Wayne Boncyk

Actually, the trick of filling the block from a disconnected upper hose (I think that's the one you are referring to) is the best way to minimize air pockets. Make sure you park the car on a slight upslope (with the radiator on the high end) and you should be fine. If the car still overheats after you're sure you've eliminated all the air pockets, it is an almost sure bet that you have a headgasket failure -- especially if yours is a 96-98 vintage 2.5L engine.

May have been Overland Park, instead of Olathe. I know the town's name began with an O, but I've tried to block out all memory of that terrible experience! :-p

Sorry, no recommendations for you, but I can corroborate your observation about the dealer there. I had the misforturne of having my front oil seal blow on my way thru Kansas a couple of years ago; after a quick stop of only 3 days (!!) at the local dealership (in Olathe, I think), they had replaced front and rear seals, timing belt, and the front tranny seal for a mere $2600. Steer clear if you possibly can! I was not able to do so, since I was in the middle of a cross-country trip.

Sound advice, sir! Also, keep in mind that STIS limits you to 20 downloaded PDFs per hour. A sneaky thing to do if you need more than 20 but less than 40 is to start your downloading near the end of an hour (since they track usage by clock time, rather than total elapsed time). Then when you've reached your 20 limit, you only have a few minutes to wait until you can do the next 20.

I've used Bosch "generics" on my Outback, the ones with no connector pre-wired, and simply spliced the wires directly into their counterparts on the O2 sensor part of the harness with no problems whatsoever. In fact there is only one O2 sensor technology, one basic sensor design, and a couple of external shell configurations used in all auto engines. Nice thing, those ISO standards!

Oh, Man! You guys are making me homesick!! I originally bought my Outback because we were then living in a rural part of eastern South Dakota and I needed a reliable commuter vehicle that would get me thru a foot of snow. I had an old Brat in NE Ohio for a while, and knew from that point on that Subes were meant for winter driving! In SD, BTW, that same foot of snow is what you drive on ALL winter. It's generally too cold to completely pack down, it's almost ALWAYS too cold to slush up, and it merely blows into different drifts on different spots on the road depending on the way the wind is blowing at any given time. When I moved to Colorado, I really discovered what the Outback could do. I've driven a few other 4WD and AWD vehicles there (including our old Chrysler AWD minivan), and NOTHING was more sure-footed on snowy mountain roads! Now, alas, I live in Southern California, and it takes me better than an hour to even get to snow in the winter -- and that's when we've had a good snow year.

Hi! It has been my experience that the Haynes manual for the Legacy/Outback have not been as helpful as I would have wished. I have a '96 Outback and I've gotten more useful info from the others on this forum than I ever did out of the Haynes book for my year's Sube. One of the most valuable pieces of information that I got here was a pointer to the Subaru Technical Information System (STIS). Here's the URL address: http://techinfo.subaru.com From there, for a subscription fee ($20 for 72 hours access), you can download PDF files of ALL the subaru documents related to your car, including their complete factory service manual, all the TSBs, a copy of your User Manual, etc. This is a great resource for anyone who is generally familiar with working on cars, provided you have a high-speed internet connection. Some of those PDF files are pretty big. It isn't perfect; one of the things they do is to split the manuals up into dozens of individual PDF files, so downloading is tedious, but it gives you far more data than the Haynes book, and a 72 hour subscription costs less than 1/3 of the cost of a printed service manual. The Subaru factory manuals are very well written!

Will do, as my replacement solenoid should be delivered on Friday. I just hope that I find clean, un-galled plates in the clutch when I get the extension assembly off!

Paul, I'm curious -- did you ever attempt to drop the rear DS and run as a Front Wheel Drive vehicle? Has that worked for you?? It is something that I'm considering when I tear into my transfer clutch this weekend, if I find that I need more than a Duty Solenoid C replacement. WB

Well, I have a few thoughts regarding this particular issue, as I have a '96 Legacy which now has the torque bind problem. One thing to take into consideration is that Subaru is a "niche market" auto here in the States, with a very small overall share of the US car market. Further, Subes tend to be relatively popular in only a few regions of the country (mostly where the advantages of AWD are appreciated -- in snowy, mountainous terrain). As a result, there is much more money to be made in servicing more popular brands (Honda, Toyota, and those omnipresent service moneymakers, General Motors cars! ). Thus, Subaru parts are not generally stocked by the parts discounters and what the expert Sube mechanic cannot earn by servicing in volume, they need to make up in unit cost. Thus, Sube parts and servicing cost more than other brands here in the US. And most general brand-independent shops have almost never dealt with the peculiarities of Subaru engineering, so when presented with a problem like Torque-bind, they are clueless. Web sites such as this one help to keep we owners of these unique vehicles as well informed, or better informed, than many mechanics (except for the guys who specialize in Subes). And, when we need the specialists' expertise, we can find 'em here!

How odd that a service manual is not available to you there! In any case, the following website can provide you with all the factory documentation of your vehicle, albeit for a cost: http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp It is not the easiest site to navigate, and a subscription will cost US$20, but it is often worth the investment as it allows you to download and accumulate PDF file versions of the service manual for your car at far less than the cost of a paper copy. Hope the site works from your location!

I thought that, too, so I swapped the old O2 sensor for a new one. No change.... (But thanks for the suggestion!)

Chapter 2 in the repair saga for my 1996 Legacy Outback with 2.5l engine and auto transmission: Along with my transmission woes, I also have to contend with a Check Engine light -- P0420 (cat converter not up to spec). With nearly 200K miles on the original cats, I am not surprised. But in order to make this thing able to pass its next emissions test (coming up in October) I have to sink some serious $$ into replacement cats. Frugal as I am, I wonder would it really be necessary to replace both the front and back converters, or if relacing only one would do? If so, which one would likely provide the most improved emissions performance, front or back? Any thoughts or recommendations from you guys on this?? Thanks!

Bright1, the Handshake Procedure on any Subaru newer than 1994 actually requires that you find a test connector that is part of the harness just behind the lower dash panel on the driver's side of the passenger compartment. You'll need to patch a grounding pin (part of the existing harness -- when you find a connector that is not currently connected to anything, with two additional single-pin wires attached, you'll have the correct one) to the diagnostic test socket in that connector, you can then "count out" the error code from the Transmission COntrol Unit by the number of times the AT Temp light blinks. I was interested in this same thing about a month ago, and "avk" posted a lot of good data in answer to my questions, so you'll probably want to read the same thread. Just look for a thread titled "4EAT TCU Questions (96 Legacy Outback)," that I started back at the beginning of August. There is all that you ever wanted to know about interrogating your TCU included in that thread! Thanks for the info about your local dealer. I didn't check my emails from Friday until just now, but I found that one of my internet price inquiries came back with a quote of $68 for the very same solenoid! Interesting spread of prices out there, huh??

Bright1, do you know if that Subaru dealer would sell a Duty Solenoid C (that is the transfer case solenoid) to an out of state customer for the quoted price of $105 plus reasonable shipping? I've been price shopping for that very solenoid (for my '96 Outback) and the best price I've seen so far is $257!! I'd sure like to get one at the price you paid, and I am able to do the replacement myself.

Hi again, all! After much research into issues with the version I 4EAT (on all Outbacks prior to 1999), I've decided that I want to try to improve my existing "Duty Solenoid C" operation (see my earlier 4EAT thread) by a change of fluid. Several sources, including a couple on this board, have suggested that replacing the fluid with a good synthetic ATF coupled with addition of a low-friction additive might be a thing to try before I tear into the extension housing to replace my Solenoid C. I'm willing to give that a try, mostly because nobody local stocks this solenoid (including the local dealers I've tried) and if I have to wait a few days for a part to be shipped to me, I might as well give this a try over the weekend. So my question is this: What's the best (in your opinion) ATF and/or additive to use in my Outback's transmission?? BTW - Subiegal, if you read this post, I have submitted a request for price quote to your Day Job's website -- maybe I can buy my next solenoid from you guys and keep this all "in the USMB family."

Wow! What a pain!! I guess I'll get around to trying this when I get all the other more pressing problems solved on my Outback. So there's no replacement part available, eh? Seems like a lot of work to re-enable a "convenience" feature, but I have a hard time living with things that only semi-work, so I'll have to give your fix a try!

Thanks. I agree with you; this is just completing the circuit for a control signal in the TCU, and any fuse should do. But some documentation that I've seen (although I can't remember where), suggests using a 15A fuse. It definitely is overkill. More interesting observations: I haven't yet probed the connector that goes to the solenoid, but I have been driving the car with a fuse in the FWD socket for several days now, trying to figure out under just what conditions the solenoid problem manifests itself. I have found that the solenoid correctly locks into FWD mode when I have a fuse in the socket every single morning (when things are "cool") and generally stays there UNLESS the car is driven for extended periods (30+miles) at freeway speeds on very hot (98F+) days. Once the failure shows up, which happens while I'm driving, the FWD light goes off and the solenoid stays locked in AWD mode even with a fuse in the FWD socket. It stays that way until the car cools off fully (i.e. overnight). It's an interesting heat related failure, but I still can't figure out if it's the TCU, the connections to the solenoid, or the solenoid itself. I'll do some more quantitative voltage testing over the weekend and I'll let you know what I find.

Well, Richard! Now my curiosity is piqued (or given that you're in Colorado, should I say peaked?? ). I look forward to the description of your fix and the pictures; maybe I'll find that something similar went wrong with my pwr locks!!

Yeah, but that diagram is a little too sketchy. It shows the TCU as a black box, and while the fuse does provide continuity to ground, that still COULD be the drive voltage for the solenoid -- you're just completing the ground in the circuit instead of connecting the +12v side. It would really be overkill to use a 15Amp fuse just to pull a control signal to ground. It could also be that the 9.5V I measured at the fuse pins is just a control signal, which when grounded switches a circuit in the TCU that then switches the relatively high current for the solenoid. I couldn't honestly say that I know for sure, just based on this schematic. Still, the best way to tell exactly what's going on is to look both at the resistance of the solenoid at the other connector, and (if I can figure a way to do it) to monitor the actual solenoid drive current while the car is in operation. I'll have to think about how I want to do that.... This has now turned into next weekend's project, so I have a little more time to think about it before I proceed.

I looked at the resistance at the FWD fuse socket - figuring that there was probably a straight run from there to the solenoid. Thanks for the info yet again -- I'll look for that 16 pin plug and I'll check right there! I'll keep you posted as to what I find.

Good luck! Hope you're right -- then we'll both know what's really going on!! Wayne

Well, I am finally getting around to letting you all know that AVK's info is absolutely compatible with the '96 Legacy Outback Automatic! Thanks again for all the detailed data!!!! The reason it took me so long to get back to you is that the problem went away for a while before I had a chance to actually troubleshoot it. But after about a week and a half it came back. Following AVK's indicated troubleshooting procedure, I got a code of 24 -- Duty Solenoid C. I checked voltage at the FWD fuse connector under the hood - 9.5 V is present. I inserted a fuse into that socket and drove the car a bit - the binding is still there. So it's either the solenoid itself or the wiring between the fuse and the solenoid that is bad. I don't have a good ohmmeter here at home and the spec resistance of the solenoid is only 17 ohms, which looks like a short on my meter. I'm seeing either a correct reading of 17 ohms, or a short -- I can't tell. The fuse I put in the FWD socket doesn't blow, so I'm probably seeing the correct resistance of the solenoid coil. BTW, coincident with the problem coming back, I noticed some moderate to severe torque bind while negotiating a couple of switchbacks on a (paved) mountain road near here. But since the problem seems to be intermittent (at least for now), I have another question or two for you all. Just how is that solenoid connected to the TCU? I've found a wire that comes out of a metal fitting on the right side of the transfer clutch housing. Is that it? And how is that connected to the solenoid itself? Can I pull that metal fitting and check to see if I have continuity at that point? I want to know what I can do next (short of pulling the transfer housing off and yanking the solenoid -- that'll be my next weekend project if I can't fix this thing any other way!)

I have had exactly the same issue on my power doorlocks, and they've been that way for about 2 years. Since I used to live in Colorado, where it got truly cold in winter, I noticed that the locks work better when the temperatures are cold outside (as in below 45F). Now that we're in Southern California, I am resigned to the fact that my door locks (except for the driver's side door) are manual only. I've tried all the things you all have suggested here (cleaning contacts, looking for broken wires, etc.) to no avail. At least I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one with this problem. Anyone else out there have any ideas as to why this may be temperature related??

1996 Outback 2.5L -- 197,282 as of yesterday. Not bad, but I did have to replace a head gasket on one side. Other than that, a minor hiccup with the auto tranny, and an oil seal leak, this beast has been virtually trouble-free. No complaints, no worries, and no intention of getting any other vehicle any time soon!