My 02 Legacy GT has been feeling kind of sluggish lately in that it didn't seem to shift properly, especially when accellerating after slowing down. I never got a CEL for this, so a couple of weeks ago I starte by changing out the transmission fluid. It seemed to be a little better, but nothing outstanding. Then last night when I went to work, I had the same shifting issue and the CEL started blinking and went away. The car rode fine after the CEL went away. I parked the car and shut the engine and when I started her up again, the CEL light was on. I pulled the codes this morning and got a P0303 so I went to the dealer to get some ignition wires as I'll tune her up this weekend.

 

So, overall, can a misfiring engine feel like a transmission slippage issue?

 

I'll let you know how it turns out over the weekend.

 

Pete

Misfire causes the engine to not rev up properly, or hold speed properly, so the trany will shift back and forth to a lower and higher gear in the process. So, yea you could easily think there is a trany issue, when it is an engine problem.

 

Replace your plug wires, and maybe plugs too, if the code read out indicates a misfire.

My 02 Legacy GT has been feeling kind of sluggish lately in that it didn't seem to shift properly, especially when accellerating after slowing down. I never got a CEL for this, so a couple of weeks ago I starte by changing out the transmission fluid. It seemed to be a little better, but nothing outstanding. Then last night when I went to work, I had the same shifting issue and the CEL started blinking and went away. The car rode fine after the CEL went away. I parked the car and shut the engine and when I started her up again, the CEL light was on. I pulled the codes this morning and got a P0303 so I went to the dealer to get some ignition wires as I'll tune her up this weekend.

 

So, overall, can a misfiring engine feel like a transmission slippage issue?

 

I'll let you know how it turns out over the weekend.

 

Pete

Definitely. If you're having misfire, the engine is going to hang as though the transmission is slipping even though in actuality, cylinders are missing causing the lack of power you could perceive as slippage.

 

If the CEL throws an ignition code, I would most certainly address spark plugs/wires/fuel filter/injectors.

yes - misfires get described as just about anything, bad trans being one of them.

If the new plugs/wires fixes the misfire issue, would there have been any damage done to the tranny during this period?

If the new plugs/wires fixes the misfire issue, would there have been any damage done to the tranny during this period?

Definitely not.

Only if you drove it that way for a really really long time. (thousands of miles)

 

Short term. No harm no foul.

The only thing that may get upset is the cat, and that is if it is a constant missfire.

 

 

Check to see if there is oil on the spark plug boots, if so the bucket seals (from subaru only) will have to be replaced as that oil cause a missfire as it destroys the wires.

 

How many miles and when was the last tuneup?

I bought the car at 64K last July and the dealer showed me paperwork that the car was updated on the maintanence. I was going to do it over the summer, but I'm gonna get it done tomorrow w/subaru wires, pcv valve and ngk plugs. Fingers crossed...

Just an FYI every 105,000 miles or every 8-9 years you need a timing belt and all the associated goodies.

I got 80K on the car now - I was thinking I would do the timing belt/water pump buy the end of the year or early next year, depending. I put 15K on the car in 6 months - the original owner put 64k on the car in 8 years...

The O2 sensor can also be a cause of misfiring, especially with the mileage you have on the car.

I thought my tranny was toast for years before I found cyl 3 plug wire with a 9mm friction hole in it. You bet she jerked and spuddered often.

I guess I can't complain, I got 80,000 miles out of that set of wires.....sorta.

Replaced the plugs and wires as well as fuel/air filter and the car is running like a champ again - for now. I hope I nipped it at the bud, but for now, I'm a happy camper again.

Good deal. Thanks for the update.

I had the same thing that would happen on my 95 legacy 2.2 but mine usually would only occur after it had rained or the baro presure had dropped. it would also normally do it when i first started in the morning and then go away when warm. inspected and found that the coil was discharging on the bottom to the intake causing it to be sluggish. now it runs like a dream.