1999 Legacy SUS, 100,000 miles, 2.5. 4EAT auto trans, AWD.

 

when going down a hill the transmission won't down shift, stays in really high RPM's. i haven't driven in it yet, but they said it does it every time, they know exactly when and where it will do it on the roads they take. this is in WV, so lots of hills.

 

ATF was replaced by the dealer when troubleshooting and they got nowhere. then a local mechanic said he had seen this before on this year vehicle. i found that to be a strange comment since i've never seen it mentioned here and couldn't find anything while searching.

 

trans would also at one point go into reverse while at a stop light when it was in DRIVE. that was fixed though, i imagine just the linkage had issues? anyway, the other down shifting problem still exists.

I wonder if the transfer clutches are shot. This would cause that binding you describe. The 4EAT shifts into 3rd when it detects that the person is using brake to slow down as a method of helping to stop the car with the engine. I would guess that the transmission is having some major issues trying to shift into third and then shifting into 2nd instead.

i knew i should have driven it yesterday. they didn't seem to indicate it had any torque bind issues though, it's all while driving straight. that seems to suggest the clutches are fine. i'll have to drive it next time i see them.

[...]when going down a hill the transmission won't down shift, stays in really high RPM's. i haven't driven in it yet,[...]

Here's food for thought: Under normal circumstances, if coasting downhill and a trans is shifted to a lower gear, do engine revs decrease or increase? No, that's not a trick question.

 

It appears to me like the trans is already in a lower-than-top gear; the high revs would seem to indicate it, and of course under that circumstance it won't want to shift to an even lower gear.

 

Driving the car yourself does seem like a good idea.

maybe i meant to say it won't up-shift. grrr for not driving it....