"Clutch Pack" - where is it, and what does it look like?

[Green96GT]

I know that the 'torque bind' problem has been beaten to death on the board.

 

But I've got it, and understand it thanks to all you guys.

 

My question is: What does the darn thing look like, and where is it on the car? I have this crazy idea that I might try to do the fix myself, and I need to know what I'd be getting into.

 

Anybody got a pic??

 

Thanks all.

[idosubaru]

i'm not familiar with the torque bind, but the clutch packs shouldn't be that bad to replace, i know of a handful of people that have replaced them on the older model 4EAT's in the XT6. it's at the very rear of the transmission, the tailhousing holds all the clutch pack parts. it's the rear of the trans that the drive shaft conects too. shouldn't be that bad if i recall and it might even be possible with the trans in the car??

[RallyKeith]

I posted a picture part down in this thread.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41300

 

You can replace it with the trans in the car. You just have to drop the exhaust, the drive shaft and then lower the back end of the transmission down a little. That is done by supporting the trans (I did it with a big jack and a piece of 3/4" plywood, the same size as the trans pan, on the pan) and then removing the rear crossmember for the trans. Then let the jack down a little bit. Not too much or you could damage the motor mounts. You may also want to remove the pick stopper bar. That's the bar that goes from the engine the back wall of the engine compartment. I did this just replace the seal on the back housing. It was a bit of a pain, but I found it possible.

 

Keith

[Green96GT]

Great, thanks!

 

So, what exactly is it that goes wrong in the pack to cause the problem? From the pic it seems like a fairly simple piece of machinery.

 

Also, is a junkyard replacement an option, or am I asking for trouble? If I had it in my hands looking at one, how would I tell if a used one is OK?

[RallyKeith]

Great, thanks!

 

So, what exactly is it that goes wrong in the pack to cause the problem? From the pic it seems like a fairly simple piece of machinery.

 

Also, is a junkyard replacement an option, or am I asking for trouble? If I had it in my hands looking at one, how would I tell if a used one is OK?

 

 

I think it has to do with dirt getting in between the little disks and binding everything up. I think the dirt actually kind of glues things together and you can't really clean it out. I'm honestly not sure though.

 

Keith

[avk]

I understand that on earlier automatics, there was a problem with a seal spinning in its bore in the tailshaft housing. The internal leak that resulted from wearing the bore by the spinning seal caused loss of pressure and shudder (binding) in the clutch.

[RallyKeith]

I understand that on earlier automatics, there was a problem with a seal spinning in its bore in the tailshaft housing. The internal leak that resulted from wearing the bore by the spinning seal caused loss of pressure and shudder (binding) in the clutch.

 

There was also a problem pre 97 where there was no bearing in the output shaft casing. Eventually the case wears and the clutch pack and tail shaft assembly can move and it binds up against the case walls.

[schspeedster]

'93 Legacy w/195K purchased w/mismatched tires. Replacing w/new set of 4 did not correct torque bind. Draining pan & refilling auto trans fluid fixed the problem.

 

Several drain/refill cycles may be safer than trans flush on worn trans, trans flush solvents may flush out too much crud at once and cause Bad Things to happen.

[nipper]

I understand that on earlier automatics, there was a problem with a seal spinning in its bore in the tailshaft housing. The internal leak that resulted from wearing the bore by the spinning seal caused loss of pressure and shudder (binding) in the clutch.

 

From subaru before 1997 1/2 the duty c solenoid did not have a stainless steel seat. the seat would erode and allow fluid to go past it and hence lock up the plates.

The other scenario is dirt and gum which binds up the clutch plates. This is what a flushing would fix. Its a simple little system, but it has a very sophsticated computer algorythem that makes the AWD very impressive on the automatics.

 

nipper