Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

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andylyco
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Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

Post by andylyco »

Hey fellas- long story short, we had an alignment done on Aug 26, and since then we've had an intermittent vibration that's getting worse. You know how it feels when you have warped rotors? The steering wheels shakes the same way, and there is a waa waa waa noise that seems to come from the right front. It isn't the rotors though- it happens when I am coasting at any speed, whether I am in gear or not. All 4 tires are less than a month old, the lug nuts are all tight, the cv joint boots are intact, and there is no damage to any suspension parts that I can see. Tire pressure is the same in all tires, and there are no bulges or uneven wear on the brand new tires.

The kicker... this problem comes and goes! There is no rhyme or reason as to when it starts and stops. I've tried going over bumps, turning the wheel full lock, rocking the car back and forth in gear with the engine off, and I can't MAKE it start making the noise. We drove the car over 200 miles on Monday and it didn't make a single noise, then yesterday my wife drove it to work and it shook almost the whole way home.

I took it back to the shop that did the alignment and they balanced all 4 wheels, but that didn't help. They also had it on the lift and checked all the suspension bits to make sure nothing was loose.

I'm going crazy trying to diagnose this!! Does this sound like any typical Suby problem? CV joint starting to go? Wheel bearing? Ball joint /tie rod end / sway bay end link? I can't even take it to a shop for diagnosis because it's so intermittent!

Thanks for any help!
'04 Baja T 5MT, '09 Sportwagen TDI, '93 Corrado
Zooom
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Re: Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

Post by Zooom »

what kinda milage you at?

I have a harmonic type droning noise going on with mine which I am thinking is possibly due to a necessity for the differential fluid to be changed. That paired with the fact that my tires are just starting to reveal the wear bars very nicely, I figure I am due for some repair/shop time in the near future.
andylyco
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Re: Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

Post by andylyco »

44K miles, just purchased from original owner (late July). The only records I have are from the most recent oil changes, and a receipt for a new clutch (!!) at 35K miles.
I don't know that any 30K or 40K mile maintenance has been done on it, and I'm still a noob when it comes to Subies- I had a '91 legacy a few years ago but didn't have it long enough to learn about the maintenance schedule on the diff. How often should that be flushed? Also, if the Suby is anything like the VW's I've had, I'm guessing the main trans fluid is a "lifetime" synthetic that should be replaced around 100K.
I can't imagine that my shudder/vibration is due to the rear diff, but I guess it's possible! One of the Vegas suby guys suggested a front wheel bearing, but I've never experienced one going bad intermittently- they usually just start to whine, and get worse and worse. This comes and goes!
'04 Baja T 5MT, '09 Sportwagen TDI, '93 Corrado
Zooom
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Re: Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

Post by Zooom »

I too am previously a VW guy and am into the guidelines surrounding Dubs('specially since I work at a VW Dealer). I got this Baja as a replacement for my 83 Rabbit Pick-up that just couldn't carry on anymore. One of the guys here at work told me about some sporty concoction for the shifter fluid for Subies that he had done to his 06' Saab-aru 9.2x/Impreza 2.5T. Supposedly it cleans up some shifting problem that I am currently not experiencing, so I am not so eager to jump on it. As far as the diff fluid thing, I can't rightly recall the interval for sure, but I think it is 45K and I am at 54K and haven't done it as of yet ( proceedings of my divorce are still on my forefront of priorities over the Scooby and my motorcycles and those activities).

just out of curiousity, when you do experience the noise, to listen to it, are the windows down trying to isolate it? or listening to it while windows up and radio off and all that? Is it possible to get someone to sit in the back seat and see what they hear, or perhaps have someone else drive it while you sit in the back to isolate if it is coming from the front or the rear a little better?
andylyco
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Re: Intermittent Vibration in '04 Turbo 5MT - Driving me crazy!

Post by andylyco »

Update! On Monday I said to my buddy "If I can't ever diagnose this problem, I'll just drive it till something breaks, then I'll know!!" On Tuesday the noise got abruptly worse, clicking and clacking. "CV joint!" I said to myself. The local Import parts shop sold me a new half-shaft for $70, turns out it was the wrong one! (See other threads about this- the half-shaft in the Baja is the one from the Forester XT.) Of course, the Import part shop doesn't carry the Forester shafts, so I found a shop that rebuilds original shafts, and 2 hours and $65 later I had my rebuilt shaft. I slapped it on last night, and after 50 miles of driving, I haven't heard or felt any noises or vibrations. I'm cautiously optimistic...
'04 Baja T 5MT, '09 Sportwagen TDI, '93 Corrado
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