I towed my '91 Legacy (auto trans) with the front wheels on the ground and the rear wheels on a tow dolly. Yes, the shifter was in Neutral.

OK, I know that was stupid. I figured that speeds less than 50 mph for 140 miles probably wouldn't hurt things -- too much.

Well, it seems that I was sure wrong!

Fluid color, level and smell are normal.

Now my symptoms are:

1st gear only, and no upshift, no matter the selector or throttle position.

No deceleration by trans when throttle is released (seems to 'disconnect').

Neutral and Park are functioning normally.

No Reverse.

Shifting into a forward gear feels normal -- no slipping when accelerating.

Has anyone else done this to their trans? What was damaged? What did it take to fix it?

Thanks in advance.

George

I have only seen this happen once years ago. A guy driving a wrecker in a garage I was a mechanic in did the same thing. I think our insurance company paid for a whole new transmission.

On AWD Subaru's it is best to tow the car with all 4 wheels off the ground or with the front off the ground and the rear driveshaft pulled and transmission tailshaft capped to prevent fluid drainage. On FWD Automatics tow with the front off the ground.

 

I think I remember this being bad reverse clutches and you need a rebuilt transmission. Reverse clutches, when toasted badly, will keep the car from being able to shift up in gears because they slow the internals of the trans to allow the gears to mesh.

If you really love the car get a rebuilt transmission installed. Lucky thing is, you live in Colorado not too far from where CCR is. Call (303) 293-9230 and talk to them for a quote. Be sure to explain what happened when you call just so they have an idea of what the old one is going to be like inside. The website is linked here:

http://www.ccrengines.com/

Your reply is so comforting to me! Thank you for the 'Message of Doom", which is kind of what I had I had expected. I wish I had left the engine running during the tow job. That might have prevented what happened.

 

George

Thanks, Shawn, for the info. I will see what develops, and post the results.

 

George

Your reply is so comforting to me! Thank you for the 'Message of Doom", which is kind of what I had I had expected. I wish I had left the engine running during the tow job. That might have prevented what happened.

 

George

I would guess that if you left the engine running, installed the FWD fuse, and put the tranny in neutral, everything would be OK. The FWD fuse energizes the duty soleniod, that allows ATF under pressure to disengage the clutch pack, placing the car in FWD. For there to be ATF pressure the AT pump must be running, so the engine must be running. Also, having the AT pump running will ensure that any parts in the tranny that move while being towed will still be lubricated and cooled by ATF. Of course, if the engine stalls you're toast. Once again, this is an untested theory. Maybe when my Forester has 300,000 miles on the clock, I''ll give it a try.