vwbuge1 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I have been driving my dad '97 Outback for a week now. He has always complained about poor fuel mileage. The car has 150k miles and has been taken car of. Hardly burns any oil between changes. Makes decent power. I recently replaced an o2 sensor and ran some fuel injector cleaner through. On the last tank of gas I got about 17mpg city driving. (auto trans) I did notice when turning and applying throttle there is a bit of hesitation and what feels to me like some torque bind. There are no lights on the dash. Could trans issue be contributing to the poor MPG? As soon as the weather breaks I plan on changing out the trans fluid/filter. For now, can I just put the AWD fuse in and disengage the system to see if this helps both issues? How long can I run the car with the fuse in place? I have searched torque bind issues and did some reading but I am still unclear on EXACTLY what causes it and the symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Could trans issue be contributing to the poor MPG? As soon as the weather breaks I plan on changing out the trans fluid/filter. For now, can I just put the AWD fuse in and disengage the system to see if this helps both issues? How long can I run the car with the fuse in place? put the fuse in and see if it helps. you can drive it that way a long time but you run the risk of the duty c failing. (the fuse will not do any good if the duty c is already bad but then you should have a flashing AT TEMP light at start up.) short term, until you can fix it is fine. if the fuse helps, a fluid change, (drain and fill 3 times, not a flush) may help or fix the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericcroll Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Help? Am I missing something, or do I just not have rights to create a new post? I am trying to possibly get a used timing belt hydraulic tensioner by Friday and am looking for some help on this site. I don't know if that's what's wrong or not, but I'm going to be doing to timing belt change on the road, so I want to have all of my bases covered (without spending a fortune on a new one that I might not need). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpar Mod Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I'm not understanding what your issue is. What help do you need regarding the timing belt? You should have been able to post a new thread and if not, it must have just been a glitch of some sort. Do you need to know where to get a used tensioner or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwbuge1 Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 How many amp fuse? So, if I put the fuse in and start the car and the AT TEMP light comes on duty C is bad? Enlighten me on duty c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 How many amp fuse? So, if I put the fuse in and start the car and the AT TEMP light comes on duty C is bad? Enlighten me on duty c. any spare fuse will do. if the duty c is bad you should have a flashing AT TEMP light at start up when the fuse is not installed. if the duty c is good you will have a FWD light on the dash and no torque bind when the fuse is installed. if nothing changes when you put the fuse in then there is probably more than one problem. the fuse activates the duty c which eliminates the power going to the rear wheels . this give you Front Wheel Drive only, no all wheel drive. if the duty c is bad it can not be activated and you will have torque bind, which is like 4WD with ''locked'' front hubs. you also can not put the car in FWD with the fuse. do you have a flashing AT TEMP light at start up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwbuge1 Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 any spare fuse will do. if the duty c is bad you should have a flashing AT TEMP light at start up when the fuse is not installed. if the duty c is good you will have a FWD light on the dash and no torque bind when the fuse is installed. if nothing changes when you put the fuse in then there is probably more than one problem. the fuse activates the duty c which eliminates the power going to the rear wheels . this give you Front Wheel Drive only, no all wheel drive. if the duty c is bad it can not be activated and you will have torque bind, which is like 4WD with ''locked'' front hubs. you also can not put the car in FWD with the fuse. do you have a flashing AT TEMP light at start up? I have installed a fuse in an older model I had to try and acheive better gas mileage in the summer. I just couldn't remember what size to install. In the current vehicle there are no dash lights on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwbuge1 Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Just went out and stuck a fuse in. FWD light comes on in dash. No other lights. Took car for test drive and is smooth as silk. What is my next step? Change trans fluid and filter? Rear diff fluid change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Just went out and stuck a fuse in. FWD light comes on in dash. No other lights. Took car for test drive and is smooth as silk. What is my next step? Change trans fluid and filter? Rear diff fluid change? you need to do a drain and fill on the trans. just like a drain and fill for the engine oil. (your trans doesn't have a filter.) drain the trans fluid and measure it (~3.5qts.). add the same amount back in. after you do this, start the car let it idle and shift it through all of the positions on the selector. then shut it off and do it again. do it 3 times. you will need about 3 gallons of trans fluid. this may help your torque bind. let us know what happens. DO NOT DO A TRANS FLUID FLUSH> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camaro5690 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 rather than make a new thread I have a question. My 99 outback has the AT Oil Temp light come on at start up for about 1-2 seconds. The shuts off and stays off. Does this indicate a problem with the "duty c"? And what is the duty c? The solenoid in the trans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 My 99 outback has the AT Oil Temp light come on at start up for about 1-2 seconds. The shuts off and stays off. Does this indicate a problem with the "duty c"? like all other lights on the dash, coming on when the key is in the ON position is a ''test''. this is normal. if it then starts flashing, that indicates a problem. And what is the duty c? The solenoid in the trans? as mentioned above, the duty c controls the power sent to the rear wheels. if working correctly, the power split between the front and rear is about 90/ 10 favoring the front. when the computer measures split in the front or a speed difference between the two, it sends more power to the rear, maxing out at about 60/40 favoring the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj7135 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 This is all great info thanks guys. I've looked but was not able to find a detailed tutorial on how to do it. I want to do it myself but don't want to start something i can't finish. I certainly dont wanna remove the trans. I'm wondering how hard it is to do, if anybody knows where i can find a decent tutorial, and if a duty C solenoid and clutch pack can be used out of a 98 Forester for a 97 OBW? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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