johnceggleston

i'm impressed, i never would have thought it would matter. thanks for the info. so an outback TCU from the late 90s would be best.

i've never heard this, but i guess it could be. it would be much simpler for the tcu just to compare front and rear speed info. if they match do one thing if not, depending on the degree of difference, do another. if one goes out then default to NO awd. how would the rear diff play into it and mess up the AWD? thanks.

AWD basics (for US auto trans), maybe it will shed some light on your situation. the trans fluid pressure causes the awd transfer clutch to engage the rear wheels and the pressure is regulated by the duty c solenoid. no pressure, fuse in, (all fluid pressure is dumped off) causes FWD. full pressure, not regulated by the duty c or a bad duty c, causes 4wd locked (this would include torque bind in tight turns on dry pavement.) if you have awd drive for a bit and then you do not, something is changing, obviously. either the fluid pressure is bleeding off somewhere or electronically something is telling it to. there were / are some old posts in torque bind threads that talk about ''worn leaking housings or something or other" which would cause AWD problems but i didn't pay attention because it didn't apply to me. and i assumed the leaky what ever caused torque bind, but i don't really know. i guess it could cause no fluid pressure and therefore no AWD, i guess? the Tcu compares front and rear speed / sensors to control the AWD and regulate the duty c. the rear sensor is a very simple magnetic pulse type thing very very similar to the abs sensor on a wheel or a cam sensor. the front sensor is only slightly more complicated, but it sends its info to the speedo which then sends it to the ECU & TCU. you should have a cel if either one is bad. if the front fails the ecu will use the info from the rear to operate the car. but again you should have a cel. front speed sensor (vss2) should be readily available for pretty cheap at parts yards and easy to replace. but if your speedo is working i do not think it is bad. if electric info to the tcu is the problem it maybe could maybe be bad / dirty connections from the speedo cluster to the ECU/TCU... but who knows. if the rear speedo sensor (vss1) is bad it too is easy to replace but you have to splice the wires, there is no easy wire connector. the tcu is also easy to replace, challenging only because it is under the dash, drivers side. late 90s, all of the circuit boards are the same and will plug in, but some have a different mounting bracket on the case (95 to 96 i know there is a change). but you can swap the boards in the case and install what ever year you have around. but the closer the new is to the old, the better. outback to outback is good, a gt may have different shift points then a lego. the tcu is a low labor try at a fix, but i'm leaning towards a fluid pressure problem in the rear extension housing. but that is more labor and parts, more money and more risky if you are not sure. for those who know more, could the transfer clutch discs work / grab and then fail in a matter of a minute? every time you start the car?

did you make sure the flat spade like cable end was aligned with the slot in the speedo gear end.? maybe try fitting a screwdriver in there and turn the wheel by hand.

alarm system? remote entry?

how did the car drive with the wiring harness unplugged.? i gues i forgot to mention that you need to drive tight turns on dry pavement to see if it has torque bind. what do the observers report when they are watching the wheels on the snow and ice?? how do you know it is working for 60 seconds?? what changes?

so swap it out. it could maybe be in the wiring, but not the wiring on the engine. so unless you see something obvious swap the gauge.

you might shop around a little. any parts seller that misses a 96 radiator that badly ............ double check, or the one you get may not be right.

i'm not either, but running with the fuse in for a day or two is no big deal and if it does not change any thing you have less to worry about. if something does change with the car then you have more info to work with.

95s probably had the same wierdness, but they were not required to be tested in the same way. 96 was the OBD2 year and the start of 'whatever' testing, i think.

96 legos are never emissions ready. everytime you turn the car off it resets something and so it never shows ready. but the good news is they, 96s, get a pass on readiness. the inspectors should know about them. or at least be able to look it up.

passenger side under the hood near the fire wall, where the engine and trans meet. they are attached to the trans with some sort of bracket. there are 2 connectors, one is for the trans, the larger one i think, but i could be wrong. however, regardless of the cause, swapping in a known good rear extension housing should/ could cure the problem. typically the dealer charges 900 - 1200$. look for all of the 'ragular' test lights on the dash when you turn the key to on. a missing light may indicate a hidden problem or cause. look for FWD, AT Oil Temp, CEL etc.

when in 'D' the computer decides, based on front and rear speed sensors, when to engage the transfer clutch. in 1 or 2 (or R for that matter) the computer is forced , or supposed to be, to engage the transfer clutch. disconnecting the trans wiring harness will force the trans into 'limp' mode and it will "lock" the trans in 4WD causing torque bind in tight turns. you might try that on a test drive just to see if the mechanical parts are in there.

did you look under the car to see if the rear drive shaft was there? did you try it with the trans in 1 or 2?

nipper, thanks for the explanation, it's appreciated, as all ways. but you missed my point, i thought he complained of the car vibrating at a stop light, and the dealer claimed it was the AWD unit. my point is, at a stop light sitting still there is nothing turning in the trans except? the input shaft, so the AWD unit cannot be a part of the problem since it is sitting still at the stop light. the fwd fuse in should tell a lot. probably 2 different issues. earlier he mentioned "backfire" in regards to rough idle. i didn't know cars did this any more, timing belt jumped?

this does not make sense to me. i wish some one could explain it. for auto trans, the AWD unit takes power off the rear of the trans. the place it takes power from has a mechanical hard connection to the front wheels. if the AWD take off point is not turning, the front wheels are not turning. at a stop light, how can these not turning parts cause a pulsing in the AWD system. when stopped at a stop light, the only parts of the trans that are turning are in side, before the AWD take off point. what am i missing??

swap the whole unit, spring and strut from a used parts yard, 50$ each.

when you manually shift into 1 or 2, the trans is forced into AWD, try that.

the tire shop i went to spray painted the inside of the rim at the bead in an attempt to slow the return of the corrosion. this is easier to do, grinding and painting, with the wheel mounted on the spin balancer or something similar.

regular trans fluid. i wouldn't be too optimistic but it can't hurt. some one should have a link to the repair thread with the pics of smoothing out the grooves. the dealer will repair this for 1000$.

sound like the gauge would be a good guess. unless a previous seller tampered with it or the wiring to hide an over heating engine condition. not likely but check the wiring maybe. i don't even know if it is possible to to tamper with it. did you run the previous engine enough to see the gauge go to hot?

i don't know what they sell for but it seems to me that the asking price for RHD legos is way higher than LHD legos of equal miles and years. i'd like to try one for fun, but i don't know how i would feel driving "close to the edge" on a mountain road. usually the postal cars tend to have trans trouble, i think.

when i got my 2006 ford f350 dually to haul my 8000 lb trailer, the ford owners manual describe how to set up the brake controller. basically you want the brakes of the trailer set right at the point where stomping on the pedal will lock them up. actually they called for a little below the lock up point i think, but in my case with the weight of my trailer, i could never get the trailer brakes to lock up. they recommend testing this procedure in an empty parking lot, set controller low drive across the parking lot and hit the brakes. work your way up until the trailer brakes lock. i tried a couple of low settings and then moved it to the max, still no brake lock. side note. on wet / slick pavement, the ABS will operate the car brakes, but the trailer brakes will lock up and do what ever trailers do, fishtail?, with locked up brakes on wet pavement.

what if the towed item exceeds manuf. recommended limit??

timing belt, idlers, even water pump from the importexperts on ebay, they also have a front seals version w/ cam, crank, oil pump, valve cover, etc. w/ all of the above for about 200$. other folks have mentioned mizumoto, or something like that, on ebay they have gasket kits but i know nothing about them. search ebay for "subaru legacy timing kit" i think. maybe buy the head gaskets separate.