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Showing results for tags 'automatic transmission'.
Found 9 results
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Hi, I'm trying to fix an issue with our 2003 Outback 2.5L Automatic 143K miles. Started with a regular CEL, then elevated to a Flashing CEL. Car would idle rough when it was damp outside and or cold. This is what I've done so far. When car was running well and it was dry outside I spritzed water, very lightly around the engine to re-create the problem. The very first place I hit caused the problem. I spritzed some water on the Coil Pack module, immediately a spark started jumping from Terminal 4 to the mounting bolt nearest the terminal. It was a very big spark and from my point of view it appeared like there was a crack in the terminal. I purchased a replacement and replaced the original with a brand new piece. The #4 terminal was blackened on the original coil pack. I did notice the connection from the spark plug wire on this terminal was looser than the others. I crimped it slightly with a terminal crimper and re-installed all of the wires. At first I thought I had it fixed, but not very long as the car sat idling the rough idle and the same spark happened from the same terminal to the mounting bolt. My first thought was to coat the mounting bolt and the end of the spark plug wire at Terminal 4 with Silicon RTV. This held up for a few days, but again, as soon as we had some rain, I had the same issue. I also ran the tank down to near empty and put in a bottle of quality, can't remember the name, Fuel System Cleaner, then filled the tank with 87 Octane Sunoco So went to Advanced Auto and per recommendations on the web I replaced the wires with a set of NGK, and a set of NGK replacement plugs. I went for NGK plugs that were for my car. The Autozone system came up with NGK G, which I found are Platinum tip. I've since read that I should have gone with copper. Is this a real issue? I used dielectric grease on all connections. I used Permatex Anti-Seize on the plugs. The number 4 plug looked like it had un-burnt fuel on it. The original plugs felt like they had been torqued too tight, but had no signs of stripping. It was just hard to break loose and I had to wrench them a long time until they were finger loose. Not having a torque wrench I put them in finger tight, then wrenched them 1/2-3/4 turn snug. I took the car on a quick local shakedown drive and it felt great, had more power than it had since we bought it. 2 days later we drove it much further, about 50 miles each way on the PA turnpike at speeds up to 75 MPH. No CEL's car felt great until... On the way home we were stopped by an accident. It was in the 20's outside. We sat idling for almost 30-45 minutes. As we were pulling away from there, the car started running a bit rough when de-celerating. Then about 10 minutes later as we sat in line to enter the turnpike the idle started getting rough and the CEL came on. My wife was afraid to drive it the remaining 35 miles home, but I said it's not flashing, and when we stopped it was OK if we put the car in neutral. When we got home I ran the car at idle in front of our home, about 30 degrees now. It was dark and I was looking for evidence of sparking again, but saw none. I've read through several threads on this issue on another Forum, before I found this one. They suggested after a tune up was performed that it's the Fuel injector if I'm lucky, or burnt valves if I'm not. Or possibly the small chance that the same plug or wire is bad again. I'm hoping that since it ran so strong for over 60 miles at speed and at idle that it's not the valves or head. I really pray that is true, because I don't have the money, or skills to repair that. So if you were me, where would you go from here? If the next step is the injector is a re-manufactured one OK? Which Brand? While i'm in there is it foolish to not replace both injectors on the drivers side of the block? I really would rather not buy 2. Everything seems to point to Cylinder #4. BTW, While I spent the last 20 years as a photographer, I went to school for electronics and feel comfortable around a DVM. Thank you in advance for any replies, I really appreciate any helpful feedback. Spiney-Dave- 7 replies
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- Cylinder 4 misfire
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Hello all. I recently purchased a 1990 Legacy LS Wagon from a couple who used it only to drive back and forth from their condo in Salt Lake City to Alta Ski Resort and back. At the time of purchase it had only 113k miles and they were the original owners. The car is in great shape and I hope to make it last for miles to come. I don't drive often but do plan to use it for highway trips and occasional times when AWD is required. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and feel very comfortable working on older Japanese vehicles such as this one. This is my second 1st gen Legacy. A couple questions regarding the Auto tranny: Even though they took good care of the vehicle and serviced it regularly I don't know that they knew much about the vehicle. I have most of the maintenance records. The previous owners stated they had the transmission replaced about 20k ago. I have the work receipt and I don't notice any problems. The power light did a flashing routine and after some searching found the diagnostic routine that someone here or on another Subaru forum posted. It also prompted me to check the atf fluid levels according to the manual. A couple questions regarding the Auto tranny: 1. The atf fluid is a bit harder to check than other fluids (I presume because of the angle of the dip stick and lower viscosity fluid?). I followed the routine for a hot fluid check. The dipstick had a solid line of fluid well below the 'low' mark on the hot side of the stick. There was a thin barely noticeable line a good way up the stick though. I don't think this 'counts' as being at a full level though. Thoughts? 2. I went to our local Napa (I live in a small rural town with only one auto store) and given that Dextron II has been gone awhile he recommended Max Life (full syn) multi-vehicle ATF for dex/merc, Mercon LV. I bought it and followed the procedure to top the fluid level off. Rechecked the dipstick using the recommended procedure and it seems to be a full 'line' on the dipstick that after drive a mile or so is a solid line of fluid the width of the stick and after half quart is up to the full line with only a small barely noticeable thin line extending past 'full'. I presume this is normal? 3. Is the fluid I used an okay substitute for Dextron II? All results I can find on various forums indicate yes but I know auto transmissions can be a finicky bunch. 4. As I mentioned I do most of my driving on the highway at cruising speed and make a couple 8 mile round trip runs to town for groceries or to take the dog hiking. It does not get heavy use. Exceptions are I occasionally take it off road for photo shoots where clearance allows. I'm keen to keep the underside washed afterwards but for this reason I feel I should probably change the atf fluid a bit more often than every 30k as those 50-100 mile stints do put a heavier strain on the transmission. Apologies for the long first post. I just want to make this ole girl last as long as possible. Interior is nearly perfect and the car really does drive nice. Emissions passed with flying colors, well below the CO & CA state limits. I live in CO for three seasons and CA in the winter months so the car does not see true winter temps. Any other advice or recommendations are appreciated. ~Nick -
Drive snowy roads all winter no problems. Till I did. Stuck in resort park lot. AWD became FWD. No power to rear wheels. Everything else is fine,no noises,no fluid losses etc. Runs great. What broke? -
I am in desperate need of some help here. I have a 98 legacy outback with auto trans. One day while driving down freeway i heard a clunk from under the car. Looked up at the gauges to find my rpms and speed mirroring each other. The trans would not shift out of 3rd gear. I parked the car and tried all the other gears. No response in reverse or any other gear but 3rd. When put in nuetral it can only be rolled forward. Long story short i put a newer transmission in it. Initially it drove very well. Then one day i took a long trip in it and bam. Load clunk noise followed by the exact same symptoms as before. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. -
Like the title says, I have an automatic 1983 GL turbo wagon. I had it towed to my house due to a "massive" transmission leak. The tow truck couldn't fit up my driveway, so we (meaning my boyfriend and I) filled the transmission fluid and started it up. After a few seconds white smoke came billowing out of the exhaust but we had to get it up the driveway and behind the house. It went into 1st gear and reverse (but only briefly) so those gears appear to work. After consulting the repair manual we pulled the vacuum modulator and it had definitely given up the ghost. It was full of ATF, as was every vacuum line we checked. After replacing the modulator and a few bits of vacuum line (though in hindsight maybe we should have done all of it?) we started it up and the amount of white smoke was reduced, but still pretty bad. We let it run for a minute or so, then drove it around the block, hoping to purge the ATF from the lines. It still smoked, and with renewed gusto every time you hit the gas pedal. The woman I bought it from quite possibly drove it over 100 miles sucking ATF into the vacuum line so my suspicion is that there is a reservoir of ATF fluid somewhere in the vacuum system (maybe the evap canister?) that is causing it to continue to smoke even though the modulator is now working as it should. Does anyone have any experience with this? I am tempted to see if I can just "drive" it out but the car is not legal to drive yet so cruising down the road billowing white smoke is not something I want to do unless it's a sure fix. A few more relevant details: All this went down yesterday. Today, all the fluid levels look good and there is no cross contamination. There isn't even a drip of ATF under the car. Vacuum lines are not pouring out ATF like they were before the modulator replacement, but there is still some residue/vapor in them. Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated! -
I bought a '99 Forester at an auto auction. Ran great and in great condition but when I went to drive it home it won't go above first gear. It is an automatic transmission that shifts into drive and reverse fine but just won't shift past first gear. It just reves up. Any thoughts? This is my first Subaru. I checked transmission fluid and level is fine, didn't smell bad. -
Hi friends, I just lost my old governor pin and I cant seem to find a new one no where. My Subaru is a 1978 DL with Automatic transmission. Any ideas? thanks
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My 1997 Legacy Brighton automatic is shifting a little weird. It has a slight hesitation between shifts and will sometimes downshift when it does not seem appropriate. I have about 155k on the car and it runs fine otherwise. It has a replaced motor and tranny at about 60k due to being sold to us with one tire a smaller size than the rest by Ch@rlie'$ Subaru in Augusta, ME. That was the last time the AT fluid would have been new. I just put a new (to me) exhaust on it and new o2 sensors and the engine runs nice and smooth. I found this video that more or less exactly describes my shifting issue with the same car and a fluid change seems to do it. I just called a Midas to get a price on a AT fluid flush and was told to be careful as the transmissions sometimes just quit on this generation of subarus after a flush. He said to let it ride. I don't understand this but have heard it before. So should I not change the fluid? Maybe a bottle of the Lucas Slip stop stuff? Would something else remedy my sluggish shifting? Any suggestions? I can drain and fill the fluid myself but thought a flush to be better and less wasteful/toxic. I definitely do not want my car to quit. Thanks for any help -
I am a proud new owner of an old 1998 203,000 mi Legacy Outback Limited (whatever Limited means). I have done a CarFax and nothing save brakes and oil change. Before purchase the mechanic/owner replaced the head gaskets (after market but holding up), water pump and timing belt (not the belt bearings). Then I had a Subaru shop do a bumper to bumper and among a bunch of stuff I can repair on my own the following questions. The timing belt bearings were not replaced... how much should I worry about this until I can do the work myself? I don't want to buy an engine if one of those bearings goes out. I was quoted $650 to replace the bearings, the oil pump and alternator bearing (which is noisy). Second is work I can't do (but maybe I can) but can find no similar issues online. When the engine gets warm and making tight turns I feel a thumping 'down under' and was told the automatic transmission 4x4 transfer 'some dumb thing' was going out, but not to worry about it too much until the gas mileage gets bad (cuz the 'some dumb thing' is dragging down the engine. Third is a winter (cold weather) thing I found online is an occasional overheating problem (could be wrong thermostat, a clogged radiator or a bubble still in the system??? And, no, no overt signs the head gaskets went bad). I have an appt with a Subaru dealer for a diagnostic, $89.00 and check the overheating issue. The question remains is will the mechanic be able to diagnose the transmission/front end bumping issue before I have them change the transmission fluid $190.00 (I read a fluid change can take care of some trans issues)? Sorry to bother ya'all but I LOVE this car.
