HX-20S

I had Duty Solenoid C replaced last year (August) - the connectors were possibly pulled apart then so that continuity checks could be made on the wiring etc. It seems unlikely it would show up this much further on. I haven't noticed any differences in shifting. The car doesn't upshift from 1 very smoothly when it's floored and the Power button (which makes the car upshift at higher revs) is in, but it seems Subarus aren't particularly smooth there. I'd have to try another HX-20s to compare it. The problem hasn't come back, so perhaps it was just a temporary condition. I'm still interested to know under what conditions the Cut Signal would be sent from the TCM to the ECM to prevent fuel cut.

It's standard on WRX and sport grades of Impreza wagon. The sport grades (e.g. my HX-20s) are basically non-turbo versions of the WRX. There are bound to be other differences; e.g. the exhaust. They share the same trim (body kit, Recaro-style bucket seats, Nardi leather steering wheel, etc.). Here's a picture of the back of the car:

HX-20s Impreza, 1996 Japanese-spec, 2-litre EJ20, 4-spd auto, Recaro-style seats, sport suspension, rear spoilers, side skirts, fog lamps, alloy wheels, sunroof. All stock - no mods.

Greetings. I started up my Impreza (1996, Japanese HX-20s, 4-spd auto, EJ20 engine - basically a non-turbo WRX) today and the Power light was flashing. I used the secret handshake and got a code 16, which as best as I can tell from the charts I've found indicates a problem with the "Torque Control Cut Signal". The symptom is apparently "Torque control signal is open or shorted from ECM". From the "4EAT.pdf" file that is floating around here and elsewhere: "Torque Control Cut signal is sent to the TCM from the ECM preventing fuel cut under certain conditions...Torque control signal (unique from the Torque Control Cut signal) is created in the TCM logic to communicate to the ECM that torque reduction (fuel cut) is required to reduce shift shock during a wide-open throttle upshift." It's not clear to me what the Cut Signal does if it is "unique" from the other signal. Are Torque Control Signal and Torque Control Cut Signal just part of the same control loop, solely related to controlling torque when upshifting with the accelerator floored? Torque Control Signal goes from the TCM to the ECM, while Torque Control Cut Signal goes the other way. I realise I might have answered my own question here, but it's very helpful to get some more experienced input. Also, because I wanted to check if this was a problem that needed to fixed right away, or a one-off, I disconnected the battery on the car to clear the TCU. I then took it for a test drive and couldn't get the code to show again. Perhaps I will have to stop flooring the Impreza when the Power button is on. :-( Thanks for any insights.

Make sure you have the spare tire inflated to the correct pressure. Apparently it's quite common for people to forget about the space saver spares and let them lose a lot of pressure (50% or more). The required pressure is a lot higher than a regular tire's - my Impreza's manual says to pump the space saver to 4.2 bar (about 61 psi). Under-inflated space saver spares are dangerous.

No - ours is a single-range 4-spd auto with a "Power" button on the shifter, which just changes the computer's shift map (shifts up at higher revs).

I don't know what the New Zealand-new ones have. As I noted above, many Subarus here are imported second-hand from Japan. Our 1996 Impreza HX-20S has the EJ20 engine. It's non-turbo.

Peanuts! I just checked out our "national" online trading site here in New Zealand (http://www.trademe.co.nz - it is probably more popular here per capita than eBay is in the USA). Of 31,910 cars for sale, 2,398 are Subarus (7.5%). We *love* Subarus. I was recently in the USA and hardly saw any (fewer than 5 in Phoenix, a few more in LA). Here in Christchurch, NZ they are all over the place - the percentage of Subaru ads on the site for this part of the country is 10%. Many of the Subarus here are imported from Japan.

Sure: http://www.obusforme.com Here's the seat pad: http://www.obusforme.com/product_nav.asp?ID=24 There seem to be special prices here: http://www.comforthouse.com/obbacsup.html Google is your friend - search for reviews too; e.g.: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/obus.htm Note that it is Obus, not Orbus. I believe it is pronounced like Aw-bus, not Oh-bus.

I can second this. My wife has used an Obus Forme (seat and back support) for years too and has found it to be excellent. It's so worn that we'll be getting a new one sometime. We recently bought an Impreza HX-20S, which has Recaro-style seats (I don't know if Recaro actually supplied them to Subaru). I find they are far better than regular seats. My wife still uses her Obus Forme to get extra height as she's on the short side. The Obus Forme fits well into the bucket shape of the Impreza's seats.

There's just one button: "Snow Hold". It is actually labelled like this: * HOLD AT The * is a snowflake symbol. To anyone who's wondering what the button/switch does, "AT" lets the car's automatic transmission use the normal range of gears and so is the regular setting for the switch, while "Snow Hold" prevents the transmission from using the lowest gear ("1"). In "Snow Hold" mode, the car will start off in 2 to reduce the chances of spinning the wheels. The car is Japanese - here in New Zealand we import thousands of used cars from Japan each year.

Just to wrap this up in case anyone else is looking through postings trying to get information, as I did: My testing showed that Duty Solenoid C was open circuit and so either that or the wiring to it was dead. I took the car to a Subaru specialist (he was on Possum Bourne's team, which will mean something to some of you), who confirmed the diagnosis, pulled the transmission extension housing apart and found that the solenoid was indeed dead. He put a new solenoid in and changed the transmission fluid and now the car runs sweetly. He said that it is common for these solenoids to fail, but that he hasn't seen any repeat failures if the car is maintained properly afterwards. This would include changing the transmission fluid per the maintenance schedule, keeping tyres at the recommended pressures (note the high pressure required by a space saver spare), and rotating the tyres to promote even wear (see postings on tyre circumference here). Thanks again to everyone who has posted on this topic here. Although I couldn't fix the problem myself, it was still satisfying to identify it correctly and learn about the car in the process.

Adjusting the tire pressure made no difference. I will be changing the transmission fluid soon. I've been working through the forum postings here (lots of great info, thanks) and tried inserting the FWD fuse. This also made no difference - the binding is still there and the FWD light does not come on on the dashboard. This suggests the wiring or solenoid is at fault, so I'll be checking them out next, using information found here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1335

Your instructions worked for me, thanks. The Impreza has a "Snow Hold" switch, which I used in placed of the "Manual" button in the instructions. To other Impreza owners: There is also a shift lock button near the base of the shifter that can be pressed to allow the shifter to moved out of P when the engine is off so that the various steps in the instructions can be performed. My error code is 24, indicating a problem with Duty Solenoid C. This seems to be rather common, based on what I've read here. There is certainly binding when turning slowly at full lock, but I haven't noticed it under other conditions (but then I've only just got the car, so it's all new to me). I'm going to check the tyre pressures (there are four near-new tyres of the same type) and then investigate the wiring.

Thanks. Are there any instructions available online for getting the code (I found some for a Legacy that might work - will try on the weekend) or do I need to go to a dealer with the right gear?

Greetings, I have just bought a 1996 Impreza HX-20S and have learnt that the flashing POWER light at startup means that an issue has been detected. It flashes 16 times in 4 seconds after ignition and then goes out. I don't know how long ago the fault occurred and would like to reset the TCU to see if it occurs again. I've read elsewhere that the TCU can be reset by pulling fuse 14 for 10 minutes, but the car is a Japanese import, so the fuse labels are all in Japanese. I've tried pulling a number of fuses that could reasonably be "number 14", but that doesn't appear to have reset the TCU as the POWER light still flashes as described above. To be clear: the light doesn't flash while I am driving the car. The car is a right-hand drive, non-turbo 2.0 litre, automatic with AWD. I really like my new Subaru and hope that there isn't anything seriously wrong. Any advice or help would be gratefully received, thank you. Chris