my 1993 Legacy is running grat but in cold start or long time sitting the slow overdrive operation happens for about 20 miles ,when it starts to work does anybody know of a fix for this trouble ,thank you ....

have you checked fluid level? what does the fluid look like? bright red, or darker, dirty reddish brown?

 

Car needs to be at full operating temp, on flat, level surface and the engine running for a proper level reading.

have you checked fluid level? what does the fluid look like? bright red, or darker, dirty reddish brown?

 

Car needs to be at full operating temp, on flat, level surface and the engine running for a proper level reading.

yes its been done its nice looking not burnt and yes it was a normal temp and level ...all is good looking still have strange trouble !

The trans must warm up to a certain temp before it will change to 4th gear. And then it must warm up a bit more before the torque converter will lock up. This is to help warm up the engine and trans. Does your engine get to temp quickly? Maybe you could block the radiator with cardboard to help it warm up faster.

Presslab, thanks for your answer. I noticed the same thing with my 93 Legacy FWD wagon in cold weather and wondered if it was normal or a sign something was wrong. A typical trip involves warming up the car for about 2-10 minutes depending on how cold it is (like +20F to as low as -26F this winter), driving across town for about 8 minutes, then about 5 minutes on the highway, and the transmission never shifts to 4th. A few more minutes on the highway and it upshifts to 4th normally. If I drive it again before it has totally cooled off, it continues to shift normally. Maybe the reason I wasn't used to this is that for 26 years before this car I drove nothing but manual transmission vehicles.

Edited March 18, 201412 yr by BB's93LegacyL

Sure thing.  I've added an external trans cooler to mine, so I notice this even more.  And actually I've modified the TCU software to change these temperature set-points a bit, as I think stock they are too high, but this is obviously pretty difficult.  My bet is that Subaru is trying to get the temp up quickly for emissions reasons.

Presslab, thanks for your answer. I noticed the same thing with my 93 Legacy FWD wagon in cold weather and wondered if it was normal or a sign something was wrong. A typical trip involves warming up the car for about 2-10 minutes depending on how cold it is (like +20F to as low as -26F this winter), driving across town for about 8 minutes, then about 5 minutes on the highway, and the transmission never shifts to 4th. A few more minutes on the highway and it upshifts to 4th normally. If I drive it again before it has totally cooled off, it continues to shift normally. Maybe the reason I wasn't used to this is that for 26 years before this car I drove nothing but manual transmission vehicles.

 

it is very possible that it just simply isnt warming up completely until you hit the freeway.

 

I live out in the country and local speed limits are 55mph - no city driving here - have had mine (both a 1990 & a '95) take 5-7 miles in really cold weather to fully warm up, even after letting the engine warm up for several minutes before driving, but I am probably pushing it a little harder out here in the boonies than you are in town...

 

I am betting that as the weather warms up, it will start shifting sooner...