Hi everyone! I am new to this forum, and this is my first post. At the dealership to get some routine maintenance done yesterday, I inquired about some vibration/grinding when making turns in my automatic 2006 Subaru Impreza. Well, they checked it out and said they would need to take the transfer clutch binding apart to see what the problem is, and that just diagnosing the problem would cost me $200. I've done a bit of research, and although I'm pretty confused about what I've come across, it sounds like this could be quite expensive. Given some other recent circumstances, I really don't have the money, so I'm hoping others on this board will give me some ideas about potential solutions that I can try before bringing my car back to the dealership for repair. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi! Welcome to the forum!

 

Your issues sounds like you are having some torque bind happening. But there are a couple of things you can do to give you an idea of what is going on. First is to insert the FWD fuse under the hood and see if that fixes the torque bind. If it does, then your clutch pack is toast. If it does not, then it might be the solenoid. This will at least give you an idea of what the stealership might tell you.

 

Another thing you can do, especially if you just got it, or it has never been done is to drain and fill the transmission 3 times in a row, driving around for a few miles in between drain and fills. This sometimes will free up the clutch packs if they are just a little "gummy". You would be amazed at how much of a difference just a drain and fill can make! Even if you fail the FWD fuse test, I would still do the drain and fill, makes the whole trans work better, and just might fix your problem. Search for this on this forum, there are TONS of threads talking about what you need to do. Cost me about $50 to do this this last week, but it really help my trans out (I didn't have the same issue, but my trans is working better than it was before the drain and flush, that's for sure!).

 

So I would do the FWD fuse test first, then do a drain and fill, and then see where you are at.

 

Sadly if those suggestions don't fix your issue, then you are looking at spending some dough to get it fixed. If you are capable or can find someone who is capable, I would recommend finding a used one and installing that yourself. The 4EAT (if that is what you have) is a very stout trans, and junk yard trans' with a warranty are a good deal as they usually will work for 200k+ without too much issue. Much cheaper than what the stealership would charge you to fix or rebuild what you have now...

Drain and fill the ATF 3 times - driving 10 miles between each operation.

 

If that doesn't work - buy a new transfer clutch pack and change it out.

 

GD