stevo151617 Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 i bought new tires, they are a little bigger than stock, but anyway, i parked my car at a friends house overnight, when i picked it up the next day it started fine but it had snowed a bit, so i put it in 4wd just for kicks. pulled me right out of the snow, but then when i pulled up a ways, i stopped and hit the button on the stick and it didnt come out of 4wd. i was completely stopped! completely! i figured it was the switch in the button was stuck, but i can press it and hear something on the inside of the left fender. i found what was clicking was a set of solenoids, or actuators with a whole bunch of vaccuum lines on either end. this is my first subaru,so i really dont know much about them. please help me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Hold the clutch in first, see if that disengages it. If that doesnt work, try backing up a ways, make sure your wheels are turned straight ahead also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Jim Maple Ridge Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Did you put on two tires or four? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syonyk Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 If there's any torque in the drivetrain (caused by different front/rear speeds from turning, or from slightly different tires), it won't come out of 4WD easily. There are two methods I use on my '87 GL to get it easily out of 4WD, I imagine they'd work the same with pushbutton. You can back up straight for a car length or two until it pops out of 4WD. Or, more fun, you can find a slightly slick surface & hit the brakes hard enough to cause some slip. That's been good for getting it out of 4WD. Worst case, just jack a wheel up enough for the drivetrain to unwind. -=Russ=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpingloyalekid Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 w/ my 92, some times it will do the same thing, it will only engage/ disengage if... 1. clutch is in, 2. shifter stick is in neutral, and 3. car is rolling/ moving. it also dosent like it if the front tired are turned all the way to the right or the left. hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo151617 Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 Did you put on two tires or four? i put 4 p185/80r13 tires on it, im just afraid i need a transfer case control module... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo151617 Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 Did you put on two tires or four? i put 4 p185/80r13 tires on it, ive tried to pop it out while driving, because i could always tell when it happens because of the loud bang from the rear end (i only did it once or twice) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo151617 Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 If there's any torque in the drivetrain (caused by different front/rear speeds from turning, or from slightly different tires), it won't come out of 4WD easily. There are two methods I use on my '87 GL to get it easily out of 4WD, I imagine they'd work the same with pushbutton. You can back up straight for a car length or two until it pops out of 4WD. Or, more fun, you can find a slightly slick surface & hit the brakes hard enough to cause some slip. That's been good for getting it out of 4WD. Worst case, just jack a wheel up enough for the drivetrain to unwind. -=Russ=- so if i jack up a wheel (any wheel, or just one of the rears?) and manually turn it with my hand it should pop out of 4wd? what happens when i need to use 4wd again? do you think it will go in? and will i have to jack it up every time i want to come out of 4wd? i back up straight about 5 car lengths every morning on my way out of my driveway. is this happening beause of the tires i put on it? is this a common thing with subarus? i know nothing about them. i spent 2 years studying gm cars and trucks in college and i have ASE's and this car always leaves me scratching my head...valve covers especially...they were tough! thanks for any help you can give me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo151617 Posted March 9, 2006 Author Share Posted March 9, 2006 so if i jack up a wheel (any wheel, or just one of the rears?) and manually turn it with my hand it should pop out of 4wd? what happens when i need to use 4wd again? do you think it will go in? and will i have to jack it up every time i want to come out of 4wd? i back up straight about 5 car lengths every morning on my way out of my driveway. is this happening beause of the tires i put on it? is this a common thing with subarus? i know nothing about them. i spent 2 years studying gm cars and trucks in college and i have ASE's and this car always leaves me scratching my head...valve covers especially...they were tough! thanks for any help you can give me... also... ive tried to get the wheels to slip, now that its march, im encountering more rain it may become difficult. especially with the new tires and...well the brakes arent that great...get back to me.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haredawg Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Had this same problem earlier this year here's what I had happen a vaccum hose came off.Now where to find this problem lift your hood and start up towards the firewall driverside find your fuel filter then go just up from there and look for some vaccum hoses or start the other way have someone in the car engaging your push button and listen underhood for the clicking noise it's under the spare tire there's a round canister that's got the vaccum hose trace it up and see if there's a crack or it just came off and rehook up see if this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 The vacuum hoses from the solenoids to the trannie might have slipped off, or be cracked. You found the solenoids, check the hoses. Usually the 4WD just slides in and out easily. Sometimes, it needs a bit of help, like coasting (clutch in or gas off) for a few yards with the wheels straight, backing up, etc., driving on a loose surface (snow/ice/gravel) There should be no problem about using the 4WD again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvexplorer Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 When I first got my Soob (93 Loyale 5 spd) it had practically bald tires on the back and decent in the front. 4WD would engage fine but sometimes I had to drive foreward in a straight line before it would disengage with a loud clunk. Now I've got new tires all the way around and it engages and disengages easily, and without the clunk. Sometimes I still have to get the wheels rolling to disengage it, but usually only a few feet does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevo151617 Posted March 10, 2006 Author Share Posted March 10, 2006 thanks guys, i decided to get off my ARS and check it out for myself. i didnt see the cable that went from the vaccuum diapragm to the side of the tranny. and thats where my problem was, see, when vaccuum is applied to the diapragm, it pulls, well when it pulls that cable, it hooks to a linkage on the tranny. i found that the cable threads had broken and the linkage was not attached to the cable, finding that it is in a bad spot i have decided to cut away part of the floor in my car to rig a manual control to go in and out of 4wd...a lever. see when the 4wd button was pushed on the stick, the cable would contact the linkage and actually push it into 4wd then when i press it agan, the cable would come back and not bring the linkage with it. a real bad design if you ask me, but i cant complain! thanks again for all of your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 It's nice from a convienience point of view, but it's complication is one of the reasons that people swich transmissions to the dual range 4wd one. It has a nice, simple, solid lever that sellects 2wd, 4wd, or 4wd low. The swap is easy, all bolt in. And it makes a huge difference in the offroad capability of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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