Please help! I can't corner over 35km's per hour

[jack_crowley]

For the last couple of years (while I drove once a month, if that), I had been ignoring this problem and just trying to get mechanics to look at it every few months to try to fix it but so far no luck!
I have a 97 galant vr-4 manual pfl, stock everything. Regularly serviced and taken good care of.
I checked fault codes and only get the abs code 11 and 15.

The problem I have is that when I try to take medium corners at speeds at or over 35ish km/h I get a grinding/heavy rubbing noise from the rear. I've had all wheel bearings and most of the CV joints replaced, tyres and wheels are stock, tyre pressure is good all around. I find it unusual that a car renowned for it's handling could corner less well than any other car I drive, but every mechanic can't reproduce the problem. Please help me sort this problem out and be able to experience the handling galant's are supposed to have.

[swinks]

That noise can be ayc clutch pack working hard, in other words, ayc cries for replacement. It may be well ayc pump shot, but lets hope it's just fluid inapriopriate grade or worn out.
Now, time to think why ayc may kick in so often and unnecessarily. Abs codes may be related to broken abs ring in one of rear wheel, so abs reads wrong, then communicate to ayc that it has to kick in.

[jack_crowley]

Thanks for the ideas swinks, I was planning on replacing the fluids in the diff tomorrow using GL-5 and ATFIII for the diff and ayc fluid respectively tomorrow. I can't get the evoscan software to activate the pumps however so I was going to leave the boot reservoir levels alone and just drain and refill the ayc fluid in the diff and see how I go.
I haven't heard about abs rings until now, is that something I could buy with a part number or as a generic part and replace myself?

[Davezj]

I would agree with Swinks on the ayc fluid hopefully being the cause of the noise.
There is a thread on here about using the ayc actuators.
Search for evoscan ayc actuators

[swinks]

You do not bleed ayc system if you doing just clutch pack fluid change . This is just regular fluid drop from diff and top up. Ayc needs bleedeing only if pump circuit is touched. There are two separate ayc circuits: clutch pack and ayc pump, people often confuse them two and do unnecessary bleed when clutch pack ayc fluid change.

[swinks]

As for abs rings. I suggested them but this could be abs sensor fault as well. Anyway, the point is, fault in abs system forces ayc system to prematurely kick in. Now, qustion is what could be at fault, abs sensor itelf or abs ring (part which sits at the end of driveshaft). You need to start from the cheapest fix - abs rings. Investigate then for any cracks, hairline faults etc. If faulty, than get new one (you should find some cheap generic ones) and any experienced garage will fit them.
More expensive is to replace abs sensors, after so many years, it's almost impossible to remove them from knuckle hub carriers, easiest option is to get replacement of whole hub carrier with working abs sensor.

[Nick Mann]

A graunchy rear diff on cornering is almost always old or poor quality clutch pack fluid. (ATF in the diff) Start there IMO and then work through the other suggestions (all good ones!) above.

[jack_crowley]

Well I got the AYC clutch pack fluid drained and it's not ATF, it's GL5 going off of the smell, I couldn't refill it with the 3 socket sets and 2 sets of spanners I've got due to the filler bolt location being pretty hard to get to and undo but I'll grab another ring spanner and perhaps a bit of pipe to use as a breaker bar tomorrow and get back to it. It seems like the use of the wrong fluid all this time could be the cause of my cornering woes, or at least part of it. As for the ABS faults, I'm going to have a look at that once the fluids are replaced in the diff tomorrow evening but thank you everyone for your help. At least now I might be able to experience the legendary vr-4 handling for the first time, I can't wait!

[Davezj]

i have found 3 ways to get the fill bolt out.

1. is a ring spanner on the bolt just to start the undo process, then get a deep socket and put it on the bolt through the hole in the subframe and undo it with your fingers.

2. get a 17mm socket, universal joint connector, and ratcket handle undo it through the hole in the subframe. use 3/8 size stuff as it is smaller dimensional to fit in the tight space.

3. get a deep 17mm socket and a flex head rachet (3/8 for above reason) put socket on bolt then put flex head rachet handle on socket if you can't get it on in one go.

in all options above be carful when removing bolt through the subframe, dont drop it.

and yes it is a stipid way to get to the bolt.

[Nick Mann]

No. 3 for me. A breaker bar as an alternative to the flex head ratchet.

Dropping the bolt is not the end of the world, I've never been unable to retrieve it.

It may be worth rechecking the oil in a few months, I know of a couple of diffs where the internal seal has failed and the ayc/gear oil have mixed.

[Davezj]

just thought i would point out the following as a general observation.
i would expect the ayc fluid to come out of the diff in a well maintained diff as red or dark red colour, but i have seen ayc fluid come out black and really smelly so it almost looks like gear oil.

my first VR4 had an issue were it made some bad clunking and clanging roises when it went round a corner at any great speed. and i thought the diff had failed. i dropped the oil it was black and smelly i changed the oil for amsoil atf and took the car out for a spin and all was fixed no noise at all, and the ayc was working.

so i hope this is the issue you have and a simple ayc fluid change will fix the issue. if you do find this to be the case, i would recomend changing the fluid again in a few weeks to get rid of all the left over crap and dirt that did not come out when you drained the oil originally. i would recommend amsoil atf as it has some very good cleaning properties as well as meeting and exceeding the protective properties of normal SPIII compliant fluid.

[jack_crowley]

I have just finished the ayc clutch pack and diff fluid changes after finding a thinner set of ring spanners, and while the ayc fluid was black and smelt exactly like gear oil, the diff fluid looked immaculate.
Now the car feels like new! It may be because I haven't ever thrashed it or cornered hard as before a loud noise would come on once I cornered over 35km/h but now it handles like a dream. It actually drives smoother than brand new cars I've driven.
I don't have any more noises from the rear and along with my lifters that were done recently the car really feels like new. Thank you everyone so much, seriously I can't thank you guys enough! I've been to countless mechanics and not one looked at the ayc clutch pack it seems.

I didn't realize how under-powered the brakes feel for the power when you can corner quickly either so I might work on that next. I still have to work on the ABS system anyhow so it might be due to that.

[Davezj]

glad you got it sorted.
most VR4 issue have cropped up before and been discussed. so the info should be on here somewhere.

[Confused]

Glad you've got it sorted.

For the sake of a small amount of knowledge, you could have potentially saved yourself lots of money, if your wheel bearings, CV joints etc did not actually need replacing - an issue which you've spent 2 years trying to solve, has been identified within an hour and a half of posting on here!


This highlights just how important it is 1) to take these vehicles to someone who knows what they are doing with them, and/or 2) to make use of the resources available on this forum.