My 98 O/B (Automatic), shudders whenever I'm stopped in drive with my foot on the brake. It's so bad that when I stop at a light I put it in neutral...which stops the shuddering. It almost feels like the Idle speed is too high but when I put it in neutral it's fine.

Is there some kind of tranny adjustment which can be done ??

your symptom seems unusual for 'torqu bind' but it may still be useful to use the FWD fuse under the hood and see if the symptom goes away.

What do you do to the FWD fuse? I have the same prob on a 98 OBW Auto.

Check your mounts too. Especially the tranny one.

 

Commuter

What does the RPM gauge say? If I recall it should be at 500rpm in neutral without the AC on.

if you read in the owners manual puting a 20amp fuse in the FWD holder (on top of the right wheel in 97 legacy) your in front wheel drive to protect your AWD system when you haev a flat. this woudl rule out probs with the AWD System in the rear

My 98 O/B (Automatic), shudders whenever I'm stopped in drive with my foot on the brake.

 

If it stops as soon as you lift your foot off the brake, you may have a vacuum leak.

My 96 Legacy Wagon w/ 4eat does the same exact thing. It only does it at a stop in drive doesn't matter whether it's cold or warm. In Neutral it purrs like a kitten. I've recently had Subaru do a tranny service which help with the shifting but not the shudder vibration. I've heard this can be caused by low or old tranny fliud but that's not the case anymore. How can you tell anything by lifting your foot off of the brakes? The car starts moving and the shudder goes away. As soon as you stop again in drive it starts vibrating again. A vacuum gauge would be the best bet. Is this a commen problem?

How about pulling up the hand brake, then pulling your foot off the brake?

It sounds like you have the exact same thing as my 96 auto legacy. I thought it was kind of weird/annoying when i bought and took it to subaru to check it out. supposedly it's the front axle shafts being slightly to much in or out of tolerance. As far as subaru new it had no ill effects except for the vibration you feel. It will go away supposedly if you change your half shafts BUT you can't buy remanufactured ones you have to buy the replacement ones they make ( don't know the part #, sorry) But it's just supposed to be only the front axles that have the problem.

 

-Mitch-

disconnect the line and plug it. Then get in the car and try it. Don't drive it more than at a couple MPH to test. If it is a leaking booster this should show you because the car would run fine.

2nd vote for front axles.

We had two 97 OBW.

One shudders at a light.

The other doesn't.

As the one that does always got 1-2 mpg better mileage than the other and now has 130K with no problems, I don't worry about it.

Originally posted by ShawnW

2nd vote for front axles.

 

Boy these are weird friggin cars. :madder: How would an axle shaft affect a vibration when the car is sitting still? The only thing in motion is the motor and the torque converter, right? Let's just say it's not a vacuum leak, wouldn't it still be from either the engine or the torque converter? Just trying to isolate the culprits. Does anybody have this problem with a 5mt?

it would make you think it is brake related.

The only vac component in the brakes is the booster. If he uses the emergency brake instead and it does not do it the booster is fine.

No it cannot be the axles as they are not in motion at a stop. Needs more testing.

Originally posted by cookie

it would make you think it is brake related.

The only vac component in the brakes is the booster. If he uses the emergency brake instead and it does not do it the booster is fine.

No it cannot be the axles as they are not in motion at a stop. Needs more testing.

 

Strictly speaking, when the car is at a standstill with the brakes applied (with the slush box in gear), the axles are held fixed at the wheel end _only_. The trans. is still trying to turn the other end, right?

the clutches taking up if the RPM was on the exact engagement point, but this should be the same weather you have emergency brake on or foot brake on.

This is another problem where you could make a heck of a lot more progress with the car right in front of you.

i am so glad to find this post. I replaced a half-axle on the front passenger side and immediately after it started vibrating at a stop with the brake on. Coincidence? I think not. Ran like a kitten before. Now it is driving me crazy messing with idle speed and sensors. BTW...no engine light and idle is at a strict 500 rpm with no problems at all starting. I think I have to go to the Suby dealer. Thanks for the post.

do you suppose shudder could be caused by a misphased axle? I have never heard of anything like this and I still have not seen an answer to the question of waht happens if you use the emeergency brake instead. This would at least let out the booster.

Nother possabilty is a leaky power break booster. If it doesnt do it with the handbrake on and the car in drive, i would bet its the booster.

 

 

nipper

was my first thought, which is why I wanted somebody to try the e brake.

i am so glad to find this post. I replaced a half-axle on the front passenger side and immediately after it started vibrating at a stop with the brake on. Coincidence? I think not. Ran like a kitten before. Now it is driving me crazy messing with idle speed and sensors. BTW...no engine light and idle is at a strict 500 rpm with no problems at all starting. I think I have to go to the Suby dealer. Thanks for the post.

Ditto with my 97 OB.

 

I replaced the front passenger side half axle in Aug. The work was done by the dealer and it was a Subaru remanufactured shaft. Now I get a bit of vibration when sitting still at a stop (auto tranny). Weird. It is more noticable when the car is cold. I haven't gone back to the dealer. It is not a "bad" vibration, but more than it use to be. Enough to annoy me though. Frustrating.

 

I too really have a problem understanding how it could be the half-shaft when the car is not in motion, but I have read of this issue several times over the years that I have been on Subaru message boards.

 

Commuter

spirits around Halloween. I really can't see how an axle would affect this. Now the torque converter, or anything else that affected engine speed I can understand. I sure have heard of a lot of folks complaining about odd idle and roughness in Subaru automatics though. Anybody that gets to the bottom of this is going to make a lot of friends.

OK lets try this...

 

You need another person for this (someone who likes you) and water spray bottle. When you can reproduce this condition, spray all the hoses under the hood with wither one. i would start at the power brake booster and work backwards. SPray everything and see if the way the engine runs changes at all. Check arouns the air box, intake hoses etc...

 

nipper

since I have a 5 speed, and all the Subies I have driven execept a brand new rental were five speeds I have never seen this.