Subaru - Outback :: 2003 - Steering Wheel Becomes Incredibly Difficult To Turn
Jul 1, 2014
I have a 2003 Subaru outback and sometimes when I go to back into a parking space or straighten out after pulling into a parking space my steering wheel becomes incredibly difficult to turn. It used to only do this when I was backing into a space but now it has started doing it when I pull forward into a space as well. This happens most often when I am driving to multiple places and have to park several times over a period of a few hours. I've monitored my power steering fluid and the power steering pump was replaced not too long ago. What's causing this?
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My girlfriend has a 2007, v6, Honda Accord. She had difficulty turning the steering wheel, accompanied with a loud noise. She took it to a local garage and they diagnosed it as a leak in the power steering hose which she had replaced for about $400. When she used the car the following day, the problem was still there and seemed to be a little worse. She called the garage and they said for her to bring the car back which we'll be doing tomorrow. Also, coincidentally, we saw that Honda issued a recall for this. [URL] ...... As a result, we have the following questions:
-Is there any recourse for full or partial reimbursement from Honday? After all, if we took it to Honda, then Honda dealer would bill Honda Manufacturer anway.
-Should garages be familiar with recalls?
-Assuming the local garage fixes the problem, do you recommend that we still take it to the dealership?
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My Outback gets the DTs in the steering wheel. 2003 with 300K highway miles. New tie-rods, brakes, brake master cylinder, alignment & balance (all from great shop with great rep) have failed to eliminate the problem. It comes on suddenly at highway speeds, usually in cold weather (below 20); but not necessarily in snowy conditions. Slowing down to 30/20 mph does not stop the shudder (though it slows and reveals itself as a fierce twitch to the right). Eventually the shudder is accompanied by a rhythmic scraping sound somewhere in the left front wheel well, which maybe is there all along but inaudible at higher speeds.
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I have recently noticed a noise that increases as the wheel revolutions increase (one noise per revolution). Seems to be on the right side of the car. Increased sound as I turn left. Decreased sound as I turn right. Could this be bearings or the CV joint?
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I bought my outback a few months ago from a dealer/mechanic who had fixed the car after it was totaled. So it has a reconstructed title, but it was hit in the back, so all the engine parts were unaffected by the crash. Since I have had the car I have experienced intermittent loss of power steering ability. Sometimes it's nearly impossible to parallel park or turn a corner gracefully, and other times, within the same short trip, the steering will be completely fine and smooth. I have had the issue looked at about three times now by different mechanics. Each time they have either replaced or tightened the belt, which temporarily fixes the problem. But within a few weeks it always comes back. Is there something not keeping the belt tight, or could the issue actually be in the power steering pump?
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Last week, I needed to move my Subaru from the driveway, it sluggishly turned over and started. Later that day, I went to move it back into the driveway and it wouldn't turn over at all. However, my dash lights on buttons were glowing. It then randomly started up for my husband a couple hours later and he pulled it into the driveway. The next day, he had to jump the car to start it up and he took it to the shop where they replace the corroded heads of the battery cables. Said the cables were okay and that the battery was charged (would a no-good battery show decent charge simply because it was jumped?). The following day, the Subaru started up fine for my husband who went to run an errand, but upon returning to the car in the parking lot, found it unable to start, again! I met him with our 2nd car and jumped the Subaru, then followed him to the Subaru dealer shop. Their master mechanic has yet to determine what's going on.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with ~140,000 miles on it. Recently, it's started having a problem, where when I make a right hand turn, it fails to accelerate until the wheel is straight...as if it's revving but not catching/accelerating until I've straightened the wheel and am headed straight onto whatever road I've just turned onto...does that make sense?
It tends to happen more at 1st start up in the morning...and then, once its warmed up it's not as bad, but still present. Left hand turns I don't notice it...maybe because they aren't as sharp? Also, fyi, the check engine light has been on for a while, but I know this is due to the catalytic converter..and am saving up to get that replaced.
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I have a 1998 Subaru Outback with 140000 miles. When I begin to turn the car from a stopped position the vehicle shutters . I can not feel anything at speed. The transmission appears to shift smoothly. I only feel the shutter when I accelerate and turn from a stopped position. Can it be the differential?
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A new issue has cropped up with my 2001 H6 Subaru Outback (which I believe is technically a Legacy). We've put so much work into this thing to keep it running and this might be the last nail in the coffin. However, what's going on...
My wife reported to me yesterday that the vehicle was turning itself off while driving. I was not in the car to verify any of this, so this part is anecdotal. After 45 minutes of driving, she said the engine was "hiccuping" and the gages were dropping to zero and then bringing themselves right back up to the current RPM and speed. She said the ABS light came on. The first time the vehicle did this, she reports that it did it many times in rapid succession. She described it as "the gages were going crazy". After turning around to come back home this happened once more, though not in rapid succession. It was a single occurrence of turning off and back on again. She indicated that the vehicle did not require a restart with the key. I suspect that this was because she was driving at highway speed at the time.
She brought it right to the mechanic and - as is the case with all intermittent issues - they were not able to repeat the failure in any way. So, being an engineer, I decided I wanted to experience it for myself and do a few tests.
Today I drove 45 minutes to work, 10 minutes of small town driving, 25 minutes of highway driving, 10 minutes of small town driving. Lucky for me (!), in the first five minutes of driving, the radio cut out, power steering died, and I heard fuses or relays clicking as I was gently braking and gently taking a right turn. I continued the right turn off into a parking spot on the side of the road and stopped the car. I turned the key to the off position, put it into park and restarted the vehicle right away. No problems. All was fine.
The vehicle did not do this again for the entire trip. However, I did perform some tests to see if I could repeat a similar failure with the ignition alone.
1) Turning the ignition off and quickly back on again by hand while rolling at highway speed (~55 mph) will cause the vehicle to kick back into a normal running mode.
2) Turning the ignition off and quickly back on again by hand while rolling at lower speed (~30 mph) will require a restart by turning the key all the way to the "start" position and not just the "on" position.
3) Turning the ignition off with the key (as in 1 and 2) DOES NOT cut out the radio. Note that when the intermittent defect occurs, the radio will cut out and then come back along with the engine and instrument panel.
4) Wiggling and stressing the keys to put strain on the ignition switch doesn't seem to cause anything to happen.
5) The battery is only a few months old and a general inspection of the battery terminals, cabling, and fuses indicates that everything appears to be in tact and clean.
I'm not the most experienced car person, so my terminology is probably a little off and that's all I have for now. I feel like this is a common ground issue and if I could only identify which ground services the instrument panel and radio and spark plugs I could inspect it and clean or replace a connection. My limited research reveals that there are many grounds throughout the engine compartment, though.
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My Subaru Outback 2016 less than a year old has a right turn signal that works intermittently. I can't come up with a Rhyme or Reason why it works or not. From what people have told me the fog light is doing the same thing. The Subaru mechanics are baffled and can't replicate the problem.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Outback Wagon. In May this year the OEM battery finally wore out, I was feeling poor so I bought a used battery from the local auto parts store. 2 months later, one day my car started chugging like it was having trouble starting and sounded like the battery was dying but then did start. Later that day it wouldn't start at all. Wouldn't turn over at all, but dash lights came on with key turn. Tried to jump it, wouldn't jump start. I bought a refurbed starter, had it put it, car starts.
A week later the same thing happened. Won't jump, no turn over, dash lights on when key turn. Had the battery tested, it was "good". Had the starter pulled, it was bad, put another refurbed starter in. Also replaced cables to the battery, and the clamp things that go on the cables to the battery. A week later, same thing, won't turn over, dash lights on with key turn. I was in the Costco parking lot when it happened this time, and got the tire mechanic to try to jump it. It jumped but was chugging like crazy and smoke came out of somewhere. The mechanic said he really thought it was a bad battery, that it sounded like the motor was trying to run off the alternator. I bought a new battery from Costco, and returned the used one to the parts store. When the used one was taken out, the mechanic said he could smell battery acid and it might have had a bad cell.
Now, the car will start when the engine is cold, but when I drive somewhere and it gets nice and hot (I live in Florida), it will not start again unless it is completely cold, or I get a jump. At least it will jump start now without a problem. I have had a mechanic use his little tool to check for computer codes, and of course there are none. I need to solve it not starting at all unless it is stone cold. My question is, what do you think is wrong?
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Our "brand new" 2010 outback (7K miles) was hit while parked on the street. Rear-ended on the passenger side, both rear tires and Left front tire were no longer vertical. The hit was also so hard that the front bumper had to be replaced from hitting the car in front of us. Luckily there was no frame damage, only tires & drive train. Almost $9,000 in repairs later, the car vibrates when turning at moderate or higher speeds (30mph or faster). The Vibration sounds like hitting the rumble strips on the edges of the highway and gets worse the tighter the turn or the faster the speed. When going straight, no noise or vibration. Mechanic says its a bearing, but can't tell which one because its not bad enough yet.
My uncle thinks it might be related to a mis-alignment in the drive train - possibly causing the rear axles and Differential? to be out of square with each other or how it is actually bolted to the frame. We have put on about 600 miles with no change except a fear of doing more damage. Are either of these on track? Or do I really need to bring it to a Subaru dealer/repair shop? (our local mechanic convinced us to let him do the work, and due to a variety of reasons we decided to go that route - hope it was the right one)
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Our 2000 Subaru Outback has just over 200k. We want a vehicle that is safe, but do not want to put a lot of money into this. At the last service the dealership said the left ball joint boot and power steering rack boots need to be replaced and the rear differential bushings are broken or loose. All of this would be > $1000 to repair. They said that the ball joint could get dirty and fail catastrophically and be a safety issue. Is that right or will the steering start to feel rough beforehand? Can we drive it safely?
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I have a 2009 Subaru Outback with 60K miles and this problem has been present since I purchased with 30K miles. When turning left or right over uneven surfaces (like washboard dirt road, potholes, or strips of Botts' dots in a parking garage) there is a loud, audible rattle coming from the front end. It sounds like to metal pipes hitting together. The noise does not happen when driving straight.
Subaru and another garage have inspected. Front struts and sway bar links have been replaced with no effect. CV joints, ball joints have all been inspected with no issues found.
I read on a forum that it may have something to do with the power steering fluid, that when turning there is uneven pressure on both sides and it results in the noise. Possible at the steering column universal joint.
I assume since it only happens to some Subarus that replacing the correct parts will resolve the issue.
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My 2004 Outback power steering was growling and squealing, but it was working ok at the time. I decided to replace the power steering pump before it completely failed and 3 hours later I was done. the growling and squealing was gone. However, when I backed the car out it was hard to steer at first. When I got going it all worked great, until I turned at the corner... hard steering again. When I got around the corner and up to speed everything is great again. The problem did not go away with time. Every time I turn at idle there seems to be no power steering. What is going on?
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I bought a new 2011 Outback about 3 weeks ago, and I have around 1500 miles on it.
A couple days ago I started noticing a clicking noise near the right-front wheel area whenever I turn for the first time after I start the engine (releasing handbrake, shift to Drive, etc). This happens only one time per drive, and mostly after I turn to the right for the first time. After hearing that sound, the next time I will hear it is only after I park and shutdown the engine and restart.
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Two different Subaru dealership repair shops told me that i have loose rear wheel bearings on my 2003 Outback. My car does sound like a VERY loud airplane all the time now, but the noise is the only symptom i have noticed. My shop has told me that they will fix it for a discounted price, but they are not pushing me to get it fixed, and have told me that it shouldn't cause any actual problems besides the loud noise being very annoying. All internet research to the contrary, though. I have to drive about 1000 miles round trip next month -- is it just going to be a noisy trip, or is something horrible going to happen if i don't get the bearings taken care of?
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I have a 98 Subaru Legacy Outback with 133K miles. It was leaking from the power steering pump and valve cover gaskets. My husband replaced the passenger-side valve cover gasket (which involved removing the air box) and the power steering pump (which required removing the alternator). When we put the car back together and reconnected the battery, it no longer starts! It "clicks" once but won't turn-over. The car does not have an alarm system (but it was an option on this model). We've tried jumping it. The battery is about 14 months old. The alternator is about 10 months old and the starter was replaced about 10 months ago too. We've double checked the wires that were disconnected and don't think we've missed anything.
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I'm about to replace my 2008 Subaru Outback's power steering pump. Only question is: How do I adjust the belt tension? Looks like the pump is stationary, and I suspect the alternator is the key, since the belt turns that as well.
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My outback has 57k miles on it and already needs the front struts and rack replaced (diagnosed today at the Subaru dealership). The car has been making a whining noise in the engine and has been clunking when making turns for the past week. I have also noticed it hasn't been taking bumps as smoothly. They told me that both ends of the rack are leaking and both front struts are leaking. My husband did admit to hitting the curb on the driver side front tire pretty hard while making a u-turn about a month ago, but all other driving is pretty standard. Yes, we drive on dirt roads in the mountains a few times a year for hiking, but don't drive in a manner that I consider wrong. Did the u-turn incident cause this? (hard to believe that would affect both sides of the rack and struts).
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My 2001 Outback has a jumpy thumping problem when making a 45 degree turn and when going in reverse. My mechanic has been unable to figure out what the problem is. It only happens once the car has been driven for a while
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