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Powertrain question 4wheel drive not working


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Hello again all u suby nuts its been awhile sence's ive been on here for new comers i have a 1985 gl wagon with the ej22 and a 4inch lift. i have about 6000 miles on my newly remodeled suby and its been great. all the way from the 4inch lift from ozified to the wiring harness done by chux (a suby god).. I took my suby out 4x4 on sunday and was having a blast intill i noticed that my front wheels where just digging in to the ground. i had been climbing some very steap inclines and after about an hour i stop had lunch and did some fishing then started to 4x4 again and thats when i noticed something was wrong. i wasnt getting any power to the rear wheels sh##!!! so i tried dumping the clutch in reverse to get the rear tires to spin as well ran one wheel up on the side of a incline to lift one rear wheel off the ground and nothing?? the wierd thing is the the driveshaft turns just fine all the way back to the rear diff so i thought that my rear diff was toast. so when i drove it to work today i put it on the lift key off put it in 4wheel drvie and in 1st gear and spone the rear wheels, and oddly they spone in diifferent directions so my rear diff is ok. so i turned the car on wheels off the ground in 4wheel drive and 1st and the rear wheels spone on there own. however i could grab either rear wheel with my hands and stop them so my problem isnt my diff then right?? i'm thinking it might be my transfore case but im not sure how to tell or test that. needless to say with the car in the air in 4wheel drive and in 1st all for wheels turn in the right directions, but there is absolutely NO POWER TO THE REAR WHEELS WHEN ITS ON THE GROUND:mad: :mad: :mad: but then y is the driveshaft turning with out delivering power?? so maybe it is the diff?? all i know is i need help because it makes me sick not being able to 4x4. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Tony~

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Since you mention Clutches and putting it in 4x4 I suspect you have the GL's original D/R 5spd?

 

If that's the case, you may have stripped the teeth on the 4wd engagement hub. The teeth on the hub are only about 3/16 of an inch wide. The hub could be dragging from friction when you put it on the lift, but not able to hold and transmit power.

 

It's easy to inspect the engagement gear and hub at he tail end of hte tranny by removing the cover plate from the top of the rear section.

 

But if you are sure the driveshaft is being engaged fully, and you don't hear any grinding, you're trouble could still be in the diff. Perhaps the pinion shaft snapped?

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yes it is a 5speed d/r 4x4 and yes thats what the name means :grin: and no there is no grinding of any kind. yes i was looking under the car at the driveshaft when we had it up against the incline with the rear wheel off the ground the front tires where going crazy and digging into the ground and nothing from the back ones but no griding, smell or anything?? so if the 4x4 gears or gone do i need a new transfer case??

 

Tony~

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if the 4x4 gears or gone do i need a new transfer case??
subaru transmissions are complete assemblies, there's really no replacing *just* the front diff or transfer case. any of that stuff requires pulling the trans apart and going through it. personally i'd source another transmission. by the time you pull it apart and then need to find internal trans parts you're probably looking at not much cost difference but lots more work rebuilding.

 

maybe someone knows a simple suggestion?

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well the only reason i dont think its a trans problem is because we where giving it almost full throttle when pined against that incline and the rear part of the driveshaft was spinning as fast as the front on, so if it was in the trans the driveshaft wouldnt turn at all or slowly, right???? thats why i believe its in the rear diff.

 

 

Tony~

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well the only reason i dont think its a trans problem is because we where giving it almost full throttle when pined against that incline and the rear part of the driveshaft was spinning as fast as the front on, so if it was in the trans the driveshaft wouldnt turn at all or slowly, right???? thats why i believe its in the rear diff.

 

 

I believe you're right. If the shaft was definately spinning hard with no grinding then the problem is in you're rear end. Either the diff itself. Or perhaps one of the CVs in the axles but I would think that would be obvious if it was the case.

 

Pull the rear diff cover and inspect.

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well the only reason i dont think its a trans problem is because we where giving it almost full throttle when pined against that incline and the rear part of the driveshaft was spinning as fast as the front on, so if it was in the trans the driveshaft wouldnt turn at all or slowly, right???? thats why i believe its in the rear diff.

 

There is no front driveshaft. Unless you have a divorced transfer case... but you don't.

 

If the vehicle is in motion, the rear driveshaft will rotate wether or not the car is in 4WD or not. If the vehicle is not in motion, but the front tires are spinning, and the rear driveshaft is rotating, but the rear tires are not spinning. Then the only thing it can be would be the diff or the CV joints. However, if it were the CV's you would hear it. If it were the diff, you should be able to hear it as well.. unless you did a good job stripping all the gears off it.

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