unverviking

Just after I bought my 96 IMP OBW I had the same thing. Was a bad Duty C as was mentioned earlier. Took to a tranny shop, they changed the TCU, to no avail. They didn't charge me for it, cuz it didn't fix the problem. (~$425) Took it to the dealer, they replaced the Duty C Solenoid and good to go. It was about $450 bucks. Not only did they do the Duty C, they added a posi additive to the trans fluid and all was ok. Also, I had torque bind on really tight turns (back tires dragging, not in sync with the front tires) and make sure you have all 4 tires are of the same size, brand and wear. I'm sure you know that AWD needs all 4 tires to be the same in order to work properly, and to ensure that the Duty C solenoid stays working. hope that this helps...

I'm of German heritage... I'd have to agree with that one... My Dad (right off the boat) was/is a retired machinist would have to agree too...

Just found that I have a torn outer boot on my IMP OBW. Passenger side. I looked around and confirmed that $60 for Auto Zone reman axle, $35 core charge, so $95 until the core gets returned. From reading this, should only be an hour's labor or so... Not sure that I want to tackle it myself... Don't have all the needed tools, sockets, etc... Glad I found this tread.. . I've not been on in awhile.

I had bad luck with the set of Dunlop's I just HAD to have... Since that let down, I've subscribed to the mentality of all of them being the same size, age, tread depth and paid no mind to brand... Since with AWD all 4 have to be the same, with roads the way that they are, you're lucky if you can get 30k out of any set of tires without having trouble with at least 1, making you have to replace all 4. Or should I say at least in my experience.

Aren't the OEM Filters a Pur One anyway ? At least I thought that they were a few years ago...

Had a 93 Leg L Wagon, had similar issues, going up a hill lost all kinds of power, then got to flat, same thing. Pulled it over and parked, wouldn't start. Turned over, but no go. In the end found loose spark plugs. May be something to look into. Not sure as to why they loosened up, but they did...

Got it back on Thursday (been too busy to post, had to get ready to go out of town for the week, now I'm here) Working fine now. As Nipper said, bad Duty Solenoid, and some posi additive, and off we are. Now to the warranty... The job was $450, warranty only covered the Duty Solenoid and 2.5 hrs of labor to replace it (at only $69/hr) They do not cover diagnostic charges and fluids. The dealer charges $79/hr, so I had to make up the difference on the 2.5hrs. Then there's the $100 deductible. Total that they are sending me a check for is $166. So all in all, I didn't have to foot the entire bill, but basically got my $$ back for the price I paid for the warranty. Now that I out of town for the week, my wife gets to drive it all week. She's excited, she too misses her OBW, but kinda funny how we needed a minivan a year ago... Oh well, it's a Pontiac, so we have to keep it till we've paid it off, otherwise we lose out on it...

Tried that already, no difference

latest update on this.. They finally got the replacement TCU on Thursday AM. They placed it into the car, no code on initial startup (good sign in my book, that means that there wasn't an issue with it from the last car) But after driving it, and the subsequent starting, it flashed 16 times again. (not a good sign) They said that they needed to program the TCU to go to default, and let it know it was in a different car... They did that today, same result. I got the car from them to get 4 new tires (1 more thing for them to work with) and when I returned with it, they gave me the key back. When I asked why he said that he stands by his TCU diagnosis, and the code refernces the Duty C, but he was able to get the Duty C to cycle like it was supposed to based on the bulletins he was using. He continued on to tell me to take it to a dealer, they deal with them every day, and their equipment may detect something that he couldn't. They didn't charge me for any of it. I did ask about a tranny flush, the tech didn't think it was necessary. I do know (from checking the fluid when it first started happening) that it is not really red, so its not fresh fluid. Kinda reddish brownish. I think that my next step is to get the flush done, and see if it makes a bit of difference. If not, I'll take it to a dealer and have them work their magic. I just hope that they will honor thie Penn Warranty that came with the car...

Since I've not heard anything negative about posting the dealer name, I will. Van Bortel Subaru in Victor NY. It is a suburb about 20 miles or so Southeast of Rochester. Almost to Canandaigua.

The Blue thing looks like my brother's Kia Sephia 5... and the Mazda 6 or maybe the 3... don't know which is which and the Matrix/Vibe I'm sure there are others... But have not had my morning coffee yet...

On our 01 OBW I left the pigtail inside the car, and routed it under the gate, careful not to pinch it in the catch when needed. It lasted MUCH longer than any of the ones I left outside the confines of the vehicle. I did it with my Montana too, works nice. My buddy's Montana (outside and older then mine) had to have his whole connection redone twice (by me). Thanks to the road salt they insist on using up here... Had to redo all of my father-in-law's trucks every other year with regularity due to corrosion from salt... That gets expensive after awhile.

Here's the thing, they claim to be the "largest" volume dealer in the NE US, and they are female owned... She has a great business philosophy, take care of the customer, the right way. My alternator went at about 60k, I hollered about it, they got SOA to cover half... When my wife took it in, she was unable to drop off, had to wait, they told her 1 hour. At 90 minutes, the owner went thru the full waiting area, asked if anyone was waiting longer than when was promised, my wife spoke up, 5 min later she was handed her keys and paperwork by the owner herself. She still had to pay the other half, but was escorted to the cashier by the owner. Not sure if I can drop the name or not, maybe a moderator can clarify... Don't want to upset anyone. I've heard from another long time Sube owner I work with that they were on vacation in Maine, they saw an OBW with Maine Tags and this dealers trim around it. They asked the owners where thery were originally from in Rochester, they replied, we're life long Mainers and love Subaru's and only buy them in Rochester. We fly in, get picked up at the airport and drive it home. Even with the airfare we still paid less than buying from the locals.

MY = Model Year Slime = Special Coolant Additive If my memory serves me correctly, the recall covered MY 00 and 01 for sure. I know that there was split year, not sure if it was 99 or 02... They extended the warranty on the motor until 100k, not sure if that only applied to the original owner. But anytime a coolant flush was done, that "slime" had to be included.

This guy I work with has had 5 Subarus over the last 15-16 years or so. He's not really computer literate, so he's not on "club" member, I thought I'd post his story... He had an 01 OBW 5MT, at about 105k his headgasket started leaking. Took it to the local dealer (prior to the "slime" recall for that MY) and they quoted him $4500 to replace the head gaskets, etc. He was mad, said no, trade the car and got the 04 that he is currently driving. Then he found out (from me) about the MY01 recall with the radiator "slime" and them extending the warranty to 100k on the motor. He was now furious with Subaru. About 2 years ago the local dealer owner called him at home and asked what they had done wrong, he was a loyal customer, and he hadn't been in for 2 years. He told her the story, she sent him a $1000 check, the difference in trade between a running and his having a bad motor. He was pleased, but still a bit leery... He had returned with some regularity, but not as often as before. Now to the current story. He's nearing 100k again, and noticed coolant smell from under the hood. He called the service manager, he assured him that the HG issue was fixed in 04 and that any troubles are very rare. Asked him to stop by with the car so he can check it personally. He did, both HG's were shot. He was again furious and let it out on the service manager and the owner. They asked him for a few days to make some calls. The next day, they Service Manager called, asked him to drop off the car, SOA was covering the entire HG job in full. He was shocked... He drove the car in, took home a loaner and picked up his car a few day later. The only thing he had to pay for was a timing belt. The SM called him during the job, suggested that it be replaced, just had to pay for the part. Just wanted to share this with all...

From the sounds of it you may have licked it... We had similar issues with our 01 OBW when we bought it new. Took it to the dealers several times for them to look at it, all with no avail. They did tell us that there were several complaints and that SOA was working on it. Even the service manager's 01 Forester was doing it. Eventually they issued a recall to reflash the ECM, after that the stumble was gone. Not sure if the 99 model year was included on the recall. Since I don't have the car anymore, I can't provide you with the recall info... Sorry.. but I thought I'd chime in with my 2 pennies worth in case it were to return...

from what I saw of the docs he had, there were different scenarios to check the various components. When I pulled up (car was parked outside... nice weather finally) and he was using a meter and isolating the various components, and testing them out individually. I checked the used parts finder, it ranged from $35-75 ish. Nothing close around me either. Looking on genuinesubaruparts.com and cannot find it there, nor anything related, like the Duty C, clutch pack... :-\ Kinda bummed, weekend is here and no car to drive... Oh well, needs to be fixed... Still working on the tires. So far I'm not finding anyone carrying a match to the ones that are on it. But only searched online. I may buy all 4 somewhere and eBay the others in pairs. We'll see. :Flame:USED CAR DEALER

Sounds to me like the starts of bad headgaskets... On our 01 OBW they had us use a Subaru "slime" to fix it's bad head gasket issues. They did push our warranty up to 100k on the motor... I think that you said it was over the 100k point. Keep us posted...

on our 01 OBW (when we had it) I noticed the lens was cracked, and started filling up with water. Dealer wanted $150 or so for 1... I said no, took it out and drilled a small drain hole in the back for the water, worked great for the 3+ years that we had it since I fixed it...

Ended up taking it into a local (recommended) tranny shop. They determinated that it was the TCU, not the Duty C.. I stopped by while the guy was working on it, he had diagrams, and guides to follow to determine which and what was causing the trouble. They say that the based on their test drive, the clutches are still in good shape, that it was a good thing to bring it in now, and not let it get worse. Next ?... He (due to lateness in the day) was unable to price out a new and used TCU unit. Anyone got any ballpark figures ?? He will get back to me mid morning on Monday with pricing. Wanna be prepared though... This one is not covered under the warranty, the bad electrical component is outside the tranny case... So I gotta eat it... I guess... ALSO, I didn't notice when I bought it, but there are 2 different brand of tires on it. They are the same size, the tread is close... Opinions ?? anyone. I'd like to find a match to the fronts, they look to be the newest of the 4... SMALL TOWN USED CAR DEALER I BOUGHT IT FROM...

I already did, he's not affiliated with any brand, just a used car salesman with his own lot. He happens to like Subaru's because of their longevity. He's an old timer, and has said that he's dealt with Penn Warranty for several years, and has not had any bad reports from his customers that have bought them and needed to use them. The warranty will cover anything in the tranny, engine, drivetrain on AWD vehicles... It's fairly extensive, for just a basic contract. I checked Penn's website and they will warranty most any car with less than 150k, but nothing exotic, etc. The dealer selling the warranty has to certify that certain things were done, etc to qualify the car for the warranty. It is valid at any repair shop, just as long as they call Penn with the diagnosis. Not sure if the local Subaru dealer will take it in full, they supposedly cover labor up to $69/hr. Most dealers are more than that, but I'll have to call to verify with them.

I do drive like a granny(in my own vehicles) most of the time, don't want to kill anything... When I back up and keep the wheels straight, it rolls nicely. As soon as I start turning, I feel a drag, and (if the radio's not blaring) I can hear "dragging brakes" or at least what it sounds like to me. On occassion (wet/snow/stones) I do hear a dragging tire in the rear. I hear dragging on really tight forward turns as well. On faster turns, it just feels like a drag in the turn, but beautiful straight on. This and the AT OIL Temp light blinking is leading me to believe Duty C and Clutches. I am just waiting on the warranty card to come back from Penn.

Here's an advance answer to an upcoming question... My parking lights will not turn off... possibly after a detailing, etc... Check on top of your steering wheel column, that switch up there will illuminate the parking lights while there are no keys in the car. Good luck with it...

I counted the blinks, it was 16. I tried the FWD fuse, not any better, maybe worse. I did not see any FWD light on the dash, as I did in my 01 when I had to use the donut spare

96 Impreza OBW with 113k (almost) seems like brakes dragging in really tight turns... dealer used cheap brake pads, etc... I've been thinking it was that... Good thing I got the warranty (6mo/7500mi) with it, if it's tranny issues... I'll recount the blinks next time I get in and start it.