Subaru - Legacy :: 1997 - Metallic Clunking Or Cracking Noise Occasionally When Coming To A Gentle Stop
Mar 16, 2013
We hear a horrible metallic clunking or cracking noise - only occasionally - when coming to a gentle stop, like at a stop sign. The noise is coming from the driver side front and happens more often when the car is stopping gently on a flat or slight downhill. It does not seem to happen when we stop on an uphill. It does not happen during sudden stops. A mechanic recently replaced the driver side tie-rod, thinking that would solve the problem, but it didn't. The same mechanic looked at the brakes and found no apparent problem. The sound is very loud and sounds almost like something is settling.
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My '99 Legacy is far from quiet, but yesterday I heard a new -- and somewhat alarming -- noise.
Roughly two-thirds of the way through a four-hour drive, I started to hear a rattling or grinding sound coming from the front of the car, perhaps closer to the driver's side than the passenger's. It sounded as if a tin soup can or paint can were hitting the road, but when I popped my head under the car, nothing was hanging loose.
I hear the rattling sound as I begin to accelerate, and only when I have my foot on the gas -- when I let off, it's perfectly quiet. What I haven't been able to determine is whether the noise goes away after I reach a higher speed, or whether the sound of the usually loud engine drowns it out. The noise is most acute around 1500-2000 rpm whether it's in gear, or whether it's in neutral and I'm revving the engine.
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I have a 2008 Subaru Legacy Spec B. It is a great car, and I am very happy with it. However, it is making this noise and no one can figure out what it is. I have taken it to the dealership three times and the never hear the noise, and they can't find anything wrong.
The noise occurs mostly in parking lots at parking lot speeds. When I got over rough pavement or speed bumps, I get a clunking noise in the front drivers side wheel well. It sounds as if something is broken or loose at the top of the strut, right at the top of the strut tower. I do not hear the noise on smooth roads or at highway speeds. I can get it to happen in certain parking lots, but the dealer would not go to those places.
Recently I started to get another noise out of the same area. When I back down my driveway (slight down hill grade) and I get towards the bottom, I turn the steering wheel clockwise almost all the way so that I back to the right and can pull out to the left. When I get to the bottom at full turn, I hear a loud clunk and I can feel the car shift around a bit. I can repeat this over and over by pulling back in and then backing out again. It only does it when I back up to the right, not to the left. Today, It did it again but I was on a flat surface, which I had not noticed before. I backed to the right, turned the wheels fully to the right, and it clunks. It also clunked two more times when I shifted into first and started to pull forward out of the turn, almost like it was hanging up on something.
The dealer looked at the car three times. The last time they replaced the stabilizer bar links and bushings, but it made no difference. They say everything is tight and looks normal with no leaks. I am thinking it is either a front axle or front strut that is bad, but they can't confirm. The struts are really expensive on this car, so I don't want to replace them on a whim.
Important details: This is a 6 speed manual car. Turbo 2.5L boxer 4. AWD, with 68K miles. Issue was first noticed about August 2011, seems to be getting worse recently.
What this could be. I love this car, as it is a monster in the snow, which will be flying soon, and I really don't want to be driving with something broken.
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I have a 1997 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited, ~180,000 miles. It has been a good car but we've run into some problems the last few months. About a month ago we were driving back from vacation and experienced a loud belt squeal from the engine. Had a nearby mechanic look at it -- turned out it was a timing belt pulley which we had to have replaced.
Now, a couple weeks ago, the day after getting my fluids changed, I was driving over the mountain on another, shorter, trip and experienced sudden overheating - steam coming out from the radiator - lots of discouraging gurgling and clunking sounds as liquid moved around. Had to have it towed 40 miles back home.First thought being a Subaru person -- head gasket. A couple of mechanics nearby when I was broken down on the side of the road gave that as a preliminary diagnosis as well.
Unfortunately, we were leaving for a week on another trip, so I had to wait to have my car looked at until we got back -- about 2 weeks. Now my regular mechanic takes a look -- he says it isn't the head gaskets, but a hold corroded in the bottom of the radiator that the coolant is just pouring out of. Also the fans aren't working. F
I have heard that most people get their radiators replaced before it becomes clear that it is a head gasket issue. So I am very nervous that this issue is actually a head gasket and that for whatever reason my normal mechanic can't find the signs for because it was sitting for two weeks, or for some other reason. He's not a Subaru specialist. I asked specifically that he check the head gaskets and he says no oil in coolant, coolant in oil or sweet smell from tailpipe.
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I recently replaced the brake pads on my 1996 Subaru Legacy. I can hear a grinding noise when I stop. I checked the brake pads again but could not see anything.
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Picked up my MK6 GTI DSG last Saturday. I have noticed a slight shudder when braking and coming to a gentle stop. At first I thought it may be the brakes bedding in so I kept it over the weekend. By today there's still no change. Is it normal for DSG transmission stop like this? Because I have never driven DSG transmission.
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I have a '95 Subaru Legacy L Wagon AWD 5-speed manual shift. There a new noise that seems to be coming from the front half of the car. I can't really describe the noise, but it only happens when all three conditions are met. If they are, the noise is continuous.
1.) The car has to be in gear--not neutral. But it doesn't matter which gear. I tried revving the engine in neutral, but nothing happens.
2.) I have to be accelerating on the gas petal. If I let off the gas--even if the engine and vehicle speed haven't yet dropped--there's no noise.
3.) Engine speed needs to be at or above 2,000 RPM. It gets louder at higher engine speeds, but it's pretty much proportional to the "normal" noises at higher speeds.
What might be causing this?
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I have a 2008 LS460 17,000 miles. I hear what I would describe as a clunking sound and feeling when coming to a complete stop. The noise and feeling is similar to worn suspension bushings. I took the car into my local dealer. After inspection they advised me there is a problem with my car because they heard the noise and feeling like I described. They also stated there is "no fix yet" per a service bulletin for the described problem. They also stated they don't know when a fix will be available.
It appears to be getting worse and my advisor stated he has another customer that's been waiting some time now for a fix. I'd really like to know the service bulletin so I can follow through with the repair by simply asking "Are the parts available for service bulletin 1234 yet? Perhaps others are also struggling with the same symptoms and yet to find a fix.
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I have this horrible metal clunking noise coming off of my front end. I just had new brakes put on the car and the mechanic said everything looked good around the assembly. But now when I am approaching to stop, right as I apply a bit more pressure to the brakes before stopping, I get a soft clunk inside the car... but I feel it through the pedal. When the windows are down and I am going slow enough, I can hear it clink (clink, not clunk). It's a very metal on metal sound.... I thought of my control arms, however there is no sound what-so-ever when I steer left to right....
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I've had my Subaru for 8 yrs and never had a problem with the A/C, even in 100+ degrees of Arizona. I always had to turn down the temp. I've been in Maryland for nearly 4 yrs and it's worked fine even on very hot and humid days. In March I noticed that it didn't seem as cold as usual. I also didn't hear the compressor coming on when I turned it on. Mechanic checked it out and said the compressor was working but it probably just needed freon (I hadn't added any since I bought the car). They added a dye in case there was a leak and said I'd be able to tell in 2 weeks if it was leaking, but that the dye is greasy and might actually fix a leak if it's just due to a dry seal somewhere. They didn't charge me for the freon. (These are honest mechanics. I've been with them for several years and they've had numerous chances to bilk me but never have.)
Couple weeks went by and it seemed okay, though maybe not quite as cold as when I picked it up. Sometimes I'd drive and it would be very cold so I'd think it was fine, but a few minutes or some time later I'd know for sure it wasn't right. The weather vacillated between hot and cold too, which made it harder to tell. Finally the past 2 weeks it got really hot and I knew for certain it wasn't putting out cold enough air. Yesterday was in the low 90's and I was sick from the heat while driving. Only felt like a fan blowing. I left it at the mechanic's today. They just called and said the vent temp is normal and there are no leaks. They're going to check for an electrical problem, as I also have a brake light that blows on a regular basis. (Though he said those aren't on the same circuit)
As far as my operating behavior, I don't turn it on and off all the time, and once it's going for a few minutes I put in on recirculate. I'm the only driver.
1999 Subaru Legacy sedan, 160K miles
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So after hitting a deer in my car a few weeks ago I fixed it and drove it around town a little bit and it ran fine. But 15 mins onto the highway the next day it overheated. It was out of oil, which I had checked a couple days before when I fixed it. so after it had cooled down I filled it up with Coolant and oil and started driving it home. the roads where bad and I wanted to go easy on the engine so I took it at about 25-30 MPH. as I was driving it would slowly overheat, but I could get it to start cooling down but dropping it into neutral and just letting it idle while I coasted. I had to get off the frontage road and take the highway the last couple miles before town so I turned the engine off and let the fan run for about 20 mins, and started off again, the weird thing was when I got on the highway I was doing about 55Mph and the engine didn't try to overheat at all, but as soon as I got back in town and started doing 25 again it started overheating again. another thing that is happening is that the car will blow air through the heating system but won't heat it. I realize that was long but I'm really at a loss. I replaced the head gaskets less than a year ago so it's not from worn gaskets.
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Have a 1997 Subaru Legacy 2.2 liter. Having stalling issues after 20-25 minutes of driving. Will restart but gets shorter and ashorter intervals between stalls and then stalls right after start every time until in has sat a while and cools down. Changer ECU.
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I hear a thumping sound in the rear of my '97 Legacy wagon (Brighton model). The sound occurs when the car moves. Once the car has been running for several minutes the sound goes away. What is the cause and fix?
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All lights/radio etc. come on but my car won't start at all. There's a leak in the engine (see photo) and I'm wondering if this is the problem...or an additional problem and if it's something I could fix on my own.
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No white smoke, no water in the oil. I think the antifreeze is not circulating. thermostat? plugged radiator? faulty water pump? air blocked? I have had heat in the car when the gauge is on "H" and then cool air when in the same place. Have loosened the radiator cap and the engine appeared to cool off quickly then when it got up on "H" again opening the radiator cap just to relieve pressure did nothing.
The next time i let it idle and it started to come down, then accelerated to 2000 rpm and it cooled quickly. The next time repeated this same type of thing and did no good. Next time the gauge said "H" i kept moving and the heater blew hot air for 4 miles then it blew cold air?Start with a thermostat? Try bleeding the heater? replace radiator? take a compression test?
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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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There is a knocking, hesitation in the wheel rotation? transaxle?
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After having the wheels aligned, my 1997 Legacy wagon developed a vibration. It started to shake at about 60 mph. Now it vibrates when the car is "under load", going up a hill and accelerating . The vibration disappears on the down hill or decelerating. I had the drive shaft rebuilt ($500.00), and the problem is basically the same.
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My Subaru 2000 Outback is dying occasionally when I come to a stop. It will stutter and die. I can restart it and everything is fine. It does not happen everytime, but happens more when I come to stop quickly, less when I come to a gradual stop. What is this?
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My wife reported that her 2010 Civic LX sedan sometimes made a noise in the front, like cutting sheet metal with an electric saw. I have not heard it myself during several times I drove it. What could be the possible causes?
I plan to drive it some more until I hear the noise. What specific info should I note for mechanic to diagnose the problem correctly?
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What would cause the vechile to die randomly, while driving? have check all ground wires, coolant, spark plugs, air filter, and changed fuel filter. no check engine lights come on.
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