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95 Legacy L OBW No AWD AND wont shift out of 1st


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My 95 Legacy OBW has about 130K (not 100% sure, my odometer stopped working at 101K). I had a used transmission (about 85K) put in it when I bought it about 2 months ago (I am not the first owner and the original front differential literally blew out the sides of the tranny).

 

Ill start by saying I DO NOT HAVE TORQUE BIND.

 

ISSUE 1 - Last week we had snow and I noticed that I was getting a lot of front wheel spin, I had someone watch and sure enough no movement in the rear wheels. No FWD fuse at the time either. I just put the FWD fuse in once I realized my AWD wasnt working and the FWD light does come on. Also, about the same time I noticed my AWD quit my AT Temp Light started flashing 16 times.

 

ISSUE 2 - This morning on the way to work the car will not shift out of 1st gear when in D. I stopped and checked my fluid levels and color once the engine was warm. The fluid is clear and the level is fine. If I start in 1 and shift to 2 it will go into 2nd, but when I put it in 3 it drops back into 1st. Once I hit 6500 rpm in D it sounds like it is trying to shift but wont. I noticed about a week ago it did the same thing trying to shift from 3 to 4. It sounded like it was trying to shift but not making the shift. That only happened once.

 

Any thoughts? When it was just my AWD I initially thought Duty C, or maybe one of the other more common issues, but now that it is having trouble with shifting as well, I am thinking it may be the TCU? Any ideas? I love this car and would need to get this fixed. I am comfortable getting my hands dirty, so anything I can do myself, I am willing. Everything else is in awesome shape for a 95. Thank you!

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Check the trans harness conections they are hard to get clicked in all the way. Also check and make sure the connections are clean as well. Putting the fwd fuse in will put the car in front wheel drive disengaging the rear end

 

The at light flaahing is telling you there is a code.

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Thanks. I'll check the connections. Going to try the "handshake" over lunch to determine what the code actually is. I put the fuse in once I realized the AWD wasn't working anyway. Also, read if you put the fuse in and dont get a light it could be an electrical issue with the selenoid. FWD light is on for what thats worth.. Will post an update once I try the handshake.

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Ok, so I drove it 5 miles over lunch, no flashing AT light, and shifted perfectly...until I came to a 4 way stop. Once I stopped and started to go again it wouldnt shift out of 1st in D. Manual shifted into 2 to limp back to the office. Turned it off and back on and the AT flash was back. Didn't have time to try to get the code, but will see what I can come up with after work.

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Loose connection would be my first guess. The trans electrical plugs are difficult to push together and may not have "clicked", and have worked loose.

 

Is the trans pan dented at all?

The pans on these are flimsy and there is wiring between the pan and valve body that can be damaged easily if a jack was placed under the pan to lift the trans up to install it.

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Just took it for a drive. Upon first two startups no 16 AT flash, drove it around, and even though there was no flash it still wouldn't go out of 1st in D. During the second start (no flash) and drive it initially wouldn't go out of first, but after a couple of laps around the block it just started shifting ok. I immediately pulled over and turned it off and started it up, 16 AT flash was present, so I turned it off, got under the dash, plugged the ground pin into #5 (bottom row 3rd from left), turned it back on and...nothing, No AT flash, no code flash...nothing...wouldn't shift out of 1st again either. Any suggestions?

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I did end up having to short pin 5, then:

 

Depress brake, turn ignition to ON and shift to 1

 

Then turn ignition to OFF

 

Then turn ignition to ON

 

Then shift to 2 then 3 then D

 

Then depress Gas pedal a bit (I know this process is for stored codes, I also tried for current, but it gave me 2 flashes per second)

 

Once I did that it flashed code 33 - No 2 VSS

 

Once I change that I'll let you know if it fixed the issues. 

Edited by blacksparrow
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Swapped out the VSS with a new one. No change. All connectors seem to be tight and clean. Code 33 is gone at least, but now when the light flashes and I run through the handshake, it just flashes twice per second, which I understand to mean all clear...any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's not that. OBDII wont read codes from the TCU. I had replaced the VSS #2 which is what the AT Temp light was indicating by flashing code 33. Latest update is no change. Still shifting funny, and code 33 is back. I'm going to check voltage on the wiring, to the VSS if that looks good, I'll try another VSS to make sure the one I bought wasn't bad. Still no AWD either, but that seemed to go out when the AT temp light started flashing, so once I get that problem solved, we'll see...

 

Also - the issue with not shifting out of 1st persists, but only when I have the FWD fuse installed. If I remove the FWD fuse, the transmission will run through all of the gears, but the shift points are messed up and inconsistent...and sometimes going from 3 to 4 is studders, but not always...

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