at the dealership for 2+ weeks, thats what my servise advisor told. The noise has since gone away after the bolts were tighten. My alignment is now off a little since the tore up the front end, but thats another story.

I hope this will solves your noise problem.

BTW, the day I went to pickup my car another OB came in with the same complaint and immediately they said they were going to tighten the cross member bolts.

Bump, because I had the same thing happen to me on Friday. Any new thoughts out there? I was halfway into a 300 mile drive when I pulled into a gas station. With the steering wheel cranked all the way over at very low speed there was a binding/grinding sensation that was very noticeable: I could hear it and feel it. IMHO it did not feel like a power steering pump problem. It felt like a differential problem - I recall a similar sensation years ago when driving my buddy's 4Runner in 4wd with the steering wheel at max lock.

 

 

I could not reproduce this yesterday, but I'll have to try again, given mulliganvi's observation that his problem only happened after the car was warmed up more than a half hour. The only other difference was yesterday I did not have 3 other big guys in the car, so it crossed my mind that the extra weight lowering the car *might* have some effect on the geometry of the differential or half shafts at full steering lock... but then I thought if that was the case all the guys running lowering springs would be complaining about it.

I'd like to get some more opinions before I get to the dealer. Anyone have more information on the power steering pump problem? And if that's the problem, why has it just happened once in 18,000 miles? Anyone else with mulliganvi's differential problem?? Thanks for your help!

Bump. Anyone? Bueler??

Perhaps you rubbed a tire in the fender well with 3 other big guys in the car, a lowered suspension, and a tight turn at full lock. Have you checked for signs of rubbing?

 

It is unlikely to be your front differential. While a locking diff in a 4wd truck will bind in a tight corner, our open diff's will not.

My problem was finally traced to a bad rear engine mount. That was replaced and hasn't been back since. That was 12,000 miles ago.

Follow up: I finally got around to taking my car in to the dealer to have my 'grinding' problem diagnosed, and as I suspected, it was a differential problem. Mine was just like mulliganvi's problem on his 2001: it only happened after I'd driven at freeway speeds for a half hour or more (fluid HOT), and then when I would try to manuever in tight parking lots I'd get a severe grinding sound/feeling when I turned the steering wheel past about halfway while moving slowly. The grinding seemed to match the wheel speed; i.e., the pulsations would slow down as I slowed the car down when parking.

 

I took it to the dealer and described the problem to the Tech, who immediately suspected the center differential. Later he took it for a test drive and WAS able to duplicate the problem. So they have decided to replace my entire center diff under warranty. The estimate that it will take a little over a week for me to get my car back: they need to order parts and then it's a 15-hour repair job, according to their labor sheets. This is a pretty major Warranty claim, I suspect.

 

Dealer is also re-flashing my ECU for my Stutter issue (one hard hiccup under light accel between 2800-3500 rpms that occasional kicks OFF the CC.) Dealer says he can do the flash in-house now, rather than send the ECU to New Jersey.

 

I'm also having my driver's side interior door handle replaced for the 2nd time. It never seemed to fit quite right at the top of the handle and became a little loose. They fixed it once, but it has come loose again. IMHO, the whole door trim panel will need to be replaced, but I guess we'll see.

 

I've got a free loaner from the dealer: base 2006 Forester, which isn't bad at all. I was happy to discover that the LGT seatbelt chime disable technique works perfectly on the 2006 Forester, as well.

 

I'll update after I get my car back to post whether the new center diff fixes my problems. I'm expecting it will.

LGT is jealous that your Miata is your fun car.

Maybe so!

 

For some reason, my LGT has never felt quite *right* to me, so I'm really hoping the ECU reflash improves that somewhat. Part of it is probably the fact that this is my first Subie and therefore first 'boxer burble' experience, but I suspect that the reflash is not going to be enough to address all my concerns. Not to sound like a hypochondriac or anything, but I fear I may have the same throttle plate sticking problem that ilh describes in this thread: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24968

 

Mine doesn't seem to be as bad as his, but I've got some very mild bucking occasionaly at low speeds, in traffic, in 1st and 2nd gear, and the occasional stalling problem where the idle seems low and occasional dips WAY low between 2nd-to-1st downshifts at low speed. The tech was thinking maybe the O2 sensor was bad, but to me that sticking throttle plate that was discovered by data-logging ilh's car seems more likely to me. We'll see when I get the car back how it does. This was only a very occasional problem for me - not something I'd likely be able to reproduce for the dealer.

 

As I'm financially committed to this car for another 4 years or so, I've started making mental preperations to go to the Cobb AP+TDC Stage 1 map, just to get the engine running 'properly', but I'm not going down that path until I'm certain the dealer has done everything they can for me. So far, they seem to be doing a great job of addressing my issues, so I remain somewhat optimistic.

 

Oh, and the LGT shouldn't be TOO jealous, cuz she knows that she's WAY faster than the Miata...

Any update on the binding-during-hard-turns-when-hot issue? My 2000 LGT has the same issue @ ~65k mi. I have seen several instances of this same problem crop up on various boards - sounds like a chronic issue.

 

Thanks,

- Peter

Mine is the only one I've heard of on this board for the 2005+ models, so it does not seem *chronic* for the new cars. Mine's been golden since it was replaced under warranty.

I had an 01 legacy GT sedan that had a similar problem starting at 70,000 miles. It was difficult to diagnose but was eventually found that there was a problem with the center differential and viscous coupling (sp?). Unfortunately/fortunately the powertrain warranty had expired and they were asking $2400 to get it repaired, so I ended up trading it in for a new GT.

 

The symptoms that I experienced were whenever the engine was warmed up (after about 35 minutes of driving) and I did a full turn in either direction I would hear and feel a grinding. It only happened at low speeds since the steering wheel had to be fully turned. If your still having problems have your mechanic check for that...

 

Good luck...

 

 

BUMP. Hey all - new to the boards. 1st post.

CAR: 99 LGT 25th Anniversary, showing 87k on the Odometer, but I have a failed speedo head (apparently this is a known/common issue?) so true milage is probably closer to 100k.

 

Anyway, I came to the site looking for more info on Center Differential Problems and how to potentially fix them.

 

My rig works fine from the point you start it up in the AM until it's been driven about 25 miles in one sitting. As soon as this happens, whenever I turn the wheel in either direction, going fast or slow, I hear and feel (through the steering wheel) relatively loud *clunking* in a distinguishable pattern that changes proportionately with wheel rotation speed. I took it to the local dealer and they identified the problem as a bad center differential - $939.96 to fix. As they described it, when the center diff heats up it locks all 4 wheels in 4 wheel drive - much like any other 4x4 - so when you turn a corner, the inside and outside wheels are traveling the same distance - thus the problem. But, if I let the car sit overnight, the next AM the problem is gone and it's fine if I'm just driving around town, but if I take a 25mile drive, it comes back.

 

My questions: Obviously the problem goes away when the diff/car is cool so this is a temporary problem that happens, but that has a solution to it. (as in, it's not your typcial broken part that requires replacement to work again) Does anyone know of anything I can check or do to the center diff to help remedy this problem (with the exception of having the dealer replace it)? Are there fluid levels I can check or fluids I can change?

 

Thanks in advance. Glad to have found this board....

Interesting post....I have a smiliar problem. Under hard acceleration in a straight away and in turns youo can hear a loud clunking/grinding sound. I thought it was the rear diff. The dealer replaced my diff...I thought the problem was solved but it seems with my uppipe leak I lost some power so I wasn't able to replicate the problem. Now that they fixed my uppipe leak the sound is back again! My last resort is tu put my stock springs back on to see if its related to the car sittng and squatting too low.

Wow, ok, so this thread is 5 years old but seems to be the only one I could find that relates to my issue. I have an 05 2.5i 4-sp auto w/ 105k. Within the past 1-2 months I've been experiencing an irregular grinding feeling thru my steering wheel and floor/gas pedal with no noise that I can detect whenever I turn the steering wheel sharply (typically lower speeds i.e. a parking lot), though nowhere near lock. It started off barely perceptible but has steadily gotten worse, and it seems to be worse when it's cold rather than warmed up, which seems to be the opposite of what everyone else here has noticed. I think it may be the diff as I have plenty of power steering fluid. I haven't been banging the wheel on lock while drifting in winter nor have I abused it in any other way. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Wow, ok, so this thread is 5 years old but seems to be the only one I could find that relates to my issue. I have an 05 2.5i 4-sp auto w/ 105k. Within the past 1-2 months I've been experiencing an irregular grinding feeling thru my steering wheel and floor/gas pedal with no noise that I can detect whenever I turn the steering wheel sharply (typically lower speeds i.e. a parking lot), though nowhere near lock. It started off barely perceptible but has steadily gotten worse, and it seems to be worse when it's cold rather than warmed up, which seems to be the opposite of what everyone else here has noticed. I think it may be the diff as I have plenty of power steering fluid. I haven't been banging the wheel on lock while drifting in winter nor have I abused it in any other way. Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

Have you checked out your cv joints/boots? That's where I would start.

 

Mike