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Eric,
I don’t know if you’re still checking this topic.
Ultimately the vibration I was having occurred whenever the car was in drive with the brake on, a jackhammer type vibration that would build until it damn near rattled the dash. Putting the car in neutral stopped it and even reverse and park would stop the jackhammering. It ended up doing it with or without the AC on.
Several other people told me it was axles too and it sounded crazy but they said certain aftermarket axles on a subaru can cause this exact type of vibration. Since the axles were popping and growling anyway, I bought two used OEM axles on ebay for $30 each shipped. I put them in myself and the jackhammer type vibration in drive at idle is gone. They’ve been in almost a week and I can’t produce the vibration. Before it happened at least 95% of the time at every light. As a side benefit, I now know how to install my own axles completely by myself using a floor jack and jack stands.
If you have a subaru in with a weird jackhammer type vibration in drive with the brake on and it has aftermarket axles, it could be the cause.
I wish I had seen this earlier I would have recommended axles right away. Aftermarket axles on Subarus are a no go. Have to use new or reman OEM axles. Vibration on idle with automatics is almost guaranteed with aftermarket axles, less so with the manuals. It seems there is too much slop in the aftermarket ones. Cardone new ones are usually good but OEM is the best.
That’s interesting. I won’t argue with success though. To be honest ANY vehicle in drive with the brake on is going to have the transmission load AND the brake light electrical load on the engine which should cause the IAC to open up to allow for the extra load which is suppose to smooth out the engine. I suspect that your axles HELPED eliminate the vibration but I suspect it’s still there but to a point where it’s no longer noticeable. Once again I won’t argue with success but it does seem strange to me that axles can eliminate a vibration like that. I’ll have to look into that on my own Subaru which has a slight vibration at idle, I think this would make for a great video.
Thanks for the update.
Yeah, I found out the hard way. Sometimes you get lucky with used OEM too, mine were only $30 each shipped and they don’t pop or growl. It’s hard to believe the place that first installed the advance auto axles was a shop that only works on Subarus.
But hey, at least I learned how to put in my own axles.
Eric,
This is not a regular even vibration. It’s not there then it builds like a jack hammer in steady pulse like a harder and harder until the whole car is shaking and you have to put the car in neutral to make it stop because you can’t stand it anymore. It’s only there like that when stopped in drive and your foot on the brake. It doesn’t do it in reverse or park, there was vibration but not like that. It’s bad, the mirrors were blurry from the shaking. It also went away when I went back to OEM axles.
And Eric, I was wrong about it just doing this with the AC on, it did it with it off too and doesn’t do it now with the AC on or off.
[quote=”clearanceman” post=31387]Eric,
This is not a regular even vibration. It’s not there then it builds like a jack hammer in steady pulse like a harder and harder until the whole car is shaking and you have to put the car in neutral to make it stop because you can’t stand it anymore. It’s only there like that when stopped in drive and your foot on the brake. It doesn’t do it in reverse or park, there was vibration but not like that. It’s bad, the mirrors were blurry from the shaking. It also went away when I went back to OEM axles.
And Eric, I was wrong about it just doing this with the AC on, it did it with it off too and doesn’t do it now with the AC on or off.[/quote]
I had the EXACT same vibration on my old 02 Outback after one of the axles was replaced. I lost the car in an accident before I had them replaced with OE but I believe that would have cured it.
This is great information for Subaru owners out there and there are a lot of things specific to Subarus that I learned over ownership of 2 of them. A Subaru enthusiast forum is your best friend.
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