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Is there such thing as this? My tranny is either going out or if there is such thing title says, it could be culprit of the problem.

 

It's a long story, but lately, my tranny (91 Legacy 2.2 non-turbo AWD) is shifting hard (high RPM) from first to second gear. After that, it seems to be normal, but it doesn't have the pull power that it used to have anymore.

 

I took it to a shop and the mechanic there thought it is a tranny for sure and would cost me $2,200.00 to have it fixed. Ridiculous! With that kind of $$$, I can actually buy a good used car!

 

Anyone has any ideas? Could a long term use of Durablend ATF ruined my tranny?

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A cheap solution you can try is transmission fluid additive. I've heard mixed results from these products. But they work for some situation. ie, ease rough shifting, add a few more months life to transmission, etc.

 

There's lots of companies that offer products. Try looking for Lucas products Transmission Fix.

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I just found out several parts may have caused this shifting problem with the biggest one may be the tranny itself. However, it could also be the AT Computer Control Unit, the AT Control Solenoid and then there's the 'drop-in' something after that I forgot. I'm going to try replacing the Computer control unit first to see if it is it. Then I'm going down the list with the last stop being the tranny itself since it's the most expensive part.

 

Anyone, please, any hints will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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those 4eat's suck, my 90 legacy had a trashed torque converter, exact same symptoms as yours, very harsh 1st to 2nd and a little hard 2nd to 3rd, computers don't usually go bad, the hardware is most likly culprit. limp fixes may work for a while, but, yeah

 

Solution: 5mt swap, not too difficult, but the wiring was confusing to get the starter to unlock. there are some decent write-ups around, http://www.legacycentral.org/library/transmission/convert.htm was the most complete, this might just be cheeper than fixing you auto-crap-matic, and I get better mileage now. if you need more info give a shout.

 

If you really need the autospaztic, my advice is to get it fully rebuilt with SOA parts all the way, or just get another ride, btw your mechanic wasn't out of the ballpark with his estimate...

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Can I possibly replace my '91 Tranny with a '93 Tranny? They both are AWD and non-turbo. From looking at the project, I might end up spending too much, much more than I can even afford.

 

One more thing, what do you mean by 'trashed torque converter'? The torque converter is that thing that looks kind of like a chicken gizzard that I need to use six bolts to bolt it to the engine, correct? When I originally had mine replaced (8/01) I thought that piece is indestructible unless it's totalled.

 

Is my assumption wrong? So it can be defected or go bad? If it's just that thing, possibly it's as hard to replace than the whole tranny. In either way, the tranny has to be taken out anyway, but at least I won't have to spend too much $$$ on a new tranny.

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Just thought I would update my threat and tell if anyone who wants (or cares) to know what has concluded to the problem.

 

I was skeptical about the problem being the computer but went ahead anyway to try it first since it's the cheapest way. Bought a used/pulled computer from a wrecking/salvage yard and found (later) that they gave me the wrong one even though I specifically asked for the AWD one. They gave me the 2WD computer and I proceeded to put it on not knowing any better.

 

I attempted to drive the car, because of the wrong computer, the rear differential was locked (meaning the two wheels/axles spin synchronizingly at the same time and that's very fatal on hard, pavement road). I felt like there was hesitant at the rear but didn't think of anything much and went ahead and went for a test drive.

 

I headed for the highway for about a three mile drive and headed home. On the way home, I almost got into an accident, it was raining somewhat and an older lady went through her red light, we almost had a head-on collision. She was coming from my left and I was going North. I managed to see that she was going through the red light and managed to slammed on the brake and came to a complete stop in the middle of the intersection. I was honking but she was driving like nothing's happening in the world.

 

Anyway, when I got home and pulled into the parking lot, I felt that hesitant again and I tried to back up with steering column turn hard right, my car literally came to a stop by itself in Reverse without me stepping on the brake pedal because of the differential locked and they couldn't spin individually. I really felt something very weird going on. Jacked up the front of the car, put in the fuse for the FWD, started engine and put in D. Wheels are not spinning. Gave it a little gas, car acted like it wants to move and the front wheels barely spinned. Look at the rear wheels, holy crap! The rear wheels were trying to spin as well. Bad news! Wrong computer!

 

Put the old computer back on, everything worked fine again, front wheels spinning and rear wheels didn't try to spin.

 

It was Sunday so I waited until this morning (Monday) to call that wrecking yard. Told them of the situation. They said they have none in AWD and they said I could return it. Drove there, brought it back the guy that helped me originally. He checked on his computer system and stepped away for a few minutes, then he came back had in his hands another computer. Funny how one person said they didn't have any while another one just went out and grabbed one on the shelf!

 

Tried that one, it worked this time. No more differential locking up. No more of the hard shifting from first to second gear either! Yeah! What was originally thought as tranny problem and could end up costing me five to six hundred dollars just costed me $40.00. Not bad at all!

 

The best news of all is that after all the test drive with the differential locked, nothing was damaged, which I was surprise myself considering driving on hard surface pavement road with the rear differential locked. It could have been fatal and my rear differential could have been nothing but POS. Considering the money I saved and the hard lesson learned, it was a helluya of a adventure!

 

Hope you enjoy reading.

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go to a reputable repair facility and have a transmission flush done, using a trans. flush machine. i have fixed many a customers hard shifting trans by completely flushing the trans. and torque convertor of old fluid. in fact my 97 legacy gt had a hard 2-3 shift and i flushed the trans last week and the problem is no longer there. it is actually a good service that works well.

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Alright, I think I will keep that in mind. Not too far from me, so if I happen to drive that way, I will drop by. What dealer/shop anyway?

 

Edit/add: Hey, btw, you do more than just drain the fluid, correct? I know that home flush only involves draining the old fluid and refilling it with new one. I don't know what is actually involved in a professional AT fluid flush. I guess I've always thought it's the same procedure so there is no need to have it done professinally. But that's because I didn't (and still don't) know what makes it more affective/better than a home flush.

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a trans flush is different than a trans service. a trans service just drains the fluid like you were thinking. for the trans flush, you remove one of the tranny cooler lines from the radiator hook up the trans flush machine to the cooler line and one to the cooler nipple from the radiator trans cooler. there is a bottle of cleaner that you add to the old fluid, you run the car till the trans. is at opertaing temp. shift through the gears, turn the machine on which flushes all the old fluid out of the trans. and most importantaly the machine flushes the torque convertor, and the refills the trans with new fkuid and a fluid conditoner. the flush completely removes all the old fluid compared to the drain and fill. it works pretty sweet. i work at the new zimbrick nissan by the east town mall right off the interstate. and my name is jason. the dealership # is 800-554-5937.

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Hey just noticed you are in the twin cities also :)

 

Glad to hear the AT control box worked out for you. As for a power flush on the tranny dont be supprized if you are quoted at $150 - $250 for it. As noted before they will charge you atleast 1 hour labor (going rate is about $75/hour around here) and then they charge you for the service and fluid. Cheapest I've seen them advertised for is $80 so call around!

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Yes, I will call around first if/when I want to flush my tranny fluid. As for now, I just spent about $70.00 to get four NGK Spark Plugs and a set of wire to tune up my car (home done). Is there a tune up point like carburated car? You know, on carburated engines, you use the timing gun, then turn the rotor until the timing light synch with the set mark on the pulley or somewhere then tighten the screw for the rotor then you are set. What about fuel injected car? I really don't see anywhere to set this procedure. I'm probably not doing it correctly.

 

I think I may still need to get the oxygen sensor. For some reason, I'm not getting the good gas mpg like I should and I keep thinking it may have something to do with the oxygen sensor. Mine gets roughly 13-15 mpg city and 15-18 mpg highway. Is this typical of this AUTO AWD vehicle? I just replaced the air filter tonight as well (along with the spark plugs and wires).

 

One more thing, my repair book says there is an EGR valve that I must check and replace if necessary. But I couldn't find it anywhere on the engine. I looked everywhere even on the manifold (top). I haven't tried under the engine yet. Where is it located anywhere? I looked where they said it is found and it's not there. I'm not getting anywhere with this.

 

Please help

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Hey just noticed you are in the twin cities also :)

 

Yeap, I'm in the Twin Cities just like yourself. I live in Crystal, to be exact. Haven't found anyone that owns a Subie to share hints with (more like asking for hints). Well, not in person anyway because I've got lots of hints and help from this site. Thanks to the person that started it all!

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