after work today i pulled into my driveway and hit the gas and the front wheels spun. which it doesn't normally do. so i took the car for a ride, i put the one front wheel in some mud and it took about 5 seconds for the rear wheels to kick in. i did this a few times and the same thing happened. i then put the fwd fuse in and drove for a few miles then took it out. i went back to the mud and this time their was no spinning it seemed to work fine after that. is this anything to worry about. is it possable somthing could have got stuck?

 

We cant tell you anything without knowing year and mileage.

 

nipper

90 legacy 213,000 but trans is newer and don't know the mileage. clutches were out of my old trans, they have less than 10,000 miles on them. solonoid was the one that came with the trans because my new one quit working for some reason when it was swaped into the new trans. other trans was put in about 6 months ago and the awd has worked flawlessly until today.

i'm curious, what condition is your fluid in?

 

This is a relativly simple system, there is a VSS sensor in the tranny, one in the spedo head, the duty C solenoid, an internal spool vavlve, some clutches, and some input from the ECU. Maybe a vss sesnor flaked out on you.

 

Putting the car in L will force a more aggresive AWD pattern.

 

nipper

fluid is new. was put in when trans was replaced.

i did try putting the car in 1 and it did the same thing. their was still a big delay.

im thinking maybe a vss failed for a moment. You may want to check the electrical connections.

 

 

nipper

where are the connections. is their one somwhere near the rear of the trans where the sensor is.

like i've said before, auto AWDs need the exercise during summer months, aka pine barrens :lol::grin:

after work today i pulled into my driveway and hit the gas and the front wheels spun. which it doesn't normally do. so i took the car for a ride, i put the one front wheel in some mud and it took about 5 seconds for the rear wheels to kick in. i did this a few times and the same thing happened. i then put the fwd fuse in and drove for a few miles then took it out. i went back to the mud and this time their was no spinning it seemed to work fine after that. is this anything to worry about. is it possable somthing could have got stuck?

 

 

If it has problems in the "L" selector position I would expect something wrong in the extension case and not the VSS sensors. In the "L" position the Duty C acts the same as if the front wheels slip.

 

My guess is that your transfer clutch has too much slop and needs a thicker drive plate, or your extension case has worn down and is leaking a lot of transfer clutch pressure. Subaru came out with newer lathe cut rings that are softer but if your extension case is worn it's too late. Your transfer clutch hub could have deep grooves as well. Mine had moderate grooves and I left them alone and it works fine. While you are in there replace the orifice plate behind the solenoid as there have been a couple revisions.

 

When you moved the "new" clutch discs to your current transfer clutch hub, was the stack play from 0.2-0.6mm?

I have the same issue, but mine has cut in and out since I bought it. Could it be the VSS? And do you know the resistance on the VSS and other sensors? Just so that I might check them to see if they're good.

like i've said before, auto AWDs need the exercise during summer months, aka pine barrens :lol::grin:

 

trust me my car sees some mud every now and then

Edited December 17, 200817 yr by pamike

If it has problems in the "L" selector position I would expect something wrong in the extension case and not the VSS sensors. In the "L" position the Duty C acts the same as if the front wheels slip.

 

My guess is that your transfer clutch has too much slop and needs a thicker drive plate, or your extension case has worn down and is leaking a lot of transfer clutch pressure. Subaru came out with newer lathe cut rings that are softer but if your extension case is worn it's too late. Your transfer clutch hub could have deep grooves as well. Mine had moderate grooves and I left them alone and it works fine. While you are in there replace the orifice plate behind the solenoid as there have been a couple revisions.

 

When you moved the "new" clutch discs to your current transfer clutch hub, was the stack play from 0.2-0.6mm?

 

i doubt it is the clutches. they were replaced by the local subaru garage and they said everything was good.

i drove it to work today, 20 miles each way and it seems to be working fine.

Does the Power light flash? It can store old codes, too, w/out flashing each time it's turned on.

 

Did you try to pull the codes from the TCU?

Here's how: http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/trans.html

 

Any torque bind when turning on dry pavement?

 

My '90 did the same thing but only took 1-2 seconds for the AWD to kick in. I had to file down the grooves on the rear output shaft to fix.

 

There are a couple posts on here about that procedure.

 

Good luck.

no flashing power light and no torque bind.

 

edit= ok i just checked for codes; for existing codes i have none but for previous codes i got a 33 vehicle speed sensor 2

Edited December 18, 200817 yr by pamike

Sir Nipper, it looks like you're the winner!

Sir Nipper, it looks like you're the winner!

 

yay

 

what did i win

 

what did we find

Not to hijack your thread... but instead of starting an identical one....

 

I'm trying to fix a friend's 1990 Legacy, with the 4EAT. It's lost rear wheel drive altogether (I was driving beside him on some icy roads, and watching the wheels, and it's only getting power to the front wheels). Just over 100k miles, all original. I'll go through and check the TCU codes like you said. But my other question is if it's something with the Vss or the control circuit that's causing it to not send power to the rear wheels, could I just wire in a duty C solenoid bypass -- then he'd have 2wd and 4wd option, and no more all wheel drive. But that would be fine, I think. Obviously, if it's something wrong with the clutch pack itself, that's not going to work.

Not to hijack your thread... but instead of starting an identical one....

 

I'm trying to fix a friend's 1990 Legacy, with the 4EAT. It's lost rear wheel drive altogether (I was driving beside him on some icy roads, and watching the wheels, and it's only getting power to the front wheels). Just over 100k miles, all original. I'll go through and check the TCU codes like you said. But my other question is if it's something with the Vss or the control circuit that's causing it to not send power to the rear wheels, could I just wire in a duty C solenoid bypass -- then he'd have 2wd and 4wd option, and no more all wheel drive. But that would be fine, I think. Obviously, if it's something wrong with the clutch pack itself, that's not going to work.

 

 

YOu can try as it wont hurt at this point, but the clutches are most likely wiped out.

 

nipper

could I just wire in a duty C solenoid bypass -- then he'd have 2wd and 4wd option, and no more all wheel drive.

sure, i've done a bunch of times to good running cars, no reason you can't for a bad one! save yourself some time, you can just cut the one wire and see if it gives him 4WD. if it doesn't, then just splice the wire back together.

 

that only takes a matter of seconds (once you double...triple check it's the right wire!) no point in spending an hour wiring in a switch only to find what nipper said is true - there's some major issues with the trans.

 

and..you'll need to cut that one wire anyway for the switch. so if it does work, awesome.

 

standard disclaimer applies...has the fluid been changed and do all the tires match in size and tread?

you can just cut the one wire and see if it gives him 4WD. if it doesn't, then just splice the wire back together.

 

simplier yet, unplug the wiring harnees going to the trans. you should then be stuck in 3rd gear and 4WD. it it works then look at cutting the RIGHT wire.

 

if you don't have 4WD with the harness unplugged, you never will unless you make some repairs.

 

right?

if you don't have 4WD with the harness unplugged, you never will unless you make some repairs.

 

right?

yep that will work as well. i thought about that as well but was trying to isolate the DC, but no point in that.