allwheeldad Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 99 Legacy GT, 420,000 kms, 2.5, 4EAT. While maintaining a constant speed on a decent road surface there is no physical problem, just a droning sound. Before wheel bearing gets thrown around I have jacked up the car a checked for play and listened with a stethoscope, no evidence of failure there. When under throttle the car will try to pull itself one way or the other, depending on the slope and surface condition of the road. I have also noticed that when pulling away from a complete stop on mixed snow / slush conditions the car will grab and pull to the passenger side. I have checked the ball joint, no play there. I rebuilt the suspension at all four corners 1.5 years ago with new tophats, so I ruled out struts as a culprit. Not losing any steering fluid and steering response is normal. Tires are all equal treadware, identical pressures all around. I don't have a lift so shaking stuff around to look for play is kinda hard to do, just thought I would ask here to a point in the right direction before I make the drive to occupy my father in laws shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 steering rack bushings can cause wandering. tie rods should also be inspected thoroughly as those are probably one of the most dangerous items to fail on the the vehicle. droning sounds like wheel bearings. EJ subarus are really strange, i've see a bunch that pass every single test known to man - stethoscope, no play, etc. sometimes a temperature gun will show it - drive for a while and then compare both sides. if one is notably hotter than the other then that might narrow it down. but that's really tough as temp's vary wildly on the hub/rotor surface. a quarter inch can mean huge temperature swings so you sort of have to take a bunch of readings and compare averages and highs/lows. even then a friend has a bad wheel bearing right now and the temp gun did him no good. they easily fly under the radar, i've found no test that can pinpoint them 100% of the time. but - i'd expect the wheel bearing to be REALLY bad if it's causing wandering. i've only seen that once and that bearing was unbelievably toasted, the car was not safe to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 It almost sounds like the AWD is not working properly for you. The pulling in slippery conditions make me think that your rear wheels are not pushing enough. Could be a weak transfer clutch pack, etc. When was the last alignment? Might be worth it to have it checked.... GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allwheeldad Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 I had the alignment done 1.5 years ago after I did the suspension. It has not seen any hard driving since then and tracks straight as any arrow on smooth surfaces. I too was starting to think the AWD might be having issues, but wouldn't that also mean that it wouldn't transfer power properly when the rear steps out? I get sideways often when there is a good amount of snow and I have yet to experience anything out of the ordinary. I can still easily control my drift angle with the throttle and there is no pull in the steering at all in those conditions. I'll check the tie rods out again and see if I can get an eye on the steering rack bushings while I'm there. Thanks for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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