grimaceNMike Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 (edited) My car has been binding on slow turns and getting worse then usual gas mileage, the power light flashed this morning so checked it and it came up bad duty c solenoid. I know I need to change it soon. But in the meantime can I drive the car without damaging it? Does putting the FWD fuse in make it okay to drive on the freeway?Thank you 93 legacy ej22 automatic 266,686 miles Edited March 14, 2015 by grimaceNMike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Put in the FWD fuse and see if that cures the problem. If it cures it then yes it is ok to drive. If it doesn't I would get it fixed sooner then later. It can make for dangerous traction situations and hard to drive. You can tear up the tires and drive line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 you can drive with binding somewhat - it's largely depending on use - it would be some complicated differential equation involving speed, exact roads, degrees of turn, arc, circumference, left, right.... best to just run the car in FWD: 1. install the FWD fuse - we can't tell you if it'll work - it might or it might not. often the FWD fuse won't work if the Duty C is borked, but you just have to try and see. the Duty C is in a sense what controls the FWD feature...so without that control you can't get FWD and the fuse doesn't work. but sometimes it can depending on the failure mode. 2. run it "locked' and disconnect the rear half of the driveshaft so you're in FWD. you don't say what year vehicle but an earlier EJ should have a two piece driveshaft - remove the rear half and then disconnect the Duty C but clipping the wire or just leaving it as-is if the solenoid has completely failed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimaceNMike Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 I put in the fuse and the binding while turning went away, my car seemed to use the engines power better and it felt normal through turns again. After about 40 miles of driving i took it on a freeway on-ramp and accelerated to 65mph at a delicate pace, but my car wouldn't shift from 3rd to 4th, the RPMS were around 5500 so I let off the accelerator and thought it would shift up, but it didn't. I pulled over and pulled the FWD fuse out and the car had no issues with shifting to 4th anymore. i have not put the fuse back in since. I read in one of my repair manuals that you shouldn't drive long distances or fast speeds with the FWD fuse in, for safety reasons. Are they talking "4wd safety" or transmission lockup crash safety?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 When a solenoid is a "duty" type it isnt meant to be consatntly energized but to cycle on and off. Thats why they dont like it being kept energized. You wont hurt anything that isnt already hurt as you would replace the solenoid with this repair anyway because of Murphy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceramiclover Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) In the same boat. Driving with the FWD fuse in has been going fine. Wondering if how legit it would be to just wire a switch to make the car 4WD. Or do I not understand this system well enough? Wondering if it is worth it to try drain/refill with a new tranny filter $25. The fluid looks perfect and at the right level, so I was hesitant. I pulled the tranny code, and it was the duty c. I am looking to sell the car, preferably without replacing Duty solenoid C, as I have never opened a tranny before. But I do not want to do something that will knowingly damage the vehicle. Edited March 15, 2015 by Ceramiclover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I do not think the duty C will overheat from being energized- when (up to '03) it is energized and it relieves the pressure, the ATF goes through the solenoid, cooling it. Clever fellas, those subaru engineers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmithmmx Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hello, I am going on 4 years and 20K miles later with flashing AT light. The FWD fuse does not work for me. The torque bind is getting worse and worse by the day. If I put the car in reverse and turn the wheel it will not move. I have to give it serious gas. When I put it in park it makes awful banging noise. It drives fine going forward. MPG has suffered. I am actually looking to source a transmission at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimaceNMike Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 subaru nut- how is your transmission fluid level?? Have you checked it while the engine is running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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