shmoeman

Hello, my wife's 2006 Forester is making some strange noises when the steering wheel is turned the left or right. It is most noticeable when cutting the wheel when backing up and going forward from a starting position. It sounds like a grumbling type sound. It is similar to when I would put my truck in 4WD mode and try to make turns in a driveway or parking lot. It acts like the vehicle doesn't want to turn.

I've had experience with wheel bearings in other vehicles and this doesn't seem similar. Plus the vehicle was just inspected and no problems were noted.

Any thoughts? Thank you in advance.

schan1269

You could do to rule out the actual steering...

Get a pair of those tire dolly's and put the fronts on there...(of course, leave car in park)

If noise persists, it is the steering. If the noise goes away it is more than likely differential related.

Since there is no "audio track" here for us to listen to.

shmoeman

Thread Starter

Good suggestion. However, it only happens when backing up or pulling forward at very slow speeds. The wheels have to be turning.

pleiad7

If it's not steering-related, it could be your front wheel bearings going bad.

__________________
-Silke
04 FXT PP PSM ~ "Subed"
98 Forester S ~ "Slynki"

shmoeman

Thread Starter

I'm well familiar with how bad wheel bearing sounded in my truck. When those went, there was terrible vibration when driving even in a straight line. This isn't the case here. Wouldn't a bad bearing be noted during your vehicle's annual inspection? Just curious. Thank you for the suggestion.

pleiad7

^^Not necessarily... when my front bearings went, it started out with a grinding/grumbling sound - first only when turning, and then when going in a straight line too. No vibration.

__________________
-Silke
04 FXT PP PSM ~ "Subed"
98 Forester S ~ "Slynki"

shmoeman

Thread Starter

I took it out and drove it a bit more last night. It almost seems like a slight hesitation in the wheels turning, like they are "grabbing" the pavement similar to what my old truck did when in 4WD mode.

It's heading to the dealership in a couple of weeks for the recall fix. Guess I'll have to ask them about it. Would like to know before hand though so I don't get screwed. Last time I took it in for the computer recall, the CEL was on and they told me it could not be cleared. Found out later that was a load of bull.

shmoeman

Thread Starter

Did some more searching and found posts that described replacing the trans fluid as a way to correct the problem. Others stated solenoid issues. I'm going to try the trans flush first to see if that helps.

neoshi

I have yet to totally solve this issue. Mine seems to be coming from my brake booster though, especially when doing sharp turns at low speed (e.g. parking lots). Changing the hose with the in-line check valve seemed to help some, but then again Subaru also replaced the entire transmission at the same time so hard to say!

__________________
05 XS

shmoeman

Thread Starter

Neoshi, mine is more of a tires grabbing on the pavement (ie not turning properly) than an actual noise. I can feel it vibrating the car.

shmoeman

Thread Starter

As found in another's post. It was torque binding. Being a non-mechanic-type person, I had never heard of such a thing. Took my vehicle in for an oil change and explained the problem I was having. (Small independent mechanic). I mentioned some of the things I have read on this forum about this particular problem and asked him to do a transmission drain and refill. It made a huge difference in just one draining.

I plan to add the Ford Friction additive next week (none in stock), to see if that improves it even more. Hoping this very simple solution fixes the problem. Appears to be so far!

shmoeman

Thread Starter

One week in, and my torque bind is gone. No grabbing wheels when turning. I opted not to use the additive as I read some posts both here and on other sites that did not recommend it. So two drains and refills in and the problem appears to be solved. Many thanks to those on this forum for their help.

forester06x

Hmm, I've been having this issue with an 06 Forester as well. It only does it during really hard turning at low speed. Ordinary turning out of a regular parking spot doesn't do it, it has to be a really intense turn like when turning out of a tight parking spot the car does the shudder and grumble thing. The entire car shakes, feels almost like the wheels are dragging across the pavement. Mine has 89k on it and I don't know if the AT fluid has ever been changed. I'll try a drain and fill and see if that works as I need the fluid changed anyways...