Bigbusa Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) Hi people. I have a 96 impreza Outback Sport, automatic tranny and 184k miles on the car. My poor subie is having some baaaad torque bind issues. :-\ Within that last few weeks I had 4 brand new tires installed, tranny fluid flushed and filled at jiffy lube, I added 16 ozs of that tranny medic stuff and I put the FWD fuse in. All that did nothing to help the torque bind. The fuse in or out has no effect on the torque bind. Symptoms are that the car wants to hop and I can feel it binding up when I turn slow sharp corners. If I hit sand while turning slow and sharp the front tires actually lose traction and skid as the rear tires try to push the car in a different direction than I am trying to go. It's kind of dangerous. When the car is stopped but still running, the drivetrain is constantly "tensed" (I don't know how else to describe it) even if I put it in neutral or park. It only "untenses" when I shut the engine of. I can feel the drivetrain relax when I turn the key off. The whole car physically relaxes. This is a new-ish symptom. It didn't start doing this until recently. Also, when driving straight down the highway at 50-60mph the whole car will sometimes enter into this bad vibration/oscillation mode. It feels like the whole car is going to fall apart. If I stop and then continue, it will usually go away. I'm pretty sure this problem is also due to the drivetrain issue. It's not CV joints, bad tires or brakes. About 4000 miles ago I personally installed a new water pump, timing belt, new tensioner pulleys, AC and ALT belts, , oil seals, valve cover gaskets, radiator, battery, rear brake pads and rotors and other stuff I'm forgetting right now. It was a lot of work and a pretty good chunk of change for the parts. The 2.2L engine runs like a top and has no leaks of any kind. The suby is too nice to junk or sell cheap because of this damned torque bind! I definately want to keep driving the old subie but I'm totally clueless about trannys, differentials and 4wd systems. I won't take it to a shop because I feel that they're a rip off. Is fixing it a HUGE job? Edited March 12, 2009 by Bigbusa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 it seems like your Duty C is failing. but the steps for getting to the clutches is the same. if you did a timing belt yourself then you can fix this torque bind. search on here for information on replacing the clutches, clutch pack, Duty C, etc. the annoying part is rusty exhaust bolts and working under the car on your back. other than that it's not much to it. i just removed a rear extension housing (that houses the clutches/DutyC) and i don't think it even took 15 minutes with the trans on the floor. a few small parts are in there, so keep an eye on those and get tips here on where they go. probably best to go new, but you could get a known good rear extension housing with good clutches/Duty C in it to save some money if that's an issue. i have one but a friends car is going to need it. in the short term you could disconnect the rear half of your driveshaft and just run it FWD. this will be better than destroying other components of your car like you've been doing for months. i have done this before, so :rolleyes::rolleyes: to the comments forthcoming. it sounds like you've driven it a long time like this. i assume you know that's really bad? you're putting extra strain on your entire drivetrain and could be destroying all your axles. the bad vibrations while driving straight are probably from compromised axles due to all the binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Are you getting a flashing AT temp light at all? It does sound like either duty c failed or stuck closed or something, or the transfer clutch stuck or welded together or the plates stuck in grooves in the drum or something. Especially if adding that much limited slip additive did nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Thanks guys. So this is a problem inside my tranny but I don't have to drop the tranny to fix it? What would I expect to pay for good used parts? And new? The tranny fluid temp light does flash when I 1st start the car but it goes off within a couple seconds. It never comes on while driving. So I could just remove the rear driveshaft and solve all my problems?! I do depend on the AWD to get me through the deep NY snow & out of some slick boat launch ramps in the summer though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 The tranny fluid temp light does flash when I 1st start the car but it goes off within a couple seconds. Ah haaaaa... now we are on to something. You need to read the codes, it means the TCU detected an issue on the last drive. It might be detecting faulty duty c solenoid, which would definitely cause what you experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I've been reading this thread here http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78467&highlight=steamin53&page=3 and am learning a lot. On page 3 now. My AT temp light does flash 16 times. I need to figure out how to read the codes. More searching to come! I love this site. It's all here if you just search and read. You guys helped me with the replacing of my timing belt and water pump too. And you all helped me with the BYB lift kit on my 86 brat. Porc u might remember it here. I posted many pics of it maybe 5-6 years ago. It was Tan and usually had a low white cap on it. Big 27.5 inch white lettered A/T tires. I wish I never sold that brat! That was a cool vehicle. Edited March 12, 2009 by Bigbusa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I bet mine looks like this too Edited March 12, 2009 by Bigbusa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Hey guys, what's involved in removing the rear drive shaft? I think I'm gonna do that for a temporary fix until I'm ready to fix the selenoid and clutches. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Hey guys, what's involved in removing the rear drive shaft? I think I'm gonna do that for a temporary fix until I'm ready to fix the selenoid and clutches. thanks 8 nuts & bolts, 12mm, 4 each end. you have to remove the heat sheild to get to it i think, ~4 more bolts. you can probably work around the exhaust. leave the front section in or you lose the trans fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crockettbrat Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 (edited) Reading the tcu code on the outback sport is the same as the legacy except instead of grounding pin 5 on the "diagnosis plug" you ground out pin 4. If you look under the dash by the steering column you'll find a black plug with 6 pins. Its close to the two green plugs, and if you follow the wires back you will find two black wires looped around and the ends taped up. Untape those wires. Run your car to normal temp by driving it around. Stop the car and put it in nuetral and turn it off. Put one of the black wires you just untaped in to pin 4 of the 6 pin plug. The plug has 2 pins on top and 4 pins on the bottom, so pin 4 is second from the left on the bottom when you're looking at the plug. Then turn the ignition on but dont start the car. Put it in drive then 3, then 2, then 1 and then depress the gas pedal part way. The AT light will then blink your code with the standard blink sequence. I just went through this with my 98 obs and it was hard to find accurate info on how to pull the code, but eventually i found it. Search p0720 and you'll find my saga. If you get your code just post it up here or pm me and I can look it up in my 95 legacy fsm. Good luck and I hope this helps. Daniel Edited March 22, 2009 by crockettbrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) thanks guys I installed 4 new struts, front rotors, pads, right front caliper and had an alignment this week. It's driving like a new car now... except for the damned torque bind. Edited March 23, 2009 by Bigbusa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simbey1982 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 You can do what i did and do an AT/MT swap....manuals are better anyway but seriously its your duty C or clutch pack..... Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loboru Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 (edited) wrong forum, sorry. Edited January 28, 2010 by Loboru wrong forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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