elcaminokurt Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Hello everybody! I have the oportunity to buy a late eighties Subaru 4 door locally. It is grey, turbo, auto with push button 4wd, moon roof and power windows! Plus, no rust! And, living in Minnesota, thats a big deal! At any rate, the 3 speed transmission will not shift into 3rd. I suspect it is a bad module, but I was going to get everyones consensus. Worst case senario(sp?), would that motor mount up to a) my 85 Brat's 4spd manual, or another late eighties 5 spd manual. Thanks in advance for everyones help! Kurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef_tim Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Hey Kurt, I have a spare govoner shaft if you need it let me know. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcaminokurt Posted November 1, 2005 Author Share Posted November 1, 2005 Tim, excuse me for the noob question, but what are the govenor shafts for? Is it common that they go bad? Thanks, Kurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenw22 Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 On the passenger side (North American models) of the transmission, near the engine, there is a big circular cover. Inside is the governor. It helps control shifting. It is a spring-loaded valve on a spinning shaft, driven by a gear in the transmission. There are three failure modes for the governor. 1. The gear on the governor shaft becomes worn-out and slips. On non-turbo models, the gear is nylon and can become worn. Turbo models have steel gears. 2. The gear in the transmission becomes worn-out and slips. This gear seems to last longer than the governor shaft gear, but it can still wear out. If it wears out, it's probably easier to get a replacement transmission from a junkyard. Again, non-turbo models have a nylon gear, turbos have a steel gear. 3. The valve gets jammed on some varnish, dirt or debris and it starts to stick. This is what happened to my turbo wagon. It resulted in the car being 'stuck' in gear. It would never kick down to first gear unless I manually put the car into '1'. If I started in '1' and shifted to 'D', it would stay in first for a bit and then violently jam into 2nd or 3rd. There's a write-up on the USRM about cleaning up the governor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 Also, these autos are very picky about the quality & quantity of fluid in them. First thing I would do is change it and see what happens. Made a world of difference in my turbo 3AT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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