bridorf Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 1993 Legacy AWD Wagon * About a year and a half ago I started on the Duty Solenoid C and torque bind issue on the family wagon. It would bind, set a code and continued to get worse over a period of a couple of months. I removed the transfer case and replaced the solenoid, clutch pack and fluid hose. I inspected the shaft for wear and it looked good so I replaced the two ring bushings and put it together. I worked great for a couple of days and then started to happen again. This time I didn't have the time or patience to mess with it so I took it to a good Subaru only shop here in Seattle and let them play with it for a week or so. They checked all the wiring and bypassed the main harness connection for the solenoid and found nothing wrong. They then removed the transfer case to inspect and everything looked good - since they were in there I had them replace the new solenoid again due to the thought it was possibly a bad (new) solenoid. Problem still occurred - I found a TCU out of a wrecked car and plugged it in - problem solved (Wonderful!). I then found one with matching numbers for the one that originally came out and put it in and the problem went away for the past year and a half. About three weeks ago I replaced a badly leaking steering rack and had the alignment done. Last week I was driving the car, thinking all my car problems were gone (at least for a little while), when I noticed the car bind when parking - kind of a getting tight car not wanting to move then I stop and hear a kind of popping sound. It has happened a few times in the past week, but never sets a code. I have also noticed a light clunk on occasion when putting the car into reverse and the speedo needle wiggles very slightly, but only occasionally. I don't know if that is related or not. For those of you who have stayed interested long enough to read this far my main question is this: What kinds of AT failures are known among this forum group and what kind of Trans. Control Unit failures has anyone experienced? Does anything come to mind that may have happened while doing the steering rack or the alignment that I should check specifically? My wife is about to freak out thinking our car is about to die, we can't afford to replace it right now, and I don't have the time or money to tear the trans. apart again - any help would be awesome. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Have you done the basics? Do the tires all match, equally worn with 1/4 inch cirumfrence and properly inflated? Put the FWD fuse in the holder and see if it goes away. Have you ever fully flusged the tranny? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridorf Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Have you done the basics? Do the tires all match, equally worn with 1/4 inch cirumfrence and properly inflated? Put the FWD fuse in the holder and see if it goes away. Have you ever fully flusged the tranny? nipper Tires are all equal and about 3 months old - checked that. Pressures are all good. It happens so infrequently and randomly that I don't think the fuse trick would tell me much and I don't think it is best to drive around for weeks with the fuse in place. When I did the work on the car about a year and a half ago the fluid was flushed at least 3 to 4 times. I will likely do it again this weekend as I am replacing a front wheel bearing just to see. The problem probably wouldn't bother me so much if I hadn't already been through this nightmare once already. I am leaning towards another bad TCU, but I hate these random and intermittent issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 YOu can drive with thew FWD fuse in. It will save you a major repair in the awd units. you wont hurt anything. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridorf Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Just curious - has anyone had a vehicle speed sensor 1 failure and if so what are the symptoms? Could this cause tight corner "braking" and the speedo needle to wiggle slightly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 VSS the car goes into FWD and shuts down the AWD system. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridorf Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 I wanted to add that in the last week the car has been developing a hesitation in shifting around 22mph (2nd to 3rd?) when accelerating and then taking your foot of the accel. pedal briefly and then getting back on it. I recently replaced plug wires and the knock sensor prior to some of these tranny issues starting as well as the steering rack etc. I had the front right wheel bearing replaced yesterday and the trans drained and filled with fresh fluid - but my wife tells me today the weird shifts are becoming more frequent. Anything new come to mind? TPS or speed sensor maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Does your binding only happen when reversing? I believe it is normal to have torque bind in reverse. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 YOu can drive with thew FWD fuse in. It will save you a major repair in the awd units. you wont hurt anything. nipper for how long can the fuse be installed to maintain the 2 wheel drive???...I was under the impression that it was to be used for towing situations only and would damage the automatic tranny if kept in for normal driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 for how long can the fuse be installed to maintain the 2 wheel drive???...I was under the impression that it was to be used for towing situations only and would damage the automatic tranny if kept in for normal driving Towing, flats or other emergnecies. Look at it this way.... when your AWD is cooked, the car really isnt driveable with the AWD in full application (there is another post where a member had an interesting expierence on a curve in the rain ... and got to see a pole up close, luckily not personally). If the duty C was fried, you would have to rebuild the AWD and replace the solenoid. Now you have a good duty C, but no cash for the repair. This is what we call "borrowed time". You use the fuse and can extend the driveabilty of the car. How long does it last? There are a few people here that have had the fuse in for a few years, others the Duty C fried out in a year. It really depends upon how old the Solenoid is and how its aged. These are things you cant tell. When you do get around to fixing it, replace the Duty C weather or not it is still working. Murphy likes to hang around the parts bin and can enact his laws on that first test drive. Personally, I would flush the tranny and see how the car behaved. If it stil acted up I would put the fuse in the holder and save money for a repair. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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