Subaru - Forester :: 2002 - Loud Metal Grinding Sound When Going Uphill
Oct 27, 2011
My 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?
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I have about 200k on my forester. Friday when I was leaving work I cranked it up and it made a loud knocking sort of sound. I drove it home (about 15 miles) and on the way the sound lessened. It was louder when the car was idling but she made it home ok. Next day, started the car and it happened again. Not more than 50 feet up the road we stopped at a stop sign and it sounded like a semi was starting up around the corner. Much to my dismay it was not a semi but my own car. Engine shut off. We pushed it back to the house and tried to check it out the next day. This time, we started it, didn't go anywhere, and within 30 seconds it turned off. Same loud knocking sort of sound. The confusing part is that all of this happened within two days. There was no gentle sound leading up to it for a few weeks or even a few days. Knocked on Friday, shut off on Saturday. What could be going on?
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I 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.
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I bought this truck about 8 months ago, and replaced the EVAC system right off. Now, it's doing this thing where, when driving uphill, it chugs and makes a loud metal clunking sound. Also, as I slow, it tries to accelerate on its own (with my foot on the brake), and if I sit for too long at a stop (idling), it dies. Starts right up again, but it sucks having to start my truck on the freeway in slow/stopped conditions. Is it my fuel pump or my transmission?
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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.
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Mr Squeaky is a 2003 Subaru Legacy
Here are the signs and symptoms that my car wants to die. The car makes sound like grinding metal after I drive it for a good 10-15 miles. It starts up when I turn to the right. It does not seem to matter how slight the turn to the right is but it seems to not start up until I head in that direction a little bit. Once it gets going, it does not stop, and squeals incessantly. I can make it stop by putting my foot on the brakes but the noise almost always starts right back up as soon as I take my foot off the brake. Speed of travel seems to have no effect on this noise. If I park my car for 5 min and then drive away, again the noise normally goes away. My heat gauge never goes into the oh crap zone, and my mechanics swear my brakes are good.
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We 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).
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When I start my Subaru 2001 Outback, it makes an awful sound. Not as much as a screech, but more like a loud grinding, and then it wanes and goes away after about a minute. Then when the car is warm, the sound is all about gone. It's been going on for a few weeks now and wasn't there before.
Listen to the audio file below.
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Yesterday, I noticed a rattling sound coming from the entire car a 2002 subaru outback 2.5l 4 cylander (it seems a bit louder on the passenger side but it literally can be heard throughout the car). I was on the expressway and got off and stopped at a red light when the check engine light came on and started to flash and the rpm's dropped rapidly and the needle began to bounce up and down. I pulled into a gas station to check it out more and popped the hood to find that when the car is rattling it is also shaking and rocking the engine of the car from side to side slightly.
When I'm idling the rpm's drop and the car feels like it is going to stall out. Then, as I accelerate, the rpm's barely go above 2000 and jump up quickly between 3000 & 4000. It sounds like a metal on metal rattle with a very slight high pitched whistle and you can hear a fan kick on and the engine try to keep the rpm's up every couple of seconds when the car is stopped. I had the timing belts replaced 2 years ago and it sounds very similar to how it did when they needed to be changed, however, the engine never felt like it was going to stall until yesterday.
When idling the noise gets louder and when accelerating it can still be heard but barely. Also, the rattling has caused the entire car to vibrate all of the time. I noticed yesterday that the oil was low and topped it off, but I don't think that would cause such a hige issue so quickly. When I go uphill, i have a good amount of power but every 30 second or so the car shifts and the rpm's jump lurching the car forward because of the surge of power. Also, when I hit the brakes, my rpm's jump slightly to about halfway above the 1 but the engine does not accelerate.
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My husband (yes, him not me) drove my car (2009 Subaru Forester) last night and admitted this morning to enjoying driving through numerous puddles. I'm pretty sure it was more of a rally-car type of driving, not the careful-who-knows-what-is-in-this-puddle type. The car wasn't driven since then, until this evening. I backed out of the driveway- no issues. I started to pull forward and there was a horrible screeching noise. I stopped, backed up & pulled forward again- nothing. So I drove to the end of the block, still nothing.
Pulling away from the stop sign- screeching again. My first thought was metal was dragging on the ground- nope. Turned around & went back home, inspected the car- nothing seems loose or out of place. It seems I can get the noise to happen if I accelerate normally from a stopped position, but if I start out very gingerly its okay. It happens between 1500 & 2000 RPMs, the wheels can be straight or turned.
We pulled off the rear passenger wheel (where the noise seemed to come from) and noticed the nut/bolt thing that is in the center of the bolts for the lug nuts (on the break assembly- I think) is damaged. There is a bright blue mark on it and a divot in the metal. This is the only damage we can see. With the wheel on, it is covered by the center of the hub cap.
My car is a manual transmission and the breaks have never been in use when the noise happens. What could cause the noise...
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This morning on my way to work, pulling into the parking lot around 20mph. I hear a metal on metal grinding noise. (almost to the sound of a muffler dragging on the ground type noise). Then that disappears for a bit, hear a loud metal clunk then some high pitched sound. All within say 30 seconds. Definitely coming from the back, but can not tell from which side.
Things I've checked in the parking lot:
Nothing hanging low, exhaust seems in-tact
It doesn't look like the brake shields behind the rotors are bent or touching
Sounds still happening if on or off brakes , on or off throttle.
It seemed to happen only at lower speeds. Disappeared once I got up to 50mph
Just took it out for a drive, that loud metal clunk happened when I put it into reverse, drove around, no other sounds. I just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling that this will just disappear.
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I 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.
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I applied brakes while car was moving slowly, less than 10 mph, and heard loud grinding sound coming from left front as car stopped. Shifted to reverse and car barely moved, less than 1 foot, which was accompanied by the loud grinding sound, then stopped. I could find nothing interfering with the wheels but did find pieces of brake pad on the ground along the path the left front wheel had followed. The left front wheel appeared as if the calipers were holding whatever remained of the brake pad and/or backing tight against the rotor. brake pad fell apart on 2002 at 43,561 miles...
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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?
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I have a 2006 Subaru Forester automatic with about 40,000 miles on it. When it gets cold out, I notice that when I first start driving the car, it jerks/lurches and makes a loud noise when shifting from first to second and second to third. When the car warms up after driving for awhile, it doesn't do it anymore. It's much colder here (high today of zero), the car is doing this much more often. I brought it to the dealer and they completely flushed the transmission fluid (which they said looked yellow instead of red/orange??), but it is still making the noise and having trouble shifting in the cold. They said need to take the transmission apart, so I've been leary about taking it back. My husband thinks I should just drive it until it dies and then get a new transmission if needed.
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On my 2002 Subaru Forester (137,000 m), the check engine light came on. They diagnosed and repaired O2 sensor. About 300 miles later it came on again, this time they said the catalytic converter was cooked, and they blamed whatever caused the O2 sensor to fail (or the O2 sensor failure itself). After the repair (about $1300 and 30 miles later), I discovered that the engine oil was so low that it was not showing up on the dipstick (tho the oil light was not yet on). The shop (after admitting that they did not check the oil while it was in there) said it was related to catalytic converter failure. Does this make sense? I have only gone another 60 miles since the oil was refilled, but so far it looks OK. Should I be on the look-out for anything else?
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Engine light came on two weeks ago. Had the code read at Advance Auto Parts. Code = P0420. The only performance issue was that it stalled when I started it the other day for the first time since I bought it last fall. Are there any other clues to tell what it could mean (catalytic converter vs. 02 sensor vs. anything else)? Is it really worth trying some kind of catalytic converter cleaner product?
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I have a 2002 subaru forester that will stutter and backfire without throwing a code, but not all the time. i have had it hooked up to a computer to check the O2 sensors and they are fine, it has a new Throttle position sensor, knock sensor, plugs, and catalytic converters (all put on in the last month). I have called a dealership and they have not heard of this happening, so this is my last resort.
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my girlfriend has a 2002 forester and it is making a very loud noise while driving, sounds like a helicopter coming from the front/right. when you let off the accelerator it changes pitch and sounds like more towards the middle...checked for axle play or anything rubbing and things look ok...very confused, i'm a former VW tech and i've never heard this noise before
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I've a 2002 Subaru Forester, manual transmission. The gear shifter is very loose. While in any gear, the shifter can move to anywhere. For example, when in second gear making a left turn, the gear shifter will flop to the right side near where third or fourth gear are. This doesn't change the gear of operation that the car is in. It just makes it a bit of a challenge to find where the gears are. Sometimes it is a challenge to find reverse.
We've had the shifter bushings replaced and that tightened things somewhat. But it is still very loose.
Mechanics have said that there is nothing wrong with the motion or the way the linkage operates the transmission. So the problem seems to be in the gear shifter.
Is this common on this car?Is it a sign of a bigger problem?What can be done about it?
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Out of the blue, our Headlights and Parking Lights would not switch on. Checked the fuses--OK. Tested the Relays--OK. Tried a used switch from my mechanic--no change. In the course of doing that, the Parking Lights came on and would not turn off. Tried disconnecting battery, locking/unlocking with the remote and starting it with the remote--no effect. Had to remove lightswitch 20A fuse to turn the P-lights off. Signals still work ok--with either switch. The car does have a HarmonKardon satellite radio which I've never used but have to turn off every time I start the car. I believe it has some sort of security system which annoyingly flashes a red button which sticks out of the dash.
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