When I make sharp turns forward left or right and when I back up and turn left or right my car feels wobbly/grinding. My mechanic says he thinks it "may" be the rear differential needing servicing. I have 135,000 miles. Does that sound right? There is no noise associated with this sensation.
View 19 RepliesMy car is about 140K miles. It is a 2002 Subaru Forester. For about one month now, my car has this loud metal grinding sound from the rear of the car when I try to climb a pretty big hill. (The grinding sound is rhythmic, it is more like Click Click Click, but loud and metallic). After the climbing, the noise will slowly goes away. The noise never more than 10-15 seconds. The car functioned normally during all other driving but climbing this big hill. ( which I need go to through it at least 3 times a week). What could cause this?
View 2 RepliesI have a 2004 Subaru Forest with 181K. I have a grinding that is loud and worsening in the cold weather coming from the right rear of my car. Is this a CV Joint or a bearing issue? It is far more noticeable at low speed that high with the radio on.
View 7 RepliesWell, we let my son take our 2009 Subaru Forester across the country to college, and of course, the car seems to be having issues now. He says he is hearing a "sloshing" sound under the car towards the rear (cargo area) whenever he stops or goes over speed bumps. He insists that he has looked under seats and in crevices for loose items with liquid in them, and nothing. He also hasn't noticed (yet) any spots on the ground under the car.
View 6 RepliesWe have a 2006 Subaru Forester with approximately 118000 miles. My wife is the sole driver of this vehicle, we purchased it used a little over two years ago. When the engine is cold (only when it is cold) a loud "kick" sound comes from what sounds like the rear of the car when and only when switching from second to third gear. The dealership flushed and calibrated the transmission but the problem persists (albeit less).
View 5 RepliesI have a brand new (2 months old) 2011 Subaru Forester 2.5x that has a 4 cyl engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. This past week it's been cold here in New Hampshire and in the morning when I first drive the car, I have trouble shifting from 1st to second gear. When I shift from 1st to 2nd, I hear/feel some grinding noise as I try to engage 2nd gear. This only seems to happen when the car has been sitting around in the cold for a long period of time. Our garage has been cold (34 deg this AM) for the past week and when I drive out of our driveway and on our street I encounter this problem.
Normally, this problem only happens the first time you shift out of first and into 2nd. However, the other day, when it was very cold (5 degrees out) it happened several times as I drove down the street. After it happened the first time that morning, I stopped the car and drove from a dead stop, shifting from 1st to 2nd. I had problems 3 or 4 times trying to shift to 2nd. I ended up double clutching the car to avoid making the grinding sound. I took the car to the dealer. The couldn't repeat it but I didn't expect it to, because the car was warmed up and it was warmer during the day (low 30's by the time I got to the dealer that afternoon). The mechanic changed the transmission oil and checked the magnet in the pan to see if there were any metal pieces. He did not find any metal pieces. That was two days ago.
Unfortunately, every morning since then the car has had the same problem. Once the transmission has been warmed up it runs flawlessly and I have no problems shifting. I've made sure I am fully depressing the clutch for each shift. The past few days I've been taking the car out on an early morning test run and like clockwork, it has problems on the first shift into second, and it usually works fine after that. I have an appointment next week to leave the car with the dealer overnight. They will test drive it to see if they can reproduce the problem. What might be wrong? I have a workaround solution to avoid grinding the gears. I simply double clutch shift into 2nd for the first few times that I shift after the car has been sitting in the cold for a while. However, this is less than ideal for a brand new car.
I have a 2006 Subaru Forester with 115K miles. It's been well-maintained and well-loved.
For the past few months, the brakes have been inconsistently making a dragging/grinding noise when coming to a stop at low speeds (<5mph). It sounds to be coming from the front half of the car - I can feel it vibrating a little near the driver side. We've taken the car in to be looked at three times - each time, the mechanics think they've heard the noise and report there is absolutely nothing wrong with the brake pads or rotors. Twice they reported a shim was out of alignment. After the last shim adjustment, the noise got a little better - instead of grinding, it's more of a dragging sound now. Because the noise is inconsistent, I haven't been able to crack the formula of the conditions that produce it, other than that it only happens as I'm coming to a stop at very low speeds.
Is there something besides the brakes we should be having inspected? Does this sound safe to drive?
My wife has tribeca B9 (2006) and the rear diff light comes on when she is driving and goes off when she comes to a stop. It does not flicker and the elec connector looks OK, and the oil looks good and is full. Can this be caused by uneven tire wear or the rear tires being out of alignment?
View 2 RepliesI bought this van (1995 chevy van 20) last year and the rear end made some sounds but not as bad as its now.
So, after buying it I decided to open up the rear end and inspect for any damage to suggest it needs repairs. No signs of metal chips, nicks, or any wear on the bearings and gears. After a while of driving it I decided to remove the carriage and pinion from the rear end to give it a close inspection. After doing this and finding no clear sign of war or damage, i decided to replace the carriage barrings to see if that made a difference. After placing the new bearings back on the carriage, pinion back into the rear differential, and trying to do it all by myself, i lost the marks i had placed on the carriage bolts and clamps since I had little time to get it back together.
After that I had no other choice but to place the clamps bolts where i could estimate they belong. I was done, then drove it and some of the noise went away but a grinding sound on decelerating emerged. Well, now that sound is gotten worst and its more like a grinding sound. I can assume that not placing back the bolts and carriage clamps back changed the position of the carriage relative to where it was, but am not 100% sure. how can I correct the positioning of the carriage? if that is not the issue what test can i perform to find the culprit?
I have a 96 outback which all of a sudden has no awd. The rear differential looks as though it has leaked some. I don't know if it has a bad axle, or if this loss of fluid is the culprit..... Where to start?
View 4 RepliesI have a 2009 Subaru forester and the rear suspension really sags when I have my Bike rack on it. It's a hitch mounted Yakima rack that weighs around 50 pounds unloaded and maybe up to 100 lbs loaded.in either case the back end sags and occasionally if I go over a speed bump the suspension will bottom out.I have heard that some foresters have something called "saggy but" due to the suspension just being soft in general....
View 7 Repliesfor the past few weeks when turning corners the outer rear tyre is skipping as if the diff is locked. was thinking of taking it into the mechanincs and maybe replacing it, but now the problem has gone no skipping when turning. could this be an electrical problem mayb a sensor?
View 8 RepliesBoth seats stopped heating at the same time. The lights on the switches don't light up anymore either. Winter is coming to Colorado- where do I start to try to figure out the problem?
View 2 RepliesRecently had a quickie oil change on my Forester (manual, 118K, blue) and have just noticed an unusual noise. After I drive a bit and the engine warms I hear a whir or whine even though the RPMs are normal. What I've learned is that the whir/whine isn't heard when I first drive the car (when it's cold), it increases in pitch with increased speed, and is most noticeable at 35/40 mph and above. The noise remains upon deceleration but decreases in pitch, and then goes away altogether when the car comes to a stop and idle.
View 3 RepliesI have a 1999 Forrester "S", automatic with ~100k miles. This started intermittently but now is consistent. At about 45 mph or higher the rear of the car will shake with increasing intensity. It feels similar to a bad strut that allows the axle to hop. I have checked the balance on all the wheels, bearings feel free, nothing seems to be loose in the suspension, have placed the car on jack stands and run at 60+ with no vibration. My best guess is the carrier bearing or rubber suspension on the drive shaft. It is hard to evaluate in the car.
View 3 RepliesIt happens when I accelerate from 10MPH up to about 70MPH and then is intermittent at higher speeds. The volume and pitch of the whine is constant the whole time I am accelerating. If I brake while accelerating the noise does not change. It is a very high pitched noise almost to the point of being out of range for the ear to hear. The noise is so high pitched that it is hard to determine exactly where it is coming from except I fell like it is behind me. Cornering doesn’t seem to make a difference. I hear it most when I start my commute getting onto the freeway, I have also heard it when I do stop and go while running errands.
View 11 RepliesMy 1998 Forester suddenly began pulsing / crunching sound, from the front brakes. I had just performed full brake inspection 2 weeks before. So I removed the ABS fuse (20 amp), and the problem disappeared. Of course the ABS light is also on now, but I can drive the car. I disconnected the 4 wheel sensors from the car harness, connected an oscilloscope to each, and spun the wheels pretty fast. I get 150 MV peak-to-peak from each sensor. Must I replace the "tone rings", or just wire-brush them? Replacing the rings are a BIG job, and the wheel bearings & seals must be replaced, since they don't survive pulling out the axles from the steering knuckle (front), or strut assembly (rear).
View 3 RepliesMy girlfriend has a 2001 Subaru Forester. She just had a new clutch installed. When she got it back there is a chirping sound coming from around the slave piston assembly. The mechanic has worked on it several times and he can't figure out what is causing the noise. I can make the chirping start or stop by moving the fork on back of the slave piston but can't figure out why it is making this noise?
View 4 RepliesMy son has a 2001 Subaru Forester that has a 5 speed manual transmission (transaxle) that is leaking from the drive axles . The question is how difficult is it to change these seals?
View 2 RepliesMy son has a 2001 Forester that's engine will from time to time suddenly rev up while driving on the highway as if the clutch was suddenly disengaged. The clutch only has about 20,000 miles on it and there is no burned clutch smell. What else could this be?
View 7 RepliesHave a 2000 Forester with 114K. Had to replace driver's rear wheel bearing at 100k & again at 110k; when replacement bearing started to fail, ABS light came on because wheel was not spinning true! Replaced passenger's rear wheel bearing at 105k (this one is getting noisy now).
Hard to believe I got 2 "bum' bearings! Not a difficult repair, but this will be 4 bearings in less than 2 years. The car's driven on paved roads & with little load, so it's not from harsh road conditions or heavy loads.