My Subaru has a vibration feeling up front while stopped in drive. It occurs whether if it's warmed up or cold and as soon as I creep forward it stops vibration. The car seems to idle nice and steady, I don't think it's an engine issue. 

 

I had one mechanic tell me it was an exhaust shield and another say it was the power steering pump. I trust the pump diagnosis but was wondering if anyone has experienced this or can speak to the validity of that diagnosis. 

 

And if it is the pump, should I rebuild or replace?

 

This Baja is getting expensive ... D:

 

 

When did it start doing this?

How long have you owned it?

Have you ever had either of the front axles replaced?

It's not the pump. It's most likely your front axles. Get some Subaru reman dealer axles. They run about $193 each retail.

 

GD

Thanks for the reply. I'm asking the previous owner about when it started. I bought it three weeks ago and have put maybe 400 miles on it since. I paid to have a mechanic inspect it before I purchased it but he seemed to have misdiagnosed everything he told me. It has 210,000 miles on it and all the service records I have from 73,000 on the odometer show no axle repair.

Do the axles have green painted inner joint cups?

 

GD

Do the axles have green painted inner joint cups?

 

GD

I'll check for green cups when I get back tonight. To my surprise, the previous owner said the car has ALWAYS done that. Since he bought it with around 70k miles on it. I can't imagine the guy just dealt with it all this time for 130k+ miles. He said a mechanic insisted it was an exhaust shield and that it never got worse since he had it. Should I reconsider inspecting the shields again?

Axles. You really need to check the axles.  If you simply google your symptoms you'll find a zillion axle threads EXACTLY like yours. 

 

Sure, maybe it's something else, but if there's a glaring and obvious issue - you should start there.  If you have a headache, an oncologist is not your first step...although it "could" be cancer, you start simple, obvious, and common first. 

 

Normally exhaust shields don't stop as soon as the car starts moving.  Even if they did - it is highly unlikely for heat shields to maintain the exact same noise for 60,000 miles over many years.

 

Seems like it should be pretty easy to differentiate exhaust shield over axle - I would not guess - look at the axles and do some inspection, a Subaru person could probably figure this out in less than a minute.  You can use your hands (quickly on a cold engine) or some tools - to pull, yank, pry against heat shields while the car is idling and see if you can: 
A.  hear and isolate the noise just audibly with your ears

B.  find it by poking/prodding/prying the heat shields. 

I wouldn't give too much clout to the previous owners description or memory.  Just investigate, this is really easy and not complicated enough to invoke 3rd party unknown skill set previous ownesr IMO.  If they recall replacing an axle - that's an affirmative and a good starting point to check.  If they don't recall anything though - it's not a verification of anything, you still need to check the axles. 

Exhaust heat sheilds make noises. They don't shake the car. The heat sheild is a few ounces, the car is 3000 pounds. That's just ignorant of physics. 

 

GD

Thanks for helping out this newb! I'll get under it tonight and start poking/prodding. I'll do a better job of searching next time. It's incredible to me that two mechanics that test drove and inspected it, one being a Subaru specialist, never mentioned this could be the issue.

I have a stupid question is how can an axle vibrate while not moving? Also does the car have that same noise while turning sharp to right of left? Not to get under anyone's skin just curious.

No noise when turning sharp left or right. I've done slow circles to check for that CV clicking and I hear none. However, starting from a hill this morning I heard faint clicking from the passenger side while accelerating so I'm assuming it's on it's way out now.

 

My next question is if the car has been in this condition for this long (as stated by the previous owner) should I expect any damage to other parts?

Edited March 22, 20179 yr by Bajajaja

If the axle has been replaced with a subpar part such as a "new aftermarket" or bad remand, it can have excess slop in the joints. This causes vibration sitting idle in Drive because of the joint play.

 

It doesn't do any damage if it's driven like that but it's more of an annoyance and can eventually cause vibration while driving.

Outer joints click and pop. It's the inner joints that cause the in-gear idle vibration. Check joint cup color. Green is OEM. Anything else has been replaced.

 

GD

Does the vibration change at all while in drive? If so, does it correlate with anything else happening? Do the headlights or dash lights flicker at all if the vibration changes? Is there a noise associated with the vibration? What is your idle speed or does the idle speed change or bounce? Does the vibration change or fluctuate while pressing or releasing the brake pedal?

Edited March 22, 20179 yr by GreaseMonkey03

Axle. 

 

Get a used OEM axle and reboot it:   www.car-part.com

So easy to check and stop all of the what ifs. Unless the op is colorblind (in which case, my apologies) 

Open hood

Look down at where the axle meets the transmission.

Is the color of the can at that attachment point (size of a large oil filter) Green??

If it is not green, that is your diagnostic test.

Close hood.

No need to wash hands. 

Order OEM or reman Subaru axle.

My girlfriend told me my St. Patrick's Day shirt was blue, so maybe I am :/ Lol. 

 

Black cans, not green. Looks like those will get changed with the rotors & brakes. Thank you for the guidance.

We knew it was the axles we just were trying to find a way to convince you. 

 

used OEM and reboot www.car-part.com

FWE makes great stuff in colorado but you have to deal with shipping and core

I have the same problem.... When stopped in drive, I get the ,"rumble", "shake" in the steering wheel, turn the wheel it stops for moment. Immediately knew it the the half shafts. Thx for the confirmation, I changed, rebuilt, bought a bunch in the past with my Honda.... What I dont get is why y'all asking about green barrels?

Edited March 30, 20179 yr by IXION

Green is the color of the original OEM installed Subaru axles. 

 

Those last the life of the vehicle - it is frankly...well....it's actually...stupid...to replace the OEM axles since they last the life of the vehicles.  Mechanics do it because it's easier and they make more money even though it's no more expensive to just reboot an axle rather than replace it with cheap aftermarkets. 

 

If you have to replace an axle: 
www.car-part.com and buy a $15 OEM axle that will last forever. 

Best of all possible worlds--at least theoretically:

 

1)  Buy one used genuine Subaru axle, per grossgary's suggestion,  and re-grease/re-boot it immediately.  Install it on your car.

 

2)  Re-grease/re-boot the take-off axle and install it on the other side.

 

3)  Re-grease/re-boot the 3rd axle and set it aside as a spare.

 

That way you can work at your own speed, do it at the least expense possible--and sleep better!