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Location of transmission harness on 2000 Legacy?


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Hi-I'm trying to help a friend fix his 2000 Legacy which lost all forward gears last night.  I'm not a Subaru guy but a pretty experienced DIY mechanic (mostly Toyotas), so I'm trying to do my homework and help him out so that he doesn't have to buy a new car or a new transmission.  After some searching I found this thread:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/88131-1999-legasy-outback-transmission-wont-shift-to-any-forward-gear/

 

Would someone be able to guide me to the proper plug on the transmission harness to disconnect to see if it will shift in "limp mode?" I'm thinking if that works he could drive it to work the rest of the week (gently) and we could do a full flush and add some Trans-X on Saturday, hopefully fixing the problem, even if only temporarily to buy him some time to figure out a plan for another vehicle, etc...

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With the transmission harness unplugged, the transmission will only have 3rd gear and reverse with the rear transfer clutch locked (think driving in 4x4 all the time (no the FWD fuse won't help with the harness unplugged)).

 

The harness connector is on the top or the passenger side of the transmission just back of the bellhousing. They're the big electrical connectors that obviously go somewhere besides the engine. (Don't accidentally unplug the engine harness:)

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did you check fluid level?

is the transmission pan dented?  there's very little clearance between the pan and pick up tube

is the AT light flashing 16 times at first start up?  (this indicates a known fault by the TCU - get the code). 

 

as to limping it around:

 

what he said - get under the hood and it's fairly obvious which connector is big on the passengers side rear of the engine compartment.  one goes to the passengers side footwell compartment area where the engine ECU is located - not that plug.  It's the other large one that snakes on top of the transmission, follow the wire bundle back to verify.

 

i mean if you disconnect the engine - it'll be obvious ad just won't start -- plug it back in.  takes a matter of seconds, no big deal. 

 

probably even cleaner just to disconnect the TCU under the dash - it's not exposed and less likely to be/get dirty than the engine compartment connectors. 

Edited by grossgary
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