Hello all,
This is my first post to these forums, so thanks for the resource in advance!
I've run into a strange problem which I have not yet been able to diagnose with my 1991 Legacy Wagon Automatic 4WD (normally aspirated)......
This has been a great car which has never had any major problems at all except for the normal maintenance issues. It's still on it's original engine (145,000 miles) and it's original tranny. It has always operated just fine until one day went I was about to take a trip to the store.
I started the car (everything sounded/felt normal) backed out of the driveway and put it in Drive to begin heading down the road, however it has almost no motive force..... The engine simply goes into high RPMs and the tranny doesn't shift up as usual.
Allow me to explain this a little better;
I put it in D, the tranny makes it's usual click/soft clunk sound that it always makes when it shifts into gear, but then when I press on the accelerator, the car begins to move but it only crawls- I'm talking like walking speed maybe 2mph...... I shift the lever into gear 1 and it makes it's usual sound but the same thing occurs.... It moves when I accelerate, but only a couple mph while the engine continues to go up into higher RPM.
If I shift the lever to Reverse, the same thing happens, except the car is moving in reverse. In addition to the slow speed, the car has almost no motive force; It can't even get up on my ramps so I can get a look under there unless I have a couple buddies push it.
I checked the tranny fluid but it seems fine, and there are no metal shavings/chunks apparent........
I have no idea what is going on..... The engine seems fine in every way I can tell, The tranny shifts into reverse, drive, park, and neutral just fine, but it doesn't have hardly any power at all transferring from the engine to the wheels.
I can't see any fluid leaks anywhere and all the fluids seem to be in good shape.
Is the torque converter a possibility here? It is the mechanism which transfers
the torque from the engine to the transaxle, correct? Based on my understanding of the working of the torque converter, it would seem that it may be the most likely culprit, but then again, I'm surely not that knowledgable about mechanics......
I'm away from home right now so I can't check the car for a few days but I'd really appreciate any tips, pointers, or details of experiences that may light up the path to a fix here from someone more knowledgable than I.
I have the Subaru service manual for this transmission and I've been looking through it today to see if it had any obvious pointers..... In the diagnostic procedures refering to the way a car drives there was nothing that sounded anything like this condition pertaining to any of their directives for a cure.
Oh well- I've got the specs to pressure test the tranny to see if it is shifting into gear, but I really believe that it is due to the fact that it moves forward and reverse in the respective gears.......
Sorry for the long first post as a cry for help,
but maybe I can balance the karma somewhat;
I have pdfs of the Subaru service manuals for the 1990,1992, and 1995-2004
Legacys if anybody wants a copy- They really seem to go over everything.
I have some assorted forrester and other models as well from assorted years.
Getting ahold of the official service book was the smartest thing I ever did for my car. (Handy pics!!)
Let me know via PM if you would like one, or if you would like a different model/year as I may have those as well.
Thanks a lot!
-Id