smokey12

I hear what you are saying about "torque bind" but is it not when the AWD clutch assembly chatters which can be caused by many things such as, Bad solenoid worn clutch plates debris in the fluid causing solenoid to malfunction mis matched tire sizes All of these affect the way the AWD clutches work and when the clutches slip at the wrong time or slip and then grab you get a chattering in the rear drivetrain that is commonly referred to as "torque bind". When the mechanic pulled out my driveshaft he showed me the u-joint that had a tight spot in it when you rotated in along one of the axis. This tight spot translated into a "bind" in the drivetrain whenever the driveshaft changed angles, such as a tight turn or a jack rabbit start or backing up a steep hill. This is when my OBW would chatter the most. Isn't this what "torque bind" is? Whatever you want to call it, torque bind is what two Subaru dealers diagnosed it as. I'm just happy that whatever it was it's gone now.

I had been having problems with torque bind for the past 6 months. The rear end had been changed and a used wrecking yard transmission was installed in a 96 OBW 2.5 auto.with 300K miles on it. My mechanic replaced the solenoid in the AWD unit and then replaced the clutch assembly. He changed the fluid and even installed a new housing in an effort to fix the torque bind but to no avail. Then as a last resort he replaced the driveshaft (which had been replaced once already by my dealer with a used one) and that fixed the torque bind issue. The car now runs smooth as silk, just like new and transfers power to the awd with no chattering or binding. Can't believe the driveshaft was the culprit all the time. I posted my problem on several boards and everyone had different solutions including replacing the trans again, but no one mentioned the driveshaft. Must be uncommon.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, both with the car and the girl. Although one of them can be expected but not both. I'm also from the Bay Area and I have had good luck with Carlsen Subaru which is real close to Stanford and you might want to try this one http://www.schillers-awd.com/. or Tillett's automotive in Sonoma. Good Luck

96 OBW 2.5 Auto 300K miles Two transmissions both had low speed chatter and binding of clutch plates. Last summer installed new Costco Michelin tires. Last fall had clutch pack rebuilt. Mechanic said to drive it awhile because the new plates needed time to seat and stop chattering. Last Christmas mechanic said the new plates were burned up and the tranny had a worn seat where the shaft was riding causing the clutch pack to misalign and wear out. He said the tranny was junk. I bought a used wrecking yard tranny through my mechanic and he installed it. It also chattered. February mechanic rebuilt the clutch pack in the "new" tranny it worked fine except that it had no AWD and front tires slipped in the snow. He found a seal that had been cut on reassembly. He fixed seal and AWD worked but it now chattered again just like the original tranny. He said to drive it to break in the new clutch plates. He said that this clutch pack was "REALLY TIGHT" on reasembly. I think I need a new mechanic. :-\ I have done some research and have discovered the term "Torque Bind", I am no Subaru mechanic but I think I have torque bind and the new Costco Michelin tires may be the culprit. I plan on checking their diameter this week. Now my question is this, Outside of tire sizeing are there any other culprits which may be affecting the AWD clutch pack and be causeing it to bind? How about the computer? or any other control mechanism? So far I have replaced the entire transmission, the clutch packs twice (once per tranny), and the solenoid once, flushed both trannies twice. When you install the fuse in the FWD the binding goes away. Help!