Steve55958 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 How bad did I mess things up? I bought a 2002 Legacy AWD automatic and then blew the head gaskets. So then I borrowed a friend's 2-wheel dolly and towed it to the shop. Stupid me didn't think to read the book first. Then towed it to the repair shop and now they say I may have "smoked the tranny." The engine is fixed now and all seems fine however the question looms, how will I know and how soon will I know if I damaged anything? It was towed about seven miles at 40mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Well you probably put a bit of wear on the rear transfer clutch pack in the transmission, but that can be replaced without pulling the transmission out of the car. Drive it, and if you don't get binding on tight circle turns you didn't get it hot enough to warp the frictions and steels. If you wore it down enough you just won't get much power transfer to the rear wheels, so it'll be a mostly FWD car. Basically tow dollying an A/T won't kill it unless it's a VTD model one. It may well wear out the AWD ability though but that doesn't stop you from driving the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 How far did you tow it? How fast did you go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 He said: It was towed about seven miles at 40mph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razorthirty Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 All i know is that i have towed mine 11 miles with all four on the ground at 35-50 mph. No issues what so ever. Already had torque bind at the time though. I did drive it for 15k mile with torque bind before i could afford to fix that. Main problem from ignoring it so long was the added wear to my front end. Ball joints and Tie rods were hammered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 He said: It was towed about seven miles at 40mph I saw that... -.- A couple miles isn't likely to hurt it very much. You could change the fluid after driving it a couple days and make sure there isn't a bunch of clutch material in the fluid. If the fluid is clean I wouldn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 not good for it, but 7 miles is rather light duty. if you had issues i'd expect them years from now, not any time soon. fluid change now and on schedule in the future sounds like a good idea. good thing you asked here, on other Subaru forums responses would include the trans blowing up next week and sending gear teeth into your abdomen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I had a customer tow in a Manual trans 93 legacy on a dolly. I hoped so badly it was a FWD car when I saw him coming in. It wasn't......It was AWD. THAT was bad.......The Center VLSD is shot now burned up to nothing. He's lucky it didn't lock and try to drive off the dolly. It now acts like a completely open diff. Fine for him as long as he keeps all 4 wheels on even traction. Automatic a bit more forgiving. A few miles shouldn't have smoked the clutches. Honestly, flat towing an Automatic is worse.....then the whole main drum turns without a fluid pump to lubricate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve55958 Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 Thank you for all the replies so far. I've driven it about 140 miles since getting it back from the head gasket job and all seems normal. The steering seems a little jerky when turning sharp on uneven ground. Is this a sign of "torque bind" as someone put it, or worn ball joints, or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Change the ATF fluid, and cross your fingers. When the car is "off" there is no atf fluid circulating to release or cool the clutch pack. That jerky feeling when turning sharp is TB. Check to make sure all the tires match and are equally worn. Make sure they are all properly inflated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 when the engine is off, the rear wheels are not conne4cted to the main body of the trans. so the trans main shafts and clutches are not turning, only the rear output shaft and one side of the trans fer clutch are turning with the rear drive shaft. the danger is that there is no lubrication for any bearing on the spinning parts unless the engine is running and turning the trans oil pump. this would make the bearing on your rear output shaft at risk. probably not the transfer clutch discs themselves. ???? i doubt 7 miles at 40mph was enough to burn up the bearing, but maybe.?? plus, when on the dolly, more ATF moves to the rear of the trans. that may help some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve55958 Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 Thank you for all the replies and merry Christmas to everyone! On the AWD it seems so far like I got lucky. Found a slippery area to stop on. Opened the driver door and watched the back tires while I gunned it. The back tires spun like they should, and no strange bearing noises from the tranny. nipper, all new tires and psi checked ok. The steering is normal on smooth ground, but on rough terrain like coarse gravel, the steering likes to be a little jerky. I think this may be a sign of ball joints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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