crudzinskas Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Recently, I have noticed a small knocking/popping sound that is coming from the front end when I turn the steering wheel back and forth. It only happens (or is at least audible) when the car is completely stationary and does not seem to happen when it is moving. It also only happens right at the transition of turning the wheel left to right and not during turning in the same direction. Any suggestions on what might be the issue would be helpful. I still have about 6k miles left on the power train warranty if this might be something covered under that. I prefer going into my dealer as educated as possible, having a strong idea of what it could be because they are notorious for the old "that's how they all are" line. Or better yet, "We would be happy to replace it under warranty, but Subaru would never approve for the work to be done." (When replacing my head unit under warranty, which Subaru immediately sided with me after I had to contact them directly.) From my own research, I have really only been able to find discussions about this happening when the car is in motion, specifically when turning at low speeds, turning in general, and slowing down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubieN8 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Maybe a CV axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJ_Legacy Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 literally happened to me 2 days ago I suspect a bad tire rod, haven't had a chance to get on a lift yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 put car on lift and go under and inspect for loose broken or worn parts. I put my car up on a lift 3x a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crudzinskas Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 Reading more on the Outback forum it looks like this could be the potential cause/solution: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/front-end-rattle-clunk.377209/page-8 (Post #160) The TBS and the poster made it seem like the repair is fairly straight forward. It it written that it can be performed without taking the cover off so I might try to locate the EPS rack and verify the lot number next week when I get some time. It looks like my car is in the VIN range for this as well. Hopefully this is the issue since it's a relatively cheap and (what looks to be) easy fix that rules out any more serious/expensive suspension issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crudzinskas Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 I performed this fix from the Outback forum and it seemed to solve the issue. Very inexpensive and relatively easy way to rule out a possible axle or CV joint issue. See post #184: https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/front-end-rattle-clunk.377209/page-10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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