Hank Roberts

Thanks, good reminder the rumble could be the tires. I decided not to take the car back into the mountains this week with the mismatched tranny, despite the mechanic's assuring me it was not a problem. They're putting in transmission number four late today or next Tuesday, and this one was, for the first time, ordered using the Subaru part number they got off the original transmission (confirmed by someone here at USMB). So, I'll just be hoping for another week, then know something. I don't know if the rear power train was damaged -- I did tell the mechanic to look into it for metal chips and change the lubricant. He also said he didn't think it could be damaged and I'll hope you're right.

Cross-posting, because this is important info: CCR did respond, and I believe they're right that my mechanic screwed up and ordered the wrong transmission from them, some weeks back. See their post here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33119 Everything they've said matches the situation as I saw it at the SOS Subaru garage; it seems the mechanic there was telling me the truth --- when he said his dime store reading glasses weren't good enough. He's mis-read or mis-transcribed part numbers twice that I know of, for the rear differential and the transmission itself, and no wonder he's getting the wrong parts.

There's one of those cardboard cutouts standing in the waiting room of the local Berkeley (SOS Subaru) repair place. Want a photo of it? It's a little big to photocopy at Kinko's, unfortunately.

Emily, THANK YOU! I much appreciate your posting. No, the sticker on the rear differential is there -- and readable, I had pointed it out to the mechanic myself at the very beginning of this fiasco. Today, I took him the actual transmission part number posted above in this topic. Checking against their paper note, they had written down almost correctly what was on the transmission itself -- except they got the first letter as Y instead of T. "Almost correct" is computer jargon. It means wrong. I'm afraid he's been wrong consistently. Well, I walked in with only the recommendation of people who'd used the local place, they've been there forever, and I'd never owned a Subaru before that week. I got nailed. I am going to talk to the owner, and see if there's any recourse for the mess. Your info confirms my worst fears about the situation. Today on the phone, the mechanic denies that he made a mistake in ordering. I think he's mixing up two different wrong transmission stories, because what telling me now isn't the same story as I got a few weeks ago He seems convinced he's been right all along, and has blamed each problem on the supplier. I'd feel better if he had, even once, admitted getting something wrong himself. I guess in the end I can't tell short of getting hold of the order paperwork. Supposedly, they do have an exact match -- fourth attempt -- for the transmission coming in this afternoon, and I'll get the car back sometime next week. I am also going to take my old transmission away when I take the car, this time. At worst it's a garage decoration, but could well be that I'll need it rebuilt after all. Again, THANK YOU very, very much for coming into this thread and posting. It makes it much easier to figure things out to have the information.

Updating -- failures so far. CCR sent a turbo (wrong transmission) and doesn't have a rebuilt non-turbo. That was several weeks ago. I've suggested contacting CCR again, but my mechanic doesn't want to -- once burned, twice shy. Can't blame him, he ate a lot of time/cost dealing with the wrong one. It's possible CCR works better with home rebuilders who can afford to have a car immobile for a month while a transmission is rebuilt -- but although I hear repeatedly they have a good rep i haven't yet heard from anyone who has actual personal experience getting a rebuild done there. Anyone? Rising Sun in Chico says they do not rebuild Subaru 4wd tranmissions for exactly the reasons that are giving my mechanic fits -- there are a variety of models, all look the same on the outside, they aren't easy to identify until they're taken apart, and parts aren't easy to get. So they don't rebuild them. Transmission Exchange in Upper Lake CA -- same story, used to rebuild them, but the guy who knew how is long gone and they don't know anyone else who knows how to rebuild Subaru 4wds now. 'Used Japanese' supplier sent two transmissions to my mechanic -- both wrong models, though no one here seems to know how to tell. There are several transmission rebuilders, not Subaru specific, that promise they can figure out how to rebuild one, for well upwards of a thousand dollars -- but they don't seem like they know what they're doing. Moral -- if you know what you have, or have a reliable source, you should hang on to it. If anyone knows a rebuilder who can do this right the first time -- please .....

So, did you find a replacement for your wagon? I'm still looking for a known transmission for mine in Berkeley -- rumor of one in Sacramento the mechanic's tracking down now. I've talked to three rebuilders -- CCR (Colorado Component Rebuilders) does this, and is well spoken of --the other two (which are near me) say they quit rebuilding Subaru 4wd transmissions, for exactly the reasons I've found problems, nobody is able to be sure what they have by looking at one, parts vary too much, and they cost too much just to figure out what's inside the case to be worth fixing. If you have one you're sure of, from someone who's known reliable -- don't let go of it!

Do you just know their history personally? Or do you have some way of looking at a transmission and being able to tell what it is set up to be used in? My guess is, as long as you know personally what something is, or know the people you're dealing with personally, it's not too hard to keep track. But that here, -- buying off someone's inventory shelf -- picked by people who probably don't know what they have very accurately, or care -- where most drivers would only switch to 4wd when on snow or ice, say driving to Tahoe, and likely never notice or complain about a mismatch .... Someone like me, who uses 4wd a third of the time I'm driving the car, and on mountain roads, is going to be a lot more sensitive to having a wrong gear ratio than most people Heck, the local mechanic claims not to have known there was a grinding-into-second technical service bulletin and fix as of early 1989 for this kind of transmission (tried fixing the second one we got with different gear oil, til I showed him the TSB, and since it threw bad computer codes anyway, sent that one back). And -- I didn't know myself before I got into this mess that there was a TSB for popping out of first gear. It might have been an easy repair, if anyone had read the TSBs and known what they were doing. An old hang gliding buddy owns a trahsmission exchange up in N. Ca., and recognized this problem exactly when I descrcibed it today -- but his old partner who knew how to rebuild Subaru transmissions is long gone, nobody else he knows actually does them nowadays, here. I lived in Seattle from 1970-75 -- there were a LOT more Subarus around and more dirt/gravel road drivers so probably better info about what transmissions are on the shelves, even today.

Nothing sure yet, the news thus far today Tested the transmission on Berkeley dirt road. Definitely binding from 4 to 2wd. And it started popping out of first gear. So this one goes back to wherever the mechanic bought it and he's looking for a replacement still. Mechanic at SOS Subaru now said he "took all the numbers off the original transmission and has found one in Sacramento, used, with exactly the same numbers." And he hopes this one will be right. I'm going to try to get the numbers from him and post them, whatever he's using, see if it makes sense. I tried calling around -- Rising Sun in Chico says, these transmissions now are so scarce they can't rebuild them nor find them. No hope there. Anyone else know of a place that can rebuild transmissions, or that can guarantee supplying the 1988 GL manual 5-speed dual low 4wd replacement? Meanwhile, we're just chewing hell out of the tires and hoping they don't wear out before we get the right transmission in. What else might I break, with a mismatched ratio? Am I likely to destroy the back differential, break an axle or break the driveshaft? Or does it just feel that way when it goes "bang-clunk!" coming out of 4wd? Maybe I just need to carry a bucket of mud and slick up the dirt road under the tires, when I am ready to switch out of 4wd, so the wheels spin easier?

Are you nearer UCB and Montclaire, or Emeryville/Bay? I haven't run through the math, but your basic reasoning sounds good. Chalk marks are on the tires, right? Any significant difference between mark angles after 5-10 revolutions would indicate a mismatch. as naru mentions, the open-diffs wil likely confuse things if in the air. Regarding tires, one of my cars had 4 tires that were all nominally 185/70-13s, but they were different brands F-to-R. In heavy rain (wipers having trouble even on full blast), I switched it into 4WD at freeway speed and nearly slid off of the pavement due to the bind. Bind from minor mismatch shouldn't be so noticeable on loose surface, though. TYPE: It's not a turbo transmission this time 'round -- that was first try, weeks ago, from CCR. This is the third try -- electrically matches but gears don't. I'll believe an RX, I have no way to tell. (Apparently the suppliers also can't tell them apart on the inventory shelf, nor can the mechanic, just by looking -- all they can do is identify the turbo spline count, but can't tell the other non-turbo transmissions apart by looking at the outsides. Eeeeeeuggghhhhh! TEST TRACK: We checked and there's still two blocks of dirt road along the railroad tracks just south of Ashby, I think it would be 7th Street -- there was another 4wd vehicle there also testing its shifting when we went. We confirmed the difficulty getting out of 4wd persists. And it popped out of first gear one of the times I did shift from 4wd to 2wd, when the lurch/bang happened as the lever finally moved. Rats. The mechanic was out, the owner was sleeping, 'call tomorrow' says the mechanic's front office. And she was the only person in the place who DID know where it was possible to test the shifter. I asked her to make sure the mechanic knows (sigh). TIRES: All exactly the same size and brand. I suspect that while there's a mismatch in the transmission, the rear pair will keep wearing out fast on dirt/gravel -- but I haven't figured out if that will make things worse, or better. Obviously with proper gearing matches, the tires have to match. But with a mismatch betwen front and rear -- I'm not sure which is turning faster. Well, we'll go get the chalk out and find out later today or tomorrow morning. Arrrrrrrgh. Besides, I also just noticed I have an inch of water inside the bottom of the rear light plastic, noticed it with the backup lights lit, there's this _sloshing_ in there. Gotta take that apart too. But that's for a different thread, don't get me sidetracked, I say to myself ....

I'll push them to try the test on the lift, AND to drive over to the one short block of dirt/gravel nearby and chalk-mark it on the ground. Is the math on this -- with "3.70" in the front and "3.90" in the rear, the difference between the chalk mark angles should be about the difference between those numbers, so about 2/37ths of a revolution on each turn? The front wheels will turn, say, 370 degrees as the rear turn 390 degrees? So after ten turns, 200 degrees' difference, the chalk marks should be back to where they started on the front wheels, and should have gone about another half turn on the back wheels? Or am I mathematically a dunderhead here? I know the shop isn't going to be able to understand this math. But -- I guess that's the only way to tell! --------------- I've already chewed up the rear tires considerably -- we did drive maybe fifty or sixty miles of dirt/gravel road in 4wd low range first gear, last week, all steep and nasty. What scares me is -- maybe I'm making the symptom go away by grinding the rear wheels down! If so I'll have to put on new tires just to demonstrate for sure that there's a problem. ------ Any way, at all, to identify a transmission when the serial number tag is unreadable? Or could any case contain any gear ratio, off the "Used Japanese" inventory anyhow? I guess even knowing an unused transmission's serial number wouldn't help -- I gather there's no list of what serial number is what specific transmission, unless Subaru keeps track internally.

CCR sent a turbo manual 5-speed dual range (weeks ago, they took it back when it didn't fit). I have a non-turbo vehicle. The splines had the wrong number of teeth as noted above. It did not fit into the vehicle, was never used, jmust noticed byt he mechanic and returned to CCR. ALL FOUR TIRES ARE THE SAME SIZE (185s - the size too big to fit under the hood) and are, or were, the same wear level-- before this last week on the road. Now the rear tires are noticeably scalloped /cupped out and feathered (edges of rubber extend over the grooves) after the extra wear of slipping all the time. I'll buy four new tires, but want the transmission fixed first or I'll just destroy another set. Going over a three foot boulder can't be much different than going up a ten or twelve percent slope in the lowest possible four wheel drive -- some of the erosion cuts in the road I use are a couple of feet deep, so it'd be easy to drop a wheel into one and high-center the vehicle. I think the effect on the transmission is probably comparable, considering I may have five people and a load of equipment in the car while climbing or descending these. I'm sure I"m noticing the same small percentage difference anyone would putting full use on the system. I'm starting to understand how a mismatch, for someone using the 42d only for ski trips on snow and ice, might not be noticeable. Thanks Naru for the post about how to test the rotation. I'll take that to the mechanic tomorrow. I mean today. Losing sleep over this stuff, bleah. The mechanic will only test it on the lift -- in Berkieley there are only a couple blocks of gravel/dirt road accessible, a ways away from the garage -- do you think the same chalk mark technique will show the same difference if all four wheels are up in the air? I had thought of asking the mechanic to do that, but didn't know if it would show the rotational difference. Many thanks for the exact Subaru part number. Major warning to anyone with a 1987 California GL, I wonder what that was about. Mine is a 1988 California GL, as far as I know. Gulp. Now I'm going to have to question the exact year it was built, how do I make sure of that? Vehicle ID number, I suppose.

What would cause the described 'bang' on shifting out of 4wd? Does anyone recognize this symptom? Yes, I have the standard 3.90 rear differential, it is readably tagged. That's why the turbo rebuilt tranny from CCR failed to fit, remember -- otherwise that would have gone in and worked fine, eh? I suppose I am a rock crawler --- on back roads, we use mostly LOW 4wd range, in first gear or second gear -- heavily loaded, moving seven to ten miles an hour uphill, or ten to fifteen miles an hour downhill, on up to ten percent grades on "road" surfaces with erosion gullies in them requiring careful steering from high side to the next-- to avoid dropping a wheel and high-centering the vehicle. These are roads that will kill a big American 4wd truck driven carelessly. I saw one yesterday, a couple hundred feet down toward the Eel River, cab crushed in, looks like it did several tail-over-nose turns before it came to rest in the trees. This is NOT an unusual sight in this National Forest. There are several other dead vehicles like that off the road between the end of the pavement and my botany restoration site. The Forest Service doesn't even haul them out, they just rust away. They do remove the bodies (this goes into the Russian River and Marin County's water supply, eventually). So -- Rock crawler? you tell me .... We are looking at plants, not bouncing over the road for an exciting ride, but I assume that's what you mean. The last time a bear crossed the road in front of me, if I'd been going any faster, the 3' diameter boulders he kicked off from the uphill side would've come in my passenger side window instead of landing just out in front of the front bumper. Rock crawler? Maybe. Sure do have this problem though. 4wd-2wd gear shift VERY VERY stiff, and when it shifts out of 4wd the whole car jumps and shudders. Anyone recognize this as a symptom? It shifts from 2wd to 4wd, and 4wd high to low to high, just fine. Only the shift out of 4wd causes the jump and shudder. The rear differential is indeed 3.90, which is what we expected in this model and what fits the NON-turbo transmission originally installed in it. Is there any visible difference in a "RX" model transmission, that would let either the "used Japanese" supplier or the local mechanic know for sure what they were installing? Is anything else likely to cause this 'bang' and shake when shifting out of 4wd?

No, that's not the case now-- too late for that good idea! If the guys at SOS Subaru had known or suggested this, when we got the wrong rebuilt transmission sent to us from CCR weeks ago, it would have solved the problem. Dagnabbit! Banging head gently on desktop ... Here's where I saw a chart suggesting a variety of possible (wrong) transmissions that could be mistakenly sent to us here --- remember we're getting "used Japanese" now from people who probably don't know much and just pull what's on the shelf on a try-and-see basis (sigh). I saw a chart listing a variety of different gear ratios on Subaru's manual 5 speed dual low transmissions -- in the Technical Service Bulletin set online from Alldata for this model 1988 GL SPFI 4wd manual -- specific to this car, but some of it lists all the various things Subaru made for similar cars. I assume you have access to the Tech Service Bulletins? Alldata appears not to want me to publicly post them - I"ve paid for a year of access. M/T - 2nd Gear Grinds Subaru Technical Service Bulletin: NUMBER:03-43-89 DATE: 02-10-89 APPLICABILITY 1985 THROUGH 1988 MODEL YEAR SUBARU VEHICLES WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSION QUESTION-- Do you know anything that would explain the very difficult 4wd-2wd shift lever motion -- incredibly stiff -- and then clunk-shudder, going from 4wd to 2wd? We've had the previous owner try it, he was camping with us and the kids, and he agreed it never felt like this with the original transmission in it. It's sure different that it felt when I bought it and drove it to the same mountain originally. That was when it was slipping out of first gear. Now I wish that was my problem! ---- As to the current transmission, our third replacement -- This one is not a turbo -- that was weeks ago! (grin) Mistake #1 was a rebuilt turbo, from CCR, sent back. (Spline? wrong, mismatch, didn't fit, not used) Mistake #2 was tranny with wrong number of electrical connectors (and probably wrong 2wd first gear, it was a slug, plus throwing many computer error codes). That was sent back. #3 is this one -- making the huge clunk-and-shudder when shifting out of 4wd to 2wd (it has the right number of electrical connectors and throws no computer code errors, and feels right in 2wd.) So Thanks Miles. I wish I were local to you for this kind of work. I've had bad carpal tunnel -- surgery failed -- and my hands don't work well to hold tools, so I have to rely on mechanics locally. I'm using the Subaru for botany field work -- I _can_ handle a shovel, or a microscope, still -- and taking kids camping on the botany study area. So I'm going to keep at trying to get this working.

Back from more than a week camping with the car. This is a 1988 GL 4wd wagon, manual 5-speed, dual low range. 230,000 plus on the vehicle, maybe 60,000 on a rebuilt 1800 SPFI engine. The transmission serial number tag is a metal strip on the transmission - but illegible on the three transmissions we've had put into this car so far. There may also be a tag on the engine as you suggest, but the engine is also a "Used Japanese" put in a few years ago by the previous owner. The transmission we went camping with -- the third one swapped in so far -- appears to have the wrong gear ratios -- the mechanic had this "Aha!" moment when we called by cell phone from the mountains way back in the National Forest last week, after finding it slippery on mud in 4wd and almost impossible to get OUT of 4wd. He had forgotten that he knew a place to actually test 4wd on the ground -- duh -- he'd just tested it on the lift before telling us the car was all set right to take the kids camping. So he hadn't tested it, basically, just told us he did. Arrrrg. Forgotten? Well, so they say. There's a dirt/gravel road a few blocks away from the SOS Subaru shop their front office manager told me about, usable to make sure the 4wd shifts correctly. Symptom of "wrong gear ratios" -- it goes INTO 4wd very smoothly. It switches from high to low range in 4wd smoothly. It's incredibly hard to get OUT of 4wd -- done exactly as the manual specifies, on soft sand or gravel, straight ahead at low speed. Once it does shift out of 4wd, there is an enormous "clunk" and the whole car shakes. The tires on the back have scoured and feathered badly. Apparently with the wrong gear ratios, even when moving straight ahead in 4wd on rock/dirt/gravel, the front and rear wheels are moving at different RPMs and with the weight mostly on the front, it's the rear wheels that have been slipping most of the time. This would also explain why when we were taking the kids up the mountain road in the rainstorm, the 4wd was less safe -- more likely to slip and slide on the rear end -- than using the regular 2wd setting. The mechanic says, well, the people who send us transmissions have all claimed -- for each of the three we've gotten in so far -- that they were the right ones. The tags on them have all been illegible so no Subaru serial number on any of them so far. ---------------- I looked at the number of different types of 5-speed manual dual-low-range transmissions Subaru has made. Of course I don't know how many of each variety were made or are in the stockpile they pull used transmissions out of. But my guess is the odds of getting the right one would be about 1 in 9, each time the supplier blindly picks one and sends it out to be installed. Why so low? -- slightly different gear ratios on different models -- the 1989 model year was the first one built with the 2nd-gear-grind fix, otherwise either they've been fixed or not, no way to tell -- there's another Tech Service Bulletin about a dealer fix for the popping-out-of-first problem, which has either been fixed or not, no way to tell. ------ Bottom line -- I've asked the local shop (SOS Subaru in Berkeley) to contact CCR again and also Rising Sun in Chico, CA -- the two places I know that advertise they rebuild transmissions for Subarus -- about getting my original transmission rebuilt. At least we know it's the right model. The SOS Subaru shop says that if CCR actually does good rebuilds, their price is reasonable -- the local rebuilders around Berkeley charge $1500 to rebuild one so nobody uses them, they just do this swap-and-test til they get a used one that works. I never heard back myself when I phoned and emailed CCR about this weeks ago, but they did talk to SOS Subaru about this when they sent us the first (wrong type) rebuilt. I'm hoping they can either get us a known good correct rebuild, or rebuild mine right. ------ The car handles wonderfully in 4wd, on dry gravel/dirt, even now -- it only felt dangerously slippy at the rear end on the wet muddy road in the rain. So. Wish us luck. I'll know more later in the week or next week.

Don't trust my answer, I'm way too new at this. My impression -- I was shopping for a manual dual low range -- is that 1988 was the last year they made them. Others here have said, and the Tech Service Bulletins I bought from Alldata also seem to indicate, that they kept making them into 1989. (At least, they fixed a design problem with grinding going into 2nd gear "as of approximately the beginning of the 1989 model year" -- so I assume they fixed the design problem by continuing to make the transmissions using the replacement parts they were recommending for the older ones!) Aside -- my fantasy at first was: "Hey, Joe, we fixed the design problem with those transmissions grinding into second, finally!" "Yeah? What did they change?" "The catalog -- we quit making them ..." But, aside from the maybe 1989 model Loyale, I believe there's nothing since then but all wheel drive. Except the new thread here about putting the good old transmissions into the newer cars, which looks very promising.

bumping to reask the question -- where do you look to read the transmission serial number?

After I bought the TSBs for my 1988 GL, I started quizzing the mechanic by referring to them -- "The whoozywhatsis is giving a code? Before you swap in a new part, did you check the connections by the book? What did you measure when you went through the flowchart, for each of the different terminals it tells you to check?" Generally I've been reassured, they actually do the procedure. Probably we should too. The TSBs have a flowchart test procedure specifying exactly what to set and what to test, step by step, branching off depending on the result. They also set out a procedure for checking and testing and fixing the electrical connectors and specify when to replace them, and how. But they do cost $25 for the first car, $15 for each additional model, per year, from Alldata.

answering a year old question -- on the older cars the 'crank angle sensor' is part of the distributor and can't be fixed except by replacing the distributor. Thus per the service bulletin files I got from Alldata for the 1988 GL, anyhow. I don't know when it changed to being a separate component instead of built inside the distributor.

I bought the TSBs for my 1988 GL from Alldata ($25/year) and it's full of info I haven't seen anywhere else -- which may or may not be helpful. I can't judge, this is my first Subaru and it's still mostly in the shop trying to get working. But -- things like, if you jumpstart the car with either engine revving up, or if you open the doors or windows while doing the jump, you can damage the computer. Use a digital or analog multimeter with a minimum 10k ohm resistance. (because lower resistance, like on the standard over the counter meter, can damage the computer) and so on and so forth. Nobody takes sufficient precautions with electrostatic damage and computers, according to the real professional computer experts I know. Nobody, unless you stand over them with a shotgun watching every move. It's just too damned easy to touch something and zap it a little out of spec, with semiconductors. Once that happens, nothing else is going to be exactly right in all circumstances. So, you might want to try looking at the exact TSB for your vehicle, if you don't have all those yet. It includes, for mine, some corrections to the older tech service manuals -- make sure yours aren't the old outdated ones!

And from the mechanic -- "oh, really?" as they take delivery of another replacement "used Japanese" transmission -- this one an exact match (as far as all the electrical connections" for my 1988 GL. They'll put it in tomorrow. And test drive it, saying "we won't know for a while if it's a good one or not." The guy said he'd noticed -- as I had -- that with the first "used Japanese" replacement (the one with one fewer electrical connector), that it ground going into second gear -- and he'd put in different gear oil thinking it was maybe just "old and frozen up." I told him to look for the serial number -- dated before S/N 072334 -- "approximately the beginning of the 1989 model year" -- since that's when Subaru started making them with this fix installed at the factory. Any used transmission before that date -- who knows, without taking it apart, whether it was upgraded for this problem or not. Note especially the warning on this TSB 03-43-89 -- the driven second gear is supposed to be replaced at the same time as the upgraded baulk ring and reverse gear parts are installed, "because of the wear patterns these parts have developed with each other and it will prevent the transmission from being repaired a second time for the same condition." Ewwwwww. I hope someone knows where to look for the serial number, assuming it's marked. Summing up the manual tranny warnings -- "second gear grinding" TSR 03-43-89 -- transmissions dated before s/n 072344: upgrade the baulk ring and reverse driven gear with modified parts, replace the second driven gear, and other worn parts -- "popping out of first" TSR 03-44-89, replace the first-second driven gear bushing with a modified part; take three measurements and pick the right driven first gear size, out of several possible; replace the first gear synchro and the reverse driven gear, and shifter fork and other parts if worn. -- "shifter fork selection" TSR, 03-38-87, as of the date of this TSR (11/23/87), the official Subaru service manuals specified the wrong part number for the 1985 wagon and 1800 sedan, 1986 XT and L series, 1987 L series, and 1988 L series. I suppose "run it into the ground and put in whatever you find in a junkyard" is the alternative, especially if the car's going to get beat up a lot -- after all these years. But if anyone's looking for transmissions, maybe this is of some use. I'm sure I've missed a lot more info. Pointers welcome.

If you want to pay Alldata the $25, you can get the Technical Service Bulletins for a year, for your exact model -- I've just done that for my 1988 GL. One of these has a procedure (presumably also in the shop manual) for testing the distributor ("crank angle sensor" problems. It looks like it works like what's often used inside a mouse or trackball -- a little LED light shining through slots in a wheel that turns, except the result indicates where the engine is in its cycle. The bad news is, there's no fix for internal hardware failure but a new distributor. (My Berkeley shop just called me with this diagnosis -- another reason I paid Alldata for access to the reference files.) Before you throw in a new distributor -- this is what my shop did NOT bother to tell me, and did not check -- There is a flowchart specifying which electrical points to test (warning to use a digital not analog meter, and never just connect battery voltage, to protect the car computer). There are three lines to the computer, for crank angle position, reference and power. Looks from this like if you are lucky you have a bad signal/electrical connection Again the tech service bulletins give details on exactly what to check. The TSB also make very clear that any intermittent code may be due to bad electrical grounding and advises finding, removing and cleaning all the ground wires, looking for disconnected ground wires between components specifically in several places. Be real careful. You've basically got a computer, sensitive to far less static shock than you can feel or notice as a human being -- and it's spread out all over the inside of the vehicle via its sensor wiring. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) usually does NOT "blow" a computer -- instead it simply changes the threshold where some semiconductor changes from insulator to conductor (passes or doesn't pass a signal) -- putting it out of spec. Most computer techs don't give enough care about that, it's cheaper just to swap parts than protect them.

Where is the "transmission number" found? Is it stamped on the outside of the case somewhere? (Can you see it in a junkyard for example?) Do you all who work on these things routinely know about and do the "second gear grinding" upgrade on these transmissions yourselves? Or do you know if they most likely all were done back when the service bulletin came out in 1989? Can you still get the various different upgraded transmission part parts? It sounds like an old handmade clock -- where a part may vary enough to change the sizes needed for other parts, when replacing pieces, so you have to measure them, not just slap in the replacement!

Another one from the service bulletins: M/T - second gear grinds, Number 03-43-89 This was "what to do if the customer complains about grinding into second gear" -- it says that this is a fix that can be applied for grinding problems on manual transmissions -- 1985 through 1988 -- that would have transmission numbers (I assume this is a serial number?0 lower than 072344, "which is approximately the beginning of" the 1989 model year production. Changes the angle of the baulk ring and reverse driven gear friction surfaces to improve the braking and shifting characteristics of these components .... as well as replace the 2nd driven gear when performing this repair ... also checking gear dogs and synchronizer sleeve splines. With the note that 1988 model year transmissions use "the spring gear type 2nd driven gear, but 1987 model year and prior models use the conventional type." The modified part numbers are given for the gear reverse driven, the balk ring, and second driven gears with gear ratios of 1.950 1.947 2.111, and 2.105 --- This is the service bulletin for "popping out of first gear" Number 03-42-88, November 14 1988, replacing and canceling 03-39-88 Popping out of first while driving may be a problem with clearance between the first driven gear and the pinion shaft bushing -- replace the 1st-2nd driven gear bushing with part number 32249AA002. Then, measure the outside diameter of the bushing and pick a first driven gear from a list of several different part numbers, to get the right clearance. Hmmm, I guess there must be some variability in that part number, since they tell you to install it, then measure it in three places, take the largest measurement, and use that to pick one of several "driven first gear" model numbers to install, to end up with a gear to bushing clearance of 0.023 to 0.060 mm. Whew. ----- So again nothing to do with the mysterious wiring on my transmission -- but a couple of things to think might or might not have been taken care of when getting a used transmission. -----

Hmmm. I knew some of this but not all of it. Just in case: WHoah! Did you know that if you use a trouble light instead of the properly set electronic meter to check a circuit that's connected to the ECU, you can damage the ECU? (I did, but I work on computers -- and most computer techs don't give half a damn about that kind of problem either -- the problem is that when you damage a semiconductor it just changes the spec for when it switches from conductor to insulator, so it goes off spec-- making an intermittent failure.) But I didn't know this part: DIGITAL VOLT/OHM METER Use a digital volt/ohm meter (DVOM) with a minimum 10 mega-ohms internal impedance when testing an ECU or related components, unless use of an analog meter is specified by a testing procedure. Analog meters have low internal impedance and cause circuit "loading" in low voltage circuits, resulting in inaccurate measurements and possible damage to components. Use of a DVOM is necessary to obtain accurate measurements and avoid damaging low voltage ECU circuits and components. TESTING PROCEDURES Always follow recommended testing procedures. Never ground or apply voltage to a circuit unless specified by a testing procedure. ECU's provide a regulated constant low voltage source to some circuits, which may require a minimum resistance (impedance) to operate. Directly grounding or applying battery power to these circuits could damage the ECU and cause a system failure. -------

One further clue, perhaps. I went to alldata, and am going through the complete technical service bulletin and maintenance files for the 1988 GL SPFI 4wd wagon. No great surprise, but maybe not everyone knows this: California has extra sensor hookups not on the federal spec vehicles, and different error codes. EGR temperature sensor, for example, was used only on California models. ----- Still hunting transmission switches to see what's what, in the TSB files. Haven't figured this one out yet, but it's indexed as connecting transmission and computer somehow. OF course that could just be the index, maybe it's not actually doing that. BUt, I can sure see why people have different opinions. I see why the California mechanics try to replace with exactly the same parts, too. From the index to TSBs: Sensors and Switches - Powertrain Management . . Sensors and Switches - Computers and Control Systems . . . Transmission Position Switch/Sensor . . . . Locations . . . . . Part-Time 4WD