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  #31  
Old 03-28-2004, 11:47 AM
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Bad vibes

Hi Tiamet,

You need to give a more thorough description of what is happening with your car.

Most on this tread have a vibration caused either by a bad [rubber] tranny mount at the rear of the gearbox, or by a bad mount at the centre UJ on the propshaft.

The prop shaft does not rotate when in P. Therefore, if yours is vibrating in P, then this can not be the cause. There can be a number of reasons for it, bad plugs, bad fuelling, bad electrics [one bad plug coil being a highly likely suspect], but if happening in Park, is more likely engine related.

Joe
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  #32  
Old 03-29-2004, 03:39 AM
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It's a really bad grinding/knocking gear type noise from the front of the car. Either the engine or the tranny. It mainly happens when accelerating. OR when completely warmed up(like 20 miles) it does it when stopped at lights. And it normally goes away when making left turns. It shakes the whole car. It sort of feels like a deisel sounds.
I just bought the car last month, and it was making the noise. I tried changing the axles(as I didn't notice it when stopped) but it's still there.

According to the guy I bought it from a previous owner had been in some kind of frontal collision.
I checked the engine mounts and the pitch stopper, but haven't dropped the exhaust to check the tranny mount. I thought it might be a mount because it gets alot worse after 20 miles or so.

A mechanic friend is going to use his stethoscope and see if he can track it down. But otherwise I'm just going to take it to the dealer and get a total check up. Not knowing what else may be wrong with it.

How would I check the plug coils?
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  #33  
Old 03-29-2004, 03:57 AM
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Coiled for action

Quote:
Originally posted by Tiamat-red

How would I check the plug coils?
Goes away when making left turns is strange. Hard to figure that one.

If it's one of your plug coils [you probably know each plug has its own separate high tension coil, like a lot of motorbikes] then when getting the shakes, you will be running on five cylinders.

When it is doing this, you carefully disconnect each plug coil in turn. Disconnecting a good one will make it run worse. If there is no change in the shaking/noise, you have found a bad coil.

Coil breakdown can be intermittent, so don't try this test unless it's showing the symptoms you describe.

Joe
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  #34  
Old 03-29-2004, 04:04 AM
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Flex plate?

Also run a search on this site re flex plate. There is info about cracked flex plates in the How-To documents I am pretty sure. If you can't find them, ask Randy or Doug for help.

The flex plate is what the torque converyer is bolted to. They have been known to crack, and make strange noises when driving under torque. They also spin when idling, so would still cause a noise when in P. If that is what it is, don't drive your car too far away. If it breaks, you will have a costly flat-bed transfer back home.

Joe
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  #35  
Old 03-29-2004, 03:50 PM
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I forgot to say I have an A/F gauge that is reading it's normal bouncy-bouncy stoich. So I don't think it's the plugs. But since it's easy to check I'll do that next.

The fact that it(sometimes) goes away when turning left is what made me think mounts. Like I said I haven't checked the tranny mount yet and I'm hoping it's that simple.

Yes I have done searches for the flex plate/flywheel and the description of that particular problem sounds a little different.
But is the flex plate the part that I can see through the bell housing when under the car? With the teeth that I assume are for the starter?
If that is the problem could I change it with the tranny/engine still in the car?

Another possibility I considered is the crankshaft.
Would a bad bearing cause such symptoms?
I assume a more damaged or cracked crank would make the car undriveable?

Thanks for the help by the way! I assume diagnosing a problem with a vague description far away can be a little tough.
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  #36  
Old 03-30-2004, 02:24 AM
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Question

What you are describing sounds more like the flywheel. I think the gearbox will have to come out to access the flex plate, but I've never worked on mine, so not sure. Check with Todd or Doug, they will know.

If your mate has a stethoscope [sp?] check the bearings on your pulleys, such as the power steering pulley. If this was bad, it might be noisy until pressure came on.

However, I would expect them to be more of a growl than a knocking.

It could indeed be main bearings at the crank, you would hear this on tickover.

Best of luck with it.

Joe
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  #37  
Old 04-18-2004, 10:47 AM
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Figured it out! Yay!

Turns out it WAS the tranny mount. I have no idea how it got that way but the pin in the middle of the mount was bent. Knocking against the subframe.
Which would explain why it went away during left hand turns. As the tranny/engine shifted to the right.
Got a new one from Subaruparts.com. But I should be able to bend the old one back and have a spare.
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  #38  
Old 04-21-2004, 05:06 PM
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Talking

Glad you Got the Gremlin

That's what I like! Cheap simple solutions, and if at all possible, some back-up kit for when it happens again. Or if it happens again, knock on wood.

Joe
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