2004 GC Ltd Quadratrac 96K mi Steering Noise when turning left

barmaster

Hearing and feeling a rumbling grinding noise when making a slow speed tight left turn but not when turning right. Just bought this used and concerned about this issue. Any ideas what this could be and how to fix? Thanks!

93tracker5spd

Hi! Can't be specific, but noises in the front end are certainly worth finding for safeties sake. I would want to get both front wheels off the ground, a rack or jack stands, something solid. And then have someone turn the wheel and see what is going on under there. Grab the wheel and shake it hard side to side and up and down, notice any play in anything, and closely examine strut towers for damage or rust. Grab all the steering linkage and try to shake it or move it, it should be tight and solid. Look at plastic inner fender liners to see if one is drooping and rubbing the tire. I would rather find it on jack stands than at 70 on the free-way. Good luck!

barmaster

Thanks 93tracker5spd. I have taken the Jeep back into the large Honda dealership where I bought the truck and they did indeed find the front left tire rubbing against a liner and they subsequently cut out a section. However, it did not relieve the grinding when maximizing a left turn of the wheel. They then said there was some special steering fluid that probably needed to be added. They said that with the Quadratrac, all-time 4-wheel drive, the system was somehow not differentiating between the need to engage (or disengage?) the drive when turning at such a slow, tight radius. They added this fluid, said it would take a few days to become effective and sent me on my way. Unfortunately, this remedy did not work. I see there are quite a few reported maintenance issues on line that concern the Jeeps when turning left. Any other thoughts? Thanks again!

93tracker5spd

Hello again! Glad you found part of the problem. The other part has me stumped, I have tried to analyse it in my mind, but I think it's just one of those things where you have to be there to actually experience it. I'm thinking something needs an adjustment though, just not sure what. I know the system works by trying to keep all wheels at the same speed, and that when a vehicle turns, the wheels on the outside of the turn roll faster than the ones on the inside of the turn. Somehow I believe this is causing the system to go into rock crawling mode when making this left turn. While theories are great, unfortunately they aren't of much use without being able to put them to practical physical items such as the parts that are involved in this vehicle. I believe what is happening is that since the steering mechanism is set to the left side of the vehicle it is transferring more energy from leverage to that side than to the other in a left turn, and causing the automated system to act as if the left side had more traction, if this is actually what is happening then the traction system is applying brake to the right side of the vehicle and engaging the front hub assembly on the left side. It could be that attempted engagement that is making the noise since in a tight left turn the wheel is in somewhat of a bind at that time. Sorry to have rambled on, but these are just some thoughts I had on it. If you figure it out, please let us know, I would be very interested in understanding the cause of this. Good luck!