anspaugh777

So if they go back to what they were, wouldn't that mean that we have found the problem? The TCM or the ECM?

Yeah, I'm guessing they are the vacuum lines. When you're looking under the hood from the front, they are the wide plastic black pipes going from the air filter to the left side of the front of the car.

Okay....so as of right now it runs BEAUTIFULLY!!! I'm not sure if it will slowly downgrade and get back to what it was (excessive shift shock), or it will stay this way. But here's what I did: 1. Located the TCM and the ECM. 2. Disconnected the circuits to the TCM and the ECM. 3. Under the hood I disconnected the air flow pipes. 4. Disconnected one circuit and one ground wire. 5. Blew on circuits, and tightened ground wire. 6. Reconnected the air flow pipes and tightened them down. 7. Reconnected the TCM and ECM circuits. 8. Put everything back together. 9. Prayed to Jesus. 10. Did the self-diagnostic test to see if the A/T temp light would flash a code. 11. The A/T temp light just flashed normally after self-diagnostic. 12. Drove over 5 miles, fast and slow. And the car shifts perfectly!!! We'll see what happens. Thanks for all of your help everybody! I'll let you know how it goes.

i'll check it out

Ooh...what do you mean? Would that make the car shift hard?

wheres the pitch stopper?

Well, I found a TCU code on my car using the "unique" method. The code was 45. So I looked up in my subscription to AllDATA and it says to check the engine ground terminals to see if they are tight. If not, then it says to tighten them. I just don't know what they mean by engine ground terminals and can't find a diagram as to where they would be.

Does anyone know where the engine ground terminals are located? I need to check if those are tightened. Thanks!

Hey...I'm curious. Where the heck are those engine ground terminals? I can't start anything before I check if those are tightened. Thanks.

Okay....I'm away from the TCM. Close one.

Yeah, please PM me with whatever I need to do. Thanks!

Okay....so here's what I've done so far. I've taken off the cover underneath the steering column. I can see the TCM and its connectors, which are 2 big ones. I unplugged them and kind of blew off some dirt. But I noticed to green connectors, NOT wires, but end connectors that look like they fit perfectly together. They weren't connected. Should I connect them? Could that be the problem?

Okay....4 longs, 5 shorts. So the code is 45.

That would be great help! Thanks!

I recently had the tranny fluid flushed and changed. So that "should" be good. The transmission was great before the engine was pulled. The A/T temp light goes on after driving for 5 minutes, and stays on. Just blinking continuously. Yeah...I should get the codes checked. Thanks man!

Well...the A/T Oil Temp light doesn't flash right after I start the car. It doesn't really start flashing until I drive it for over 5 minutes. And after a couple slams in gear, it begins flashing. Do you know how I can read the codes myself? Would it be the OBDII codes or the TCU codes? Or what?

Thanks for replying so quickly. Here's all of the issues that have happened. But first: 2001 Subaru Forester L 110,000 miles Great shape before: My "friend" helped me out and changed the spark plugs, the header gaskets, and timing belt. Well, when he did the timing belt, he timed it wrong and some valves in the engine bent. So he took the engine out, replaced the valves, timed the Forester correctly, and put the engine back in. At the same time, a CV boot was torn, so he replaced that as well. I'm not sure exactly what he did, but it runs now. But the problems are: It shifts into gear REALLY hard. Shockingly hard. The A/T Oil Temp light flashes after driving the car for about 5 minutes. When it flashes, there are no long flashes, just continuous short ones. And when I try to make a slow, sharp turn, the car minorly jerks, and is not smooth. Thanks for any info I can receive!

Hey guys....new here. Where are the TCU and the ECU located? I'm having severe shift shock in my Forester and wanted to see if I could just clean out the main connectors. Thanks!