dslysenko

Figured as much. Now I did some voltage test around the FWD fuse slot. Without the fuse in I get 7.2 V on one contact and 0.01 V on the other. With the fuse in I get 0.01 V on both. I did notice that what seemed to be a ground wire somewhat near to the FWD fuse had been cut: https://s3.amazonaws.com/pushbullet-uploads/ujDZcnjDgdM-ZwiGNECyjBAoqpQhBy8EzblhpoLcFzSZ/IMG_20150308_182320.jpg This all still seems consistent with duty C failure, I am just trying to double, triple check to rule out electrical failure. The last thing I would want to do is swap out the solenoid and clutch pack and then find out it was electrical all along.

Interesting point. I looked at the wiring under my dash and this is what it looks like -- https://s3.amazonaws.com/pushbullet-uploads/ujDZcnjDgdM-1HOLIZGLfhG3Uw9FSz9G8KLkmH27urCe/IMG_20150308_120424:nopm:.jpg Does it look suspicious to you that the two green housings are disconnected (or the stripped disconnected wire behind them)? Or do the dash lights have nothing to do with those pieces of wiring.

@nipper: Ok, yeah, sorry I wasn't being careful with the terminology. That plays into what I'm saying--FWD dash light is not turning on at all which leads me to believe that the connection there has gone bad somehow--maybe when we had some guys from Circuit City install a new battery. I do vaguely remember some wires hanging down to the left of the brake pedal, maybe something there got torn as well. The FWD dash light does not even come on when the car cycles through all the lights on startup. Nothing whatsoever between AT OIL TEMP and BRAKE.

nipper: Thanks. Just to confirm, since FWD will not actually fire, the FWD light should also stay OFF with a duty C failure, correct? I'm suspicious that there could just be an electrical failure causing a bad connection somewhere along the circuit that contains the solenoid and the FWD fuse. Now, if the FWD light is on that same circuit then I'd be much less suspicious as a failed solenoid would presumably mean the circuit would stay open meaning the light should not go on. However, if the FWD light is triggered to turn on when it measures voltage being provided to the solenoid, then it probably should be on regardless of if FWD does engage, and I would have to be a lot more suspicious of an electrical failure.

Not the best... hm. Now I've got a question: according to http://legacycentral.org/library/torquebind.htm , only the pre-95 models should have issues with the solenoid and 95-97 models will have a worn down rear trans housing that needs to be replaced. These are both >$500 repairs when dealing with a shop so I want to make sure I have the right one... would it still be more likely a faulty solenoid in a 97 legacy (i.e. probably manufactured in 96)? EDIT: Popped a spare fuse into the FWD fuse slot and no FWD light came on + slipping on tight turns persists... (tried with 15W and 30W) does that change anything? Before I found this out I figured I would change the AT fluid 3 times to see if that fixed it...now, not really sure what to do.

Thanks all. Seems relatively straightforward. Now how much do you think it would run me to have a shop swap out the solenoid? I definitely don't have much equipment over here. (@86BRATMAN: might have to take you up on that...)

Hey all! Owner of a 97 Legacy sedan here, been having some issues with it past couple of years (bad spark plug, bad alternator, sticking left caliper wearing my brakes down, faulty tstat causing my check engine light to come on with a "radiator fan function" code, and leaking lots of coolant and possibly a little oil...) and the latest one that is plaguing me could be the worst of the bunch. My AT oil temp light has flashed 16 times every time I've started it--I searched around here, followed a guide on how to diagnose it (http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/99-do-yourself-illustrated-guides/44383-199-2004-how-read-diagnostic-trouble-codes-dtcs.html) and got nothing (AT oil temp light stayed on without pulsating at all after I completed the last step). Took it to the shop as the past few days have been INCREDIBLY busy with regards to work and personal life and I can walk to the office, told the mechanics you can't use an OBDII reader for this and they basically couldn't find anything, said that for something like 20 starts (including one where they ran it ~25mph around the block) the AT light didn't flash as I described and they couldn't pull a code, then on the next start after that it did flash in that way. Now, probably not coincidentally, I believe that start when it finally flashed again, was the next start after they did a test drive in tight circles because I had told them I'd noticed my wheels slipping (rhythmic kind of jerking) when I cut the wheel all the way to one side to back out of/pull into a parking spot. Now I'm having my suspicions that the AT light and the jerking when cutting the wheel could be related. Especially since the AT light, as far as I know, is supposed to indicate that the computer noticed something faulty in the previous operation. When I throw a fuse into the FWD fuse slot, no FWD light comes on and the slipping continues to happen. I've seen some very knowledgeable people round these parts of the internet so I figured I would reach out to you all and see if you had any advice or have dealt with an issue like this before.

Hey all, My name is Dennis and I'm a student taking a gap semester to work on a startup I co-founded. Luckily my old suby is giving me enough to worry about to keep my feet on the ground and my head in real life every once in a while instead of just always being engrossed in work I will of course be posting on the appropriate forums to see if I can diagnose my car's issues but I've got the impression it's just having a midlife crisis (well, mid-life at 120k+ miles...) and everything will be better soon. Look forward to getting to know some of you