Need help (diagnosing possible CV joint problem before buying '97 Impreza)

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Apr 10, 2005 | 05:39 PM

r90srider

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Need Help w/ Impreza Question

I just looked at a nice little 97 Impreza for my son. Ran great, everything works, but when I went to turn it around (turning the wheel all the way to the left), I could feel "chucking" in the front end, like you'd feel trying to turn a four wheel drive truck in a tight circle. I used to have a 99 Legacy but can't remember it ever behaving in the same way. Is this normal or the sign of bad CV joints?
I appreciate any advice I can get, since the rest of the car checks out fine and I think it would make a great car for my kid (I just don't want to spend alot fixing things right away).
Thanks in advance for any help!

Apr 10, 2005 | 08:22 PM

LUvikes29

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Joined: Dec 2004

Posts: 293

sometimes at very low speeds with the wheel locked to one side, you might feel a little bit of a "grab & go" sensation from the AWD. There's a lot of other things (particularly head gasket) that I'd be more concerned about than CV boots, which, honestly, I wouldn't even point the finger at for sure in this case if a problem does exist. Just stick your head under the car and see if they're cracked or look rotted. They're not that expensive to replace if they do go (compared to .... say.... a head gasket)

Apr 11, 2005 | 03:54 AM

r90srider

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Thanks for the tip on the head gasket. This 1997 has 95k miles and doesn't appear to be leaking, but is it a consistent problem on this year & model? Thanks for your help.

Apr 11, 2005 | 02:51 PM

LUvikes29

Registered User

Joined: Dec 2004

Posts: 293

sporadic

AFAIK it's sporadic, but frequent enough that its worth checking to be sure. A lot of times, from what I've seen, the problem would have surfaced by now, so if it looks clean, it probably will be fine, since it's either recently been replaced, or hasn't gone yet, and probably won't anytime soon. You may want to browse a few maintence threads though, I don't keep up as much on the older imprezas because I don't drive one (mine's an 03), just to get an idea of other things that may arise....