So I pull into this parking spot tonight and my Impreza slowed to a stop, I thought, Oh crap I have a flat, but there was no flat. So I did my shopping and went home, but every time I slowed and went around a sharp turn the same feeling. It only seems to happen when I turn sharp enough to get into a parking spot or whip a u in the middle of the street,( which I did several time to make sure I was not imagining it) When I turn sharp from about 10 mph the car slows and stops, Straight it seems fine. I drove it 30 miles home after I first noticed it with no brake smell or unusual knocking, could it be the half shafts, tie rods, any ideas.

torque bind or brake caliper would be my first 2 guesses.

 

 

The usual question - do all the tires match, does the "AT oil temp" light blink 16 times when you start the car, etc.

 

 

Does one rim feel way hotter than the rest after a short drive?

 

Parking brake seem to be working properly(and releasing).

 

That kinda stuff.

Nope every things cool, same size tires all around, I don't even have an "AT oil temp light" But no engine light blinks at start up, E brake seems fine, can set it and release it and coast out the driveway, I'm going to drive it around town today and see if I can pin point anything else, but I guess I'm taking the Fiance Beetle to pick her up at the airport

there should be a fuse holder marked FWD under the hood. on earlier legacys it was on the passenger side near the fire wall and wiper motor. at some point they moved into the fuse box i think. i don't know imprezas.

 

any way put a fuse in there , any fuse, and see if the problem goes away. it will put your car in front wheel drive mode. you can use this to diagnose problems and when running on the spare.

 

if the problem goes away it's torque bind caused by the transfer clutch in the rear extension housing of the trans.

 

sesarch for torque bind and read up on it, it has been covered a lot.

Based on his past threads and that there's no AT oil temp light, it seems that Rob98obsport has a manual trans. If that's correct, it would of course mean that the AWD is via a viscous coupling, not transfer clutch as in an automatic. Since there would be no ''C'' duty solenoid, there wouldn't be the FWD fuse holder either. If there isn't a tire size or inflation issue and the brakes are okay, then the viscous coupling should be looked into.