AWD 5 spd BOUND! Wild guesses and opinions needed

[Subarunation 713]

1993 Legacy L AWD wagon 2.2 5 speed 202,000 miles Dunlop Graspic snow tires rotated at 7500 to 10,000 mile intervals and inflation at 30 to 32 psi (regular tires are Yokohama Avid T4s and I keep them inflated the same).

 

OK, here is the scenario. Yesterday afternoon was pretty nice in southwest Michigan. Temps in the low 50s. My car is parked with the front facing due west. This allowed the drivers side to face due south and be in the warm afternoon sun. I was going to back over to the neighbors house and unload some stuff. I backed out of my driveway, 10 yards, and made a 90 degree turn to the left. I hit the gas a little (2500 rpms) while still in reverse and as I am backing over to the neighbors after about 20 yards CLUNK! stall...dead stop. Put in the clutch and started the car. Put the car back into reverse and let the clutch out and stalled...nothing. The car acted like it was welded, chained and nailed to the ground. NO GO! I put in the clutch and started the car again. Put it in first. Exact same thing. NO GO! All of the other gears, exact same thing. NO GO! I put in the clutch and put the car in neutral. As I let out the clutch it actually starts forward but it was like I was in 4th or 5th. I ride the clutch and drive the car while it is in neutral to get the car off of the road. Shut off the engine, put the car in neutral and carried the load over to my neighbors and left the car for a solid 2 hours+.

 

I am thinking SWELL, I get to replace a transmission. My wife takes the high road and is praying for the car to be OK. I say a prayer too and get in the car after the sun has gone low in the sky and it is cooler out. I jam the shifter in all gears with the engine off. I start the car and I put it in reverse. It acts like it is still chained, welded and nailed to the ground when I let out the clutch. I put it in first and pop the clutch and jam the clutch back in right away. I do this a few times in random gears. After a few times the car moves but it feels like it has parallelagram tires and wheels. I go back and forth 20 or so feet and it smooths out. I back out of the driveway and go down the road and come back (about 3/4 miles) and it goes through all of the gears fine. I park the car and leave it overnight.

 

This afternoon I drive the car a few miles and it shifts just fine. In fact I rev it up higher than normal before shifts and it acts just fine. When I say fine I mean its normal noisy self.

 

See my previous posts about noise:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26337&highlight=transmission+noise

 

I checked other posts about torque bind and manual tranmissions but actually driving while in neutral?! Will torque bind do that? And why torque bind after a total of 30 yards?

 

OK, impress me with your wild guesses or diognosis!

 

Thanks,

Greg

[blitz]

This is just a SWAG, but it sounds like the shift linkage was sticking, allowing the tranny to end up in two ratios at once (the one that was stuck + the one that you selected).

[georgeinmd]

That's my guess, too. I had it happen in my BMW 1600 when the shift linkage broke (destroyed the transmission), and it happened to a friend's brand new 2003 Forester. I've pasted in my last post to ***(another board)*** on the issue. (They told me not to waste their time with arcane problems (hint) which rarely occur. Sigh...) -- George

 

 

"quick follow up on the locked up xmission, '03 Forester, 8k miles (#1974 & 2011). It was repaired under warrenty and seems to be fine. A transcription of comments on the work order: "CUSTOMER STAETS CAR IS STUCK IN REVERSE; SPOKE TO MRS 11/19 TO LET HER KNOW THE PART CAME IN TODAY AND CAR MAY BE DONE THURSDAY; CAR WOULD NOT COME OUT OF REEVRSE - R/R UNIT; REPLACE 5TH AND REVERSE SYNCHRONISER WAS WORN AND SIEZED UP; REPLACED FORK FOR FIFTH AND REVERSE WAS WORN" -- fwiw -- thanks for all your suggestions. -- George"

[cookie]

This can happen when linkage is worn and the usual remedy is to go under the hood and put the selector in neutral. Some trannys have three parts that need to be lined up. The real fix is to find the worn bits in the linkage and replace them.

This used to happen on old three on the tree cars and Ford commercil trucks I worked on. I have never see it in a Subie, but I am kind of new to the world of Subies..