logic23 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 OK folk lets see if any one has dealt with this problem. I have a 97 OBW in my shop that has a supposed rebuilt transmission. When the car came in it had a slight torque bind problem. The a/t light also flashed as soon as you started the car then turned off after several flashes. I assumed the normal solenoid problem so I replaced the whole tail housing with a used one (dont know if it was good). Got it all put together and started the car: No light and no apparent bind. Drove for 20 min and started to notice a slight bind on real tight turns. Turned car off and restarted and the light flashed 16 times then went off. So the question is does the 16 flashes mean anything? Has anyone seen this problem when the car heats up? Any thoughts? Thanks y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98obster Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 It's very comforting to know there's such a thing as slight TB . can you verify a good Duty C solenoid in either of the units? (correct ohms?). the wire harness is connected? just noob observations, I'm sure you've checking these out as well. 16 flashes might be duty c but it's too cold to go out and confirm tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 16 flashes means nothing specifically. it's essentially the "check engine light" for the trans and means the TCU has a code stored. at this point you need to check the code. inserting the FWD fuse should get rid of torque bind. if it doesn't then the duty C solenoid or clutches (or both) are hosed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 yeah there seems to be varying degrees of torquebind. One of my customers has it so bad it sounds like the rear end is coming apart. How does one check the trans codes? ill search other threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Ok heres the update: I put the FWD fuse in and no light on the dash. I drove the car for a day or so and it came on at some point. When the light came on I took the fuse out and continued my drive in AWD...NO torque bind. continued to drive with no problem for the the next day or so. Then the torque bind/ flashing AT light came back. put FWD fuse in and no light on dash. Any thoughts? sounds like a loose connection or bad wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 are these identical symptoms to before you replaced the tail housing? if so then it's hard to imagine identical symptoms and I'd look elsewhere. i'm wondering if there's a mismatch front to rear - final drive ratios don't match in the front and rear differentials or one of the tires is way out of spec - not the right size or warn, low on pressure, etc. since FWD works and it can lock the clutches - i think i'd go with installing a switch but i'm weird. i'd install a switch to toggle between FWD and full on locked transfer clutches for snow. first, i've done it before and in thise case it should work since both of those conditions occur. but only one customer in a million would accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log1call Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 There are probably instructions on here somewhere for extracting the trouble codes but I can't be bothered searching for them so have a look here... http://codes.rennacs.com/Auto-Transmission.php Extract the trouble codes then come back and ask for advice with that information and someone will be able to help you more. It's better not to guess these things, especialy if you are charging for the service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I don't see it mentioned, so throwing it out there...Is the fluid fresh? I'd hope so on the rebuilt, but changing out the fluid has worked for some. Since you sound unsure of whether it was rebuilt, I'd also double-check the transmission ID on the bell-housing if there's a '2 ' after the 'Z' like this TZ102Z2ABA, it should be the correct one (thanks to johnceggleston). If it's a letter, it's got the wrong diff ratio....and someone swapped in a non-OB tranny. Td Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 SO you replaced just the tail section, and nothing else. That would rule out any issues with the front and rear diff. The light flashing 16 times measn there was an electrical fault the last time the car was operated in the transmission. Is this a new tail section, or a used tail section?. Was the solenoid replaced with a new solenoid? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=72486&highlight=pull+trans+code Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted January 1, 2010 Author Share Posted January 1, 2010 The tail section and solenoid were both used. Both old and new display same symptoms: working sometimes with no pattern to when it stops working. The strange part is that the FWD light doesn't always come on. IF its not getting a signal from duty C solenoid will the light still come on? I'm guessing the fuse and the light are both connected to the trans computer and teh computer turns the light on and off. Customer is driving the car now with the FWD fuse in letting me know the conditions when it is on/off. I plan to pull the code next week. It still seems like a bad connection somewhere. bad computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 You can used a KNOWN good tail section from a subaru, but using the old solenoid is taking a chance at best. The fuse is just used as a switch. It sends a signal to the TCU to hold the Duty C wide open and dump all the pressure. The FWD fuse light may be as simple as a poorly fitting fuse or electrical connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 There seems to be a direct correlation between the fwd fuse and the torque bind. If the fwd fuse is in and the light is working then i can remove the fuse and no torque bind, no flashing a/t light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 i had/have a similar problem on my son's 95 lego. sometimes the car would have binding and sometimes the fuse world cure the binding but neither would happen all the time. i never figured out if it was the duty c it self or the wiring or what. i suspect that heat had something to do with it. check the wiring connector going to the trans, undo it and snap it back. the TCU is pretty easy to swap out. pretty much any similar year will work, some of the mounting cases are different but the boards inside are the same, physically and plug right in. we ended up removing the rear section of drive shaft until we could replace the duty c, real fwd, but we haven't done it yet, 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic23 Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 So i finally pulled the codes and got the dreaded 24... replaced the tailsection with a known good one and FIXED... woo hoo. thanks y'all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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