Popping noise and grabbing in 91 Subaru Legacy

[Diana Black]

I have been noticing that my 91 Legacy has been making a popping noise that is coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. This has been happening off and on for about 2 months but it is starting to occur more often now. It does this only when I am making a left turn and most especially when the left turn also involves a hill. In the summer I had some work done to the car...new brakes, calipers, lines, pads, etc. At that time I also had the right front axle replaced and the head gaskets replaced. Could it be that I need to have the left front axle replaced also? Could my struts (which are over 2 years old now) be the cause? Any help or suggestions in this matter would be greatly appreciated since I like most people now-a-days do not have that extra money to allow any mechanics to go on a hunting expedition.

Thank you,
Diana (Legacy Lady)

 

[TG]

Most likely the axle. Find a mechanic that will diagnose it for free if you let him fix it. Tire shops that do alignments are a good place to look, TG

 

[Wayne Farmer]

I have been noticing that my 91 Legacy has been making a popping noise that is coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. This has been happening off and on for about 2 months but it is starting to occur more often now. It does this only when I am making a left turn and most especially when the left turn also involves a hill. In the summer I had some work done to the car...new brakes, calipers, lines, pads, etc. At that time I also had the right front axle replaced and the head gaskets replaced. Could it be that I need to have the left front axle replaced also? Could my struts (which are over 2 years old now) be the cause? Any help or suggestions in this matter would be greatly appreciated since I like most people now-a-days do not have that extra money to allow any mechanics to go on a hunting expedition.

Thank you,
Diana (Legacy Lady)

A popping noise during a turn is a classic symptom of a failing CV (constant-velocity) joint. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CV_joint for a picture of how one works.

Wayne

 

[HDLINCTUK]

I have a 2000 RS that was making a popping noise that turned into a scraping rubbing noise on the drivers front side. It turned out to be my wheel baring and hub, not my axle.