My car has 124,000 miles on it. I can hear a sort of rattle from the right front at low speeds, especially when turning to the left. It may be present at higher speeds but masked by the increased engine and road noise. I pulled up the right front caliper but everything looks fine.

 

I notice that there is a TSB that might be relevant. It is NHTSA #625877 classified under steering. I can only find a summary of the TSB, which describes it as "REGARDING STEERING KNOCKING/RATTLE NOISE WHEN TURNING".

 

Does anyone have any more descriptive information on this TSB? Thanks in advance for any information.

How are your wheel bearings?

 

CV axle will click but I have had them do some weird things. Are all your boots intact?

Check your CV axles on both sides. This is one of the most common problems with these cars, and can do all sorts of crazy stuff depending on exactly how it failed.

The TSB has to do with the universal flex joint in the steering column.

 

I am betting you have a bad cv joint.

 

nipper

if it's more like clicking then it's a CV joint. easiest fix is to get a used axle or a new subaru, or MWE. do NOT, please do not, use any store bought axles. just do a search here to find out why.

 

if it's really a rattling noise there's a good chance it's a heat shield, that happens to just about every 90's Subaru i've owned/worked on/looked at. it just comes loose and rattles. often times it'll rattle at predictable circumstances too, particularly when it first starts. requires zero $ to fix, just reattach it or cut off the noisy part.

MWE axles are awesome pieces of machinery. Tell Marshall that you are a member of this board and he not charge you a core fee.

Thanks for all the replies. The boots are intact. I have tried jacking up the front end and trying to wiggle the tires to check the wheel bearings. Everything feels solid.

 

The rattle sounds too low in tone and frequency to be a heat shield, but you never know. You could almost call it a mechanical knock, usually periodic, but not always so. It does seem to diminish when the car is warmed up, so that is a worthwhile direction to explore. I hope it turns out to be a heat shield.

Thanks for all the replies. The boots are intact. I have tried jacking up the front end and trying to wiggle the tires to check the wheel bearings. Everything feels solid.

 

The rattle sounds too low in tone and frequency to be a heat shield, but you never know. You could almost call it a mechanical knock, usually periodic, but not always so. It does seem to diminish when the car is warmed up, so that is a worthwhile direction to explore. I hope it turns out to be a heat shield.

 

Just to put my 2 cents in....The wheel bearings on these will rarely loosen up. They will just get noisy. Thats what I have found anyways! Good luck!