Hi all,

I've had this problem for a long time now - when I make a sharp turn, my car shudders. This usually happens when I make a u-turn, because then I crank the steering wheel all the way. I don't have to be turning fast. There is no vibration otherwise - only during these sharp turns. Any ideas would be helpful. thanks!

 

Hi Zora,
I have the same problem w/ my '04 sti. I am going in for my 30k service and I am going to ask for a check up. I just had a 4 wheel align and they found nothing. I will post what I find out.

 

Awesome dude (I mean, sorry to hear about your problem.) Let me know how it goes. Cheers.

 

this problem has to do with the dccd in the sti or with the transfer of power to the rear diff in the wrx. I have had this problem with an old school 96legacy as well. Have the dealer/service look at these parts as they are likely the source of the problem. It is a common thing with awd cars that see 90-100% street (not dirt) use.

On an sti, if the dccd is set to lock or one setting back the car WILL do this. (trust me, I've done it by mistake..)

good luck mate

 

I had new tires installed the other day and asked the mechanic to look at the center diff (just visually inspect it). He said it was fine. Now, the problem that you are talking about - does it require a more close inspection of the diff? Should the rear and the front diffs be inspected as well? Thanks for the help.

 

ahh, just checke d your profile and you are in a 95.. I had one of those and basically, as the car's transmission wore, it developed the shuddering at full lock turns. I went to subaru and they said it was normal. (this was a city driven car with occasional trips off road, and lot's of snow driving) The reason being that the transfer is being asked to cope with NOT slipping and wear creates this problem. What i mean is that since the car is awd, it actually prefers a looser surface, snow, dirt , etc. When the trans is asked to deal with grippy asphault all of the time the transfer gears will take the brunt of the difference in wheel speed while you make full lock turns, thusly wearing them. They told me there was nothing i could do about it. (From that point on I actually i drove the car in front wheel drive in the city and awd in the mountains til i had the tranny rebuilt) This occured with 80K on the odo and i got almost 125K out of that transmission before i had it rebuilt. After teh rebuild, guess what. Still had that problem. So i hope this helps, I would say a closer look at the tranny internals would be in order, esp the solenoids on the tranny as these have a tendancy to go out over time .

how many miles are on your car?

 

166K. :-) Should I be thankful I got it to last this long? Thanks for the detailed reply, it makes a lot of sense. So you think the problem is in the tranny, not the diffs? Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned this - my car is an auto, if it makes a difference (don't think it does...)

 

wow! yeah, i'd say be happy with that mileage! My 95 would have gone on to 250 if a drunk driver hadn't plowed into me and totaled the car. So yes, my 95 was an auto as well, (approx. 1 in 10 was a stick for that series) and the problem was in the transfer pack. I would say this is a condition inherent to all subies tho as my sti will shudder if i happened to leave the dccd in lock when on the asphalt (oops). Try driving a 4wd truck IN 4wd on pavement and you'll see what I mean. 4wd vehicles like slippery surfaces to run on. So in essence this is just a case of wear and tear . On second note, my transmission, once rebuilt, was fine. It still had that shudder on full lock turns tho. You can take the car out of awd on dry pavement by putting a fuse in the sneaky little fuse holder that says "FWD" (top left of engine compartment when viewed from the front, I think) this will take the transfer out of play and solve the shudder (albeit leaving you in fwd) this got me another 30-40k out of the orig. transmission before the main pinion blew. some would reason that putting all 165horses through the front shafts are what caused the tranny to fail but c'mon. It's a legacy with 165 at the crank. I took it real easy on the car when it was in fwd so i don't think that was the cause of failure. (probably taking 6 people at a time up fireroads with washouts in Norcal repeatedly was though......, lol)

my advice? If it's within your means, sell the car while the tranny still functions and buy a wrx or legacy of more recent manufacture date. Once the tranny starts doing what you have described, a failure is possible not long in the future. Speaking directly from experience here. Definately not slamming that year model etc . After all, i have owned a 95 legacy, a 96 legacy and now an STi (bought from insurance money from the drunk driver.)

good luck and lemme know if you have more questions mate

 

All right, I think I'll take my chances with FWD. I don't usually drive hard or carry many people. Although, I still find one thing strange - you use a 4wd truck as an example, but that has a locking diff. The Subarus are designed with city use in mind and have viscous non-locking diffs as far as I know (at least at low speeds.) Now I gotta think of a way to have someone crash into me, without getting injured, but totalling the car. Then I could get an STi - brilliant!

 

ahh, just using the truck as a example of the "feeling" and even thought the subies use the diff u speak of, when they wear, it feels almost the same (i gotta 95 gmc truck too).. and lol dont get in an accident mate...hahaha i would have kept that legacy forever just for the fact that i loved it so much....

but then i wouldn't have the STi.. lol

good luck!