cmasonwhf

Picked the car up from the dealer today after they replaced the transfer clutch discs and solenoid. Seems to be ok after a 30 mile test drive, Discs are ok so I guess it must have been the solenoid that blew out when Grandma hit the post. Am still going to take it to my independent mechanic to have him check it out. Earlier posts suggested I could sell the used discs (20,000 easy miles on them). Email me at cmasonwhf@aol.com if you are interested in purchasing them. I'll toss in the used solenoid for free.

Well, I don't like their groping around with this either, but the cost is being absorbed by my insurance company, thank goodness. Friday after they get it back together they will either have fixed it (doubtful from all I've heard) or it will still be thumping. I liked the idea of "more damage up front than what got fixed" and passed that along to the dealer. Really appreciate all the feed back you are giving me!!

Just got a call from Subaru dealer. After taking the transfer clutch apart they find it in "like-new" condition. They will go ahead and install all new clutch discs and solenoid (and cross their fingers that this will fix it.) The mechanic had taken the car for a drive before the got to this point and told the service rep that it behaved like a Subaru with many many miles on it. We'll see what happens when they take the car for a spin on Friday. Thanks all.

Thanks for your responses. This is a 2003 Legacy L wagon with 20,000 easy miles on it. Can't imagine it's a lack of maintenance issue. Can't answer some of your questions since the car is at the dealer for repairs. Have some new information from the shop that repaired the front end. They replaced the left ball control arm and strut and a wheel bearing, besides doing the body work. Their guy suggested that perhaps the rear transmission mount and cross member might be bent, throwing the tranny out of line. So perhaps drive-shaft issue? The binding and thumping is only detectable at very low speed and medium- hard accelerations. Runs quiet, no vibrations at 30 or more mph, doesn't act funny around corners at that speed, and does not thump if you don't accelerate too fast, although you can feel the "dragging" of the rear end around tight corners, although at times I get kind of the same feeling from our Forester at very slow speed, i.e. that the awd system is kinda locked up-- no thumping though.

OK, let me clarify a few things. She passed out (actually it may well have been heart failure) and drove the car into a large concrete pillar. She hit it with the left front fender, destroying the headlight and quarter panel, and apparently the car sat nose to the pillar for a few seconds with the engine running and the accelerator to the floor. She couldn't have been going really fast because the space is limited and the air bag did not deploy. The crash itself was enough to get her heart going again, and she remembers that her foot was down hard on the gas when she woke up, at which time she lifted it off the accelerator. When I first drove the car, I noticed the thumping during medium hard straight-line acceleration. I played around with it a bit and found that the thumping would get worse, and the car would kinda slow down, when I accelerated during a right hand turn more than it would during a left hand turn and more than when I went straight. I sensed more rear drag during turns than during straight-iine movement. Hope this helps. Thanks for your interest and comments.

Thanks for the responses. It IS an automatic. Description of the damaged unit was "it sits right behind the transmission and contains some type of clutch mechanism (s). So sounds like the transfer clutch, eh? That being said, sounds like i should have them check out other things (like the carrier bearing).

My 90 year old mother-in-law passed out driving her creampuff 2003, 20,000 mile Legacy Wagon into her underground garage. She woke up "a few seconds later" to find car t-boned into a pillar with her foot still down hard on the gas, engine running. Body damage was fixed, grandma turned over her keys, and I took the car for a spin. Uh oh!! On moderate acceleration from dead stop, "heavy thump thump thump" coming from below. Car taken to dealer who diagnoses VC damage, but has yet to open it up. Let's say the VC is toast. Insurance will cover it, but what ELSE could have been damaged? Automatic transmissing? cv joints or universal joints? drive shafts? I want to make sure anything that could have been damaged is inspected and fixed now, because the insurance adjuster is always coming up with "Well, we want to make sure these damages are caused by the accident, not part of normal wear and tear" Thanks in advance!!