My car has always had this jerky sort of heavy feeling when I turn at very low speeds. I took it to my mechanic a while ago and they could not find a problem. I have read a lot of the posts that talk about torque bind, is that what it is? If so, is there a way to explain it without getting very technical, as I am not a car person. How much does this cost to fix? (ball park).

All my tires are the same, it's an automatic. I've had the car for 3 years and lately it seems a lot worse.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Search the threads for torque bind.

Make sure all your tires are equally inflated and worn

First pop in the FWD fuse and see if it goes away.

Next step is to get your transmission flushed. After flushing drive in circles 4-5 times to loosen things up. This wil usually work unless it is really far along.

 

I have a 97 OBW got it flushed at 180K miles and it went away.

The 96's and 97's are more prone to this problem than the 98's and 99's (the model years for this generation). The center differential clutch pack fails, usually in the 120-140k miles range. I had to have mine done, but I was at nearly twice that mileage, so I really didn't complain too much.

 

Pop the fuse in the FWD holder. If it goes away, that's a pretty sure sign. Cost to repair, about $800 to 1G US. But do try the fluid replacement first. I know that my dealer said you could try some special lube additive as well (he handed me a bottle of something), but it is at best a stop gap measure. It may get you by for a while, depending on how bad things are and on how long you intend to keep the car.

 

Commuter

make absolutey certain all the tires are the same and pressures are where they should be.

 

change transmission fluid. drain and refill your trans fluid about 3 times to get it all out. one drain doesn't get it all out as fluid lies throughout the trans, trans cooler and lines. i do like 3 fluid drain and refills for a change.

also...

 

check your power steering fluid level

 

 

but yes, this is a symptom common to the 97 OBK

my 97 OBWagon has the same symptoms

 

actually, it's tranny swap time on that rig....

 

 

Jamie