1996 Legacy LS sedan torque bind?... Feels worse

[Giovara]

 Hello again everyone. Im having a problem with a Legacy I just bought. I bought it at an auction so I don't know any of the vehicles history. It is a 2.2 automatic with 199k miles. The problem Im having is that the FWD light was on in the dash. The fuse was in the FWD slot. I pulled the fuse and the wheels started binding. It feels like its binding in the front but that doesn't make sense to me since the fuse just disengages the rear wheels. The weird thing is that everyones description of torque bind sounds like it only binds when taking slow sharp turns. When I pull the fuse, it binds all the time. Especially going straight up hill when there is more torque. When I put the fuse in, it drives fine. Front and rear diff is full of oil and oil is very clean. Also the trans fluid is very clean. I drained a quart of trans fluid and replaced it with a Lucas no-slip additive. I haven't noticed any change. Ive had a lot of subaru's and with yall's help have been able to fix pretty much every problem Ive had. Im thinking I should replace the center diff with a used one. Does this sound like the right direction or am I having something weird going on since it's binding all the time? Thank you for any knowledge y'all can share with me.

[johnceggleston]

first, all 4 tires need to be the same size in circumference, with in 1/4 inch.

so they need to be the same brand, size, tread, air pressure, and wear.

if they are not you will have binding.

 

second, change the ATF. dirty trans fluid can cause gummed up clutch discs in the transfer clutch

and the valve body for the duty c . both of these control the power transfer to the rear wheels.

do a drain and fill of the trans fluid, just like changing the oil in the engine.

do this 3 times with driving in between each.

 

the duty c is working.

[Giovara]

195 60 15 on the front and 195 65 15 on the back. All four of them are a different brand and the tread patterns are all different. New tires tomorrow. Thanks for the tip. I didn't even think about the tires once I thought diff. From the way it feels, I doubt this will eliminate my problem but it sure as hell looks like what caused the problem. Ill see what new tires do and then change the fluid a few times if it's still binding. Thanks for the heads up.