February 14, 200620 yr Place: I89, northbound through vermont, roughly 6 miles north of monpelier When: About 3:45pm, today What: (97 EJ22, 4EAT, Impreza)I was driving up a hill, keeping the rpm's pretty high to compensate for the larger tires.. and to keep my speed up... and all the sudden the car sort of lurches... it almost felt like it poped into neutral and back again.. or tried to downshift, and changed it's mind mid-way... it did this a few times up that hill... straight away it's fine, and down hill it's fine.. it only seemed to happen when i was stressing the transmission up hills... but just cruising at about 70mph... from a stop i can step on it, and it's fine.... there was also a 'click'ish noise each time it happened, coming from the left from dash area.... what the hell is going on!?!? i checked the tranny fluid, it's there, it's red/purpleish (darker red than straight tranny fluid, but not black). Motor oil is fine, diff oil in the front is fine (didn't check the back).... Oh yeah, and one time it did it, the worst of all of them, it disengaged enough so that the engine reved up pretty high, and then cought... that was a good lurch... I'm thinking i might take out my 4wd switch, and splice those wires back together to see if anything changes... the only problem is it only happens at highway speeds... and i can't really go that fast around Potsdam.. no highway!!
February 14, 200620 yr [...] there was also a 'click'ish noise each time it happened, coming from the left from dash area....what the hell is going on!?!? i checked the tranny fluid, it's there, it's red/purpleish (darker red than straight tranny fluid, but not black). Motor oil is fine, diff oil in the front is fine (didn't check the back).... Oh yeah, and one time it did it, the worst of all of them, it disengaged enough so that the engine reved up pretty high, and then cought... that was a good lurch... Offhand, I don't know what the "click" signifies, but it may be a clue to what's happening. (With my '99 Legacy OB, a click I hear from the left area of the dash seems to occur when the cruise control is engaged.) Darkening of the fluid often indicates it's getting "burned", or some worn material is contaminating it; it can look somewhat "purple" before it progresses to brown or black. It's also probable that something has been going on for a while, since it's less likely that what just happened would immediately darken the fluid. How does the fluid smell? Also, try putting some fluid on a clean white paper towel or napkin, and wait a while; if there are particles, they will stay on top of the paper while the fluid seeps in and disperses. If you have some fresh fluid, compare the odor, etc.; that makes it easier to detect burned/contaminated fluid. When was the fluid last changed? Full flush, or just drain/refill? Pan dropped, filter/screen checked? You probably know this, but make sure that the fluid level is checked "by the book"; engine running, trans warmed, on level ground, run through gears, etc. Under- or over-filling can lead to slippage, and eventually worse. Best of luck; let us know if there are any other clues. EDIT: Although the problem seems like it's mechanical in nature, isn't this the vehicle that recently got the ground connections improved? Were they previously bad enough to cause the trans to be erratic? Any possibility that something else got disturbed during the grounding work?
February 14, 200620 yr Would it worth checking for a code? maybe you have a speed sensor going bad or some trash between one and the tone ring? I dunno
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