hanfrac

Hi. I'm having a few drivability problems with my car. Before I go to the mechanic, I was hoping people might have thoughts on what these problems are:

- shimmy between 50-60 mph. Steering wheel shakes rhymically.
- when taking a turn in gear, but not "on throttle," I get a mechanical clacking noise coming out of the rear. It makes the same noise whether I'm going left or right, but not when I'm going straight. It sort of sounds like the car is starting to stall, but it never does
- when I'm on the brakes, the car feels like it wobbles to a stop. I had this once before and replaced all of the rotors/pads (about 5k miles ago). I'm not sure if this ever truly went away, but it's getting worse. It feels like the brakes are grabbing a warped rotor or something, as it does feel like a wobble with every wheel rotation

If anyone has any theories or advice, I'd really appreciate it.

Frank

Kevin Ross

Hi Frank

I am not the resident expert here, but I will give you my thoughts...

I believe the noise you hear when turning is almost certainly the diff. I get the same noise and have heard others complain about it too. I think it can be remedied to some extent by using the right diff oil, but generally I think we just live with it.

The front wobble under braking could be suspension? But I really can't comment, I am just guessing. I did see a post some time back tho' with someone talking about the same issue... try searching.

The shimmy, no idea, sorry Mate!

38D

The shimmy could be a wheel weight. Take the wheels off and make sure all the weights are there.

Noise is the LSD. It is 100% locked under deceleration. Nothing to worry about, it's normal (and a good thing).

The wobble could just be pad material on the rotors. What pads are you using?

Miles965uk

Your wobble to a stop can only be your pads and or rotors, is it coming through to the brake pedal? - check condition of rotors and try some very hard stops to clean any crap of the rotor- you might find one of your rotors is all rusted and has cracks in the holes which will then need replacing.

have your bushes check front and rear and your wheels may need rebalancing.

hanfrac

Thanks, everyone. If it is an LSD sound I'm hearing, it is something that wasn't there for the first 2 years of owning this car. For instance, when I back out of a parking spot and release the throttle, it sounds bad enough that a passerby would stare, saying "that thing sounds like SH*t." Hopefully some new fluid will help.

I'll have the wheels, pads and rotors examined. I hope I don't have to put the same $2000 I did into new pads/rotors that I did 5000 miles ago.

JBH

You have bushings, wheel bearings and CV joints in the rear. The wheel bearings would be expected to squeal/grind even traveling in a straight line. If it is not the LSD, you might want to check these other components, especially the CV joints.

The vibration in the front could be a thrown wheel weight so that is definately the place to start. If that doesn't solve the problem it is time to look at the front wheel bearings, ball joints and after that the steering rack.

The wobble under braking is probably associated with the rotors that either have deposits or are warped due to excessive heat. Just to be certain, make certain the calipers are secured. If you haven't driven the car hard over the last 5K miles, I doubt the rotors would be warped. Some pads are notoriously bad for leaving deposits. BTW: you can do rotors and pads yourself at a tremendous savings.

Good luck!

cobalt

There is an additive you can add to quiet the LSD. However it only seems to last for a year or so before it reverts back to the same noise. It was a problem on all these cars, some more than others.

Teejae

On the noise with the LSD problem - has anyone tried swapping for a different diff? Like a Paul Guards 20/80, or one of the other later lock/unlock ratios?

klein90

Frank
Has the car been sitting for a long time. Could be flat spots on the tires. If you track the car you could have warped the rotors. Also get your wheelbearing checked. I just had a RR wheel cut down from bad wheelbearings. Do you do your own work or do you take it to Dave White

hanfrac

Since I've owned the car (2 1/4 years), the longest the car has sat without being driven is probably 2 weeks. I don't know if flat spots can develop in that amount of time. I've never tracked the car, nor do I drive it particularly hard on the street.

I don't take the car to Dave White. I take it to a guy in Largo named Joe Vatter at a shop called German Tech. Joe is a great guy. That said, maybe Dave White is better suited to diagnose and repair Turbo's. Do you have experience with Dave White?

38D

20/80 would be basically the same as the 20/100 factory unit.