I have a really weird problem with my car. Every time that I apply the brakes, I get a bit of a shudder. It just started a couple of weeks ago and we checked the brake pads which were fine and the bearings were good as well. What could be causing this problem?
View 2 RepliesI purchased a 2001 Subaru Forester about 4 years ago. Within 48 hours of buying it from a dealer, the check engine light came on showing the PO420 code. The car was running fine without any problems and it was suggested to us by 2 independent mechanics that Subaru is notorious for throwing this code, so we didn't investigate it any farther besides doing a fuel system clean/flush that was offered to us by the dealer.
Lately, the car has started sort of shuddering during acceleration so we figure it's time to look into this more, but just trying to figure out where to start. From what I understand, this model has 2 catalytic converters and 2-3 O2 sensors. I've been reading as much as I can on the topic and watching videos trying to figure out our options and whether we should try replacing the O2 sensors first or just go for replacing the whole shebang. I know we cannot afford the pricey repair of it all right now so the car will have to sit for quite some time before we can do that; however, if we can figure out how to do it ourselves, we could get it done much sooner.
My questions are:What is the likelihood that this could still be an O2 sensor issue considering the shuddering when accelerating?
What other signs do I look for besides rattling in the cats to know they might be bad?
With the very cold weather I'm having problems getting my car to start again after it's been running a while--starts okay initially no matter the temp, run it for ~15 minutes then go to my first work stop. One hour later sitting outside in 0F and I can't get it to start, won't turn over. Just got a new battery, had the spark plugs/starter/fuel line checked "looks okay". Starts after it gets really cold again, needs to sit out for a few hours in the single or negative digits. Dealer is 100 miles away and I have not been happy with the service there.
View 1 RepliesI love my 2011 Forester except for one thing. (you all knew this was coming) it seems to take forever to warm up! My Forester has a blue light on the dash (Coolant temperature Light) It turns red if the temperature is too high and it is blue when the car is started and then goes out when the car is warmed up. To me, this seems to take too long. My Forester has 50,000 miles on it. The other day I timed how long it took to warm up. The forester sat at work for 8 hours. When I started it up to go home, (it was 42 degrees), it took almost 4 minutes for the blue light to go off indicating the car was properly warmed up. All my coworkers were long gone. I bought the car new and I intend to drive it for many years so I have been waiting for the blue light to go off. I get a hard time from friends and family telling me to get going...I don't think it takes this long for other cars to warm up.
View 10 RepliesEvery time I apply brakes I hear a weird humming noise, as well as no stopping power. Checked fluids and pads and everything is where it should be. I heard abs can cause this but not sure on that. I know my master cylinder has a very small leak but it hasn't lost any fluids of that sort. I'm lost. I don't know where else to look.
View 2 RepliesI bought my 2003 Forester a year ago from a friend with 90,000. I love this car, I put a new timing belt on it and off we went. The car worked fantastically from January to August 2011. One night I was driving to watch a show and rather then shifting into gear, it jolted. Pulled over, checked fluids and so on, car worked normally for a while. It started doing this more frequently. It has a hard time shifting into 2nd and when it does, (at about 40MPH) it jolts and same thing for third and so on. I took it to my mechanic but it never misbehaved for him sop I took it back and drove some more and dropped it off at a transmission shops. They get it to do what it does, ran many tests, decided it was the throttle sensor, replaced it, car worked great for two weeks and then reverted back to this behavior. Took it in again three times but they can't seem to figure it out. Anyway, I have taken the car to five different mechanics and no one can quite figure it out. So my car, the Diva, as I like to refer to her, continues to jolt to shift gears. If I put it into reverse it will shift normally until I stop again or slow way down. I am stumped and sad because I love my car. It now has 101,000 and I want it to be kind to me.
View 5 RepliesI have a 2003 Forester, recently noticed the front brakes locking up, especially on hot days. Completely immobilized car, to get going again I would have to wait for them to cool and/or cool them with water if pads smoking from trying to drive with brakes engaged, and tap on calipers and master cylinder to allow pads to release. Problem got worse as it got hotter out, due to job I rarely drive car and didn't get in for service yet. Last time pads burned a whole lot and braking felt odd (less pressure and uneven like rotors were messed up or pads burned up).
Took it into brake place, they had never seen before. When they inspected, discs were in bad shape with one cracked, but I don't think that was original problem, just caused by driving with them hot. Shop at first said fluid seemed clean but I left and later they said it was contaminated but I don't trust them. Shop solution is replace everything: calipers, pads, hoses, flush system, and replace ABS (the most expensive part I am hoping isn't actually necessary). I don't trust shop for several reasons including because they admitted having never seen this and seemed content to take maximum amount of money just to replace everything without knowing what actual problem was.
I recently moved to Pittsburgh where I constantly use my parking brake from Rochester, NY where I rarely ever used it. After I've moved to Pittsburgh (7 months after I've owned this 2004 Subaru Forester). After I drive for a significant amount of time (30+ minutes) and come off the freeway and stop or even slow down, the cabin of the car has a distinct, but faint burning smell. I am wondering if this could be the parking brake rubbing just slightly and when I slow down the smell stays in the cabin or if it is possible that the brakes are smelling (or something entirely different). Keep in mind that the smell doesn't happen when I only take a short drive, which is often. And of course, no I haven't taken this into an auto mechanic yet.
View 9 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 Replies2000 Excursion V10 4x4. I'm getting a popping noise coming from the rear end when I apply the brakes and come to a complete stop and when I release the brakes to take off. It only happens the moment it comes to a complete stop and the moment it takes off. Not when I'm putting it in forward or reverse or accelerating or decelerating. U joints are fine. I was laying under the truck poking around the other day and when I roll it back and forth in park the few inches it'll go, when it comes to the end of it's travel the axle wraps a little and it seems like the transfer case output shaft flange is moving in and out of the transfer case and causing the noise. I'm assuming there is a snap ring holding the output bearing in place. I didn't have time to drop the driveshaft but am planning on it this weekend to see if it still does it when I roll it and to inspect the transfer case. I need to check to make sure the driveshaft splines are not seized up but they seem to have a little free play to them.
View 2 RepliesI have a 2000 Subaru Forester S model with 143k. I have been chasing a front end shimmy since we bought the car used a year ago. I have replaced the front rotors, and pads, cleaned and greased the caliper pins, made sure the calipers weren't stuck, and had an alignment done. There was a bent front passenger wheel that I changed and had the wheels balanced. I have also checked the fuse for the ABS thinking that may have something to do with it. After the alignment provided no change I am stuck.
I just realized that I left out a critical piece of information as I was reading the posts. The shimmy is only under braking and is more pronounced under extra load such as down hill.
My door ajar light is stuck on in my 2000 Subaru Forester, whether the car is on or not. I had to replace the battery as it ran down the old one. Sometimes it goes off for a week or more at a stretch, but it always comes back on. As of now it has been on continuously for about 8 months. I have tried everything minus taking the door panels off.
View 6 RepliesI have a really weird problem with my car. Every time that I apply the brakes, I get a bit of a shudder. It just started a couple of weeks ago and we checked the brake pads which were fine and the bearings were good as well. What could be causing this problem?
View 6 RepliesI 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 2000 Forester recently started shaking while driving at highway speeds or while under engine load (hills, accelerating, etc). My first thought was that it was a problem with the alignment so I took it to my local tire shop. The car has 164K on it and has been without a Subaru specific mechanic since my last guy got fired a year ago, though I am trying to get an appointment with the only other Subaru mechanic in the area, outside of the dealership.
The tire shop found an issue with cupped tires (naturally they'd want to sell me tires) and told me that my passenger side rear CV joint was bad and they'd have to replace the axle. Since this sounded credible for the symptoms it was showing and they found me an axle, I told them to go ahead and replace it.
When I got it back the first time, I didn't see any great improvement in the shaking. I also noticed that they'd forgotten to put the bolt back into the bottom of my shock absorber. o_O When I brought it back to them, they fixed the missing bolt and agreed to keep it for a week to troubleshoot where else the shaking might be coming from. In the process, they replaced spark plugs and wires (which it probably needed anyway) and did an oil change, but the shaking is still there after all their tinkering. They suggested the problem may be in the timing and that I should have that checked out.
I don't think they're right about that. The vibration feels (to me) even more like a CV joint problem now than it did before. It shakes more violently and at slower speeds the longer it runs so by the time I get to work (40+ miles) it's almost constant. It stops shaking when you pop it into neutral and let it coast suggesting it's not timing or alignment - and making me think even more that it's something to do with the drive train.
My 2000 Forester has 96,000 miles on it. A few months ago, the CEL came on. At first it would turn off every couple of days but would eventually pop back on. I first thought it was tied to putting gas in the car, now I think it was just a coincidence.
Over the past two months, I have replaced the catalytic converter with a aftermarket piece (done by a mom and pop muffler shop) and replaced the front o2 sensor three times. The first two times, I used Bosch sensors from an auto parts store and had the code cleared. After about 50 miles the CEL came back on. Just yesterday, I picked my car up from the dealership where they installed a Subaru fron o2. After about 30 miles, the light is back on again. Code is P0133 - heated oxygen sensor, bank 1 sensor 1, circuit slow response.
Now, the dealership is suggesting I need to replace the catalytic converter with a Subaru converter before they can source the issue.
1996 F350 PSD 7.3
Front Dana 60 mono beam
4 x 4
Last week I broke my front right caliper. I replaced the caliper, rotor and pads. Now, when I apply the brakes I pull to the left. I took the truck into my repair shop and let them figure it out. They were unable to repair the truck. They replace the master cylinder, all brake lines, calipers on both sides, brake pads, bearings on both wheels, vehicle alignment, tire balancing and tire rotation. The tires are three months old. Prior to last week i did not have any problems braking or steering. Driving at 60kmh the truck goes straight until i gently brake, it will slightly pull left.
I have a 2000 subaru legacy outback with about 160,000 miles.
The brakes are spongy. The reservoir is full. I took it to my regular mechanic, and he said the lines are good. He also said that if it were the master cylinder, after pumping the brakes up the peddle will sink to the floor, which it is not doing. So he's stumped.
What this would be? I've had several scares when I had to slam the brakes and wasn't sure the car would stop!
My AM radio has terrible reception. There is humming noise that goes away when I apply the brakes. I will bring it to the dealer, but I know what they will say, "cannot duplicate problem" or "radio operation found to be normal".
View 14 Replies2011 Hyundai Sonata SE 2.4L .... I have 82,000 miles. Bought with 65,000 miles.
Now when I apply brakes at 60 mph or above i get wobbling (Vibration) on my steering wheel these days. Is it the rotors or pads or both or any alignment issues?
My Subaru was violently shuddering. I think the cold weather has made it worse. It seems to just be when I accelerate. I'm not sure if it's the CV joints or the rack and pinion.
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