J
Jason Nugent
Greetings,
Three weeks ago, I purchased a 1998 Forester S with 116K km's on it.
I test drove it several times, had a trusted mechanic look at it, and
he also test drove it. Feeling good about the purchase, I went ahead
and bought it.
A few days after I purchased it, it began making a vibration noise
(it's an automatic) that *only* occurs at 40-45 km/h. It doesn't
matter if I'm braking, accelerating, or coasting in neutral. The
noise does not occur when the car is wet (driving in the rain, for
example), so it sounds like something, some place, is rubbing and at
that speed there is a a harmonic vibration some place. It's extremely
loud when it does occur, but so far, no one has been able to find
where it is. We've tightened all the various heat shields, we've had
the exhaust system completely off the car, we have examined the
bearings in the hubs and the axles, I've put new tires on, aligned the
suspension, balanced the wheels, etc, but nothing has solved this
problem. Obviously, my test drives occurred on days when it was
raining. It rains a fair bit around here.
It seems to originate from the rear passenger area, but it's very
difficult to pinpoint because you can't reproduce it on a hoist,
obviously, and once the car is vibrating, the entire cabin resonates.
Other than this issue, the Forester is great. No rough idling, the
transmission is smooth, and at highway speeds and at speeds lower than
40 km/h, life is very good. But, city driving usually happens at
speeds less than 50 km/h around here, so you constantly hear this
noise. It can be reproduced extremely easily while driving.
Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? I'd appreciate all
ideas. Both my mechanic and the local subaru dealer have been unable
to find the source of the problem.
Regards,
Jason
Three weeks ago, I purchased a 1998 Forester S with 116K km's on it.
I test drove it several times, had a trusted mechanic look at it, and
he also test drove it. Feeling good about the purchase, I went ahead
and bought it.
A few days after I purchased it, it began making a vibration noise
(it's an automatic) that *only* occurs at 40-45 km/h. It doesn't
matter if I'm braking, accelerating, or coasting in neutral. The
noise does not occur when the car is wet (driving in the rain, for
example), so it sounds like something, some place, is rubbing and at
that speed there is a a harmonic vibration some place. It's extremely
loud when it does occur, but so far, no one has been able to find
where it is. We've tightened all the various heat shields, we've had
the exhaust system completely off the car, we have examined the
bearings in the hubs and the axles, I've put new tires on, aligned the
suspension, balanced the wheels, etc, but nothing has solved this
problem. Obviously, my test drives occurred on days when it was
raining. It rains a fair bit around here.
It seems to originate from the rear passenger area, but it's very
difficult to pinpoint because you can't reproduce it on a hoist,
obviously, and once the car is vibrating, the entire cabin resonates.
Other than this issue, the Forester is great. No rough idling, the
transmission is smooth, and at highway speeds and at speeds lower than
40 km/h, life is very good. But, city driving usually happens at
speeds less than 50 km/h around here, so you constantly hear this
noise. It can be reproduced extremely easily while driving.
Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? I'd appreciate all
ideas. Both my mechanic and the local subaru dealer have been unable
to find the source of the problem.
Regards,
Jason