barney0001

hi,

my 1999 gc8 impreza has an odd problem

when you apply full lock, park in a parking space for example, there is a knocking noise and the steering wheel judders a little. when driving normally its perfect.

i took it to my local garage, we got it on the ramp and checked all the ball joints, drive shafts, suspension parts etc. everything seems fine.

he suggested that it might be gearbox related, i not a mechanic so cant give much technical details im afraid.

does this sound possible? for anyone got any ideas from a similar fault?

thanks in advance
barney

M1BJR

Almost certainly an outer CV joint on the front driveshaft (lives inside that rubber gaiter right in centre, behind the middle of the brake disk)

Wind the front windows down and drive in tight circles (which will amuse the rest of the customers at McDonalds) until you find which one it is. Normally feels worse when you are steering toward the damaged one as the inner front wheel has more steering lock (and therefor more bend in the CV joint) than the outer.

When driving straight the joint is almost in line so you may feel nothing in the early stages. An inner joint failure (most cars have another similar joint where the shaft exits the gearbox) will often show up as violent knocking and shaking of the steering especially under acceleration.

Good luck, its a simple job for a garage but will take a couple hours. You can buy a refurbished shaft with new joints and gaiters as a service/exchange item from most good auto stores.....as its Impreza it wont be cheap though. Allow a hundred for the shaft as a rough guess...
Anyone ??

Steve.

richardg

think i've gotr the same problem - 35k mile my02, "clunks" when reversing off the drive in the mornings. does anyone have any idea of cost of replacement of cv joints?
seems to be a regular thing with every car i have ever owned!

M1BJR

If its just one or two clunks its most likely the brakes sticking on. Try not using the park brake and see if it goes away.... In damp weather or after a while standing the discs corrode in minutes casing some stiction, that will clunk when moving off initially.
I'd be very surprised at a CV failure so early on. With abuse they may be a problem at about 60k plus....

Bondy24

Ive had the same problem on mine. Sounds like a ticking noise when steer is applied.
Turned out to be the drive shaft CV, got a new drive shaft from a scrappies as they are expensive for a new one from a dealers. Fitted myself in about an hour....Sorted.

Bondy

sti 360

iTrader: (1)

mine goes clunk when i drive of the drive,and it juders under braking its starting to wear the tyre on the outer edge,is it the same as you lot
matt

M1BJR

If all related its either loose wheelnuts or possibly a wheel bearing on its way oot. You will discover one much more quickly than the other

Steve

richardg

steve - i'll give not using the handbrake a try when i get home tonight, thanks for the tip! obviously i will leave it in gear and i don't live on a hill, so there's no need for you to worry about me sueing you because i took your advice and the car ended up rolling down the road...
...not like my calibra did many years ago...

highlander

Barney,

If all the usual suspects have been checked by the garage and found to be OK - i.e. driveshafts, joints, etc...

Then try taking a tin of WD40 and spraying the silver shaft part of the dampers with WD40. This completely cured a ridiculously heavy knock in my suspension (which I would not believe could be fixed by lubricating the shaft and therefore the rubber it goes through into the damper).

I had the same noise you describe when on full lock - it felt like there was some slight movement in the suspension when it happened so I had thought it may be the brakes sticking - however lubricating the damper shaft did the trick!

I had a knock in the rear offside damper as well - this was also cured by lubrication!

Ken

M1BJR

Nice tip Ken, thats a new one to me also, you never stop learning eh?
I was surprised that the car just went on the ramps, you wont always notice a duff CV in the early stages without driving it, at least....

barney0001

Thank you all very much for the replies, particularly Steve (M1BJR) and Ken (highlander), your time is appreciated. I’ll get back to my local garage asap armed with this advice. When the fault is found and sorted I’ll post the results, hopefully this will help other people.

skins1980

what was the outcome with this mate?....i have the exact same noise barney described(first posting) in my 99 liberty.doesnt matter wether the car is warm or not........also seems to only happen sometimes.was thinking it was the cv,but would it not do it all the time if it was the cv???.....thanks in advance!

richardg

mine was obvious really - tyres freezing on the driveway, d'oh! been fine since and i've now covered 59k and no cv problems to date. i had thought of the brake corrosion issue and was pretty sure it wasn't that, but i did try parking in gear with the handbrake off and it made no difference.
haven't had the problem since a couple of weeks after my original post

skins1980

did it turn out to be a gear box problem barney?....i still have the same problem-only happens after i have driven over about 20 miles-never at start up....feels like a shudder and steering jitters......only when turning slowly-definatelty not a cv.have been told it could be the viscous coupling in the gearbox....have also been told to try a higher grade oil in the gearbox.would like to know what it is-anyone know what the highest grade oil i could go?...would 85w/140 be way too high?

jpiddin1

iTrader: (1)

Hey mate...just PM'd you with the following...if anyone else can comment I'd appreciate it.....

-------------------------------------

Hello Mate,

Was trawling the forum and seems you have had exactly the same problem I have. When cold the car is fine....no judder at full lock, but after a stint on the motorway it is really bad when parking....just as if the tracking was way out and the wheels are tramping against each other. I thought maybe it could be the grease in the driveshaft joints (had a similar problem with a golf gti some years ago). That was solved by cleaning & re-greasing. Been to a Scooby dealer and they are convinced its the vicous coupling, but cant explain to me why it only happens when warm.

Would really apprciate your feedback on what you found with your car in the end.

Cheers,

James

richardg

another 10k miles later (my odometer read 69,008 this morning when i got to work) and i still no cv probs.

ScatRat

iTrader: (7)

had same changed the fluid completely then was ok , simples

MrJim

i had this same problem it was the centre diff replaced it no problems since.