BridgedToMono

Okay, Driveshaft is in place and visibly a-okay. Having the FWD fuse in place Does illuminate the dash indicator. Driving with the gear selector in "1" makes no difference. Transmission fluid changed 1x. Problem persists.

The trans was installed in the fall, and the problem has been noticeably present since the snow started flying. The fluid has not been changed recently. Looks and smells okay, but I cannot vouch for it's age. I did give the car a friendly look-see when it was purchased / showed-off, I do think (hope) I'd have noticed the missing driveshaft, but I am getting older! I will be checking into the others this afternoon / evening.

Much appreciated, I'll give that experiment a go tomorrow. My first "ding ding!" thought was with the tranny replacement and a bad TCU connection. That just would have been too easy...

Ah, one other thing... if is indeed the solenoid, is it replacable by dropping the pan as opposed to pulling the whole tranny? I would absolutely love that...

First let me say I'm a new poster, but I've been reading these forums since my first Subaru, many years ago. Thanks! I'm trying to help my friend with her recently purchased Forester. It is FWD only at the moment, and was probably bought that way. There are no strange sounds, lights or any other symptoms besides no power transfer to the rear wheels. Dealer stated that the transmission had been replaced. FWD fuse is not in place. Today she was quoted $600 to replace the duty solenoid. I was under the impression that it's failure resulted in the opposite effect... Is this reasonable? Maybe a clutch pack thing? I'd hate to see biggish $ blown, and my arguments against slapping big snow tires on just the front wheels are becoming increasingly disregarded. Please help avert that travesty! Thanks in advance.