kimokalihi Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 The other night my 90 Subaru Legacy Wagon L Automatic died on me. Well not entirely, the engine seems to still be running alright and that part of the car never died. Something in the tranny (I think) went out on me. I was coming up a hill at about 20 degree incline at 55mph and all of the sudden it revved up to about redline and I let off the gas. Then I gave it some more gas to keep my speed up and that's when I realized that the engine was no longer turning the wheels at all. It's making a high pitched whir sound from the rear of the engine where the tranny mounts up or perhaps in the tranny itself. I was told that maybe the torque converter went out or the oil pump in the tranny is out. The oil pump alone wouldn't stop the engine from giving power to the wheels right? So lets say the oil pump did go out, what would that cause to quit working? Everything? lol. Engine revs freely Zero power to wheels(won't even attempt to budge) Strange noise from tranny Any help would much appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 One possibility, out of several: http://endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/4EATMovementInfoS01.pdf Can we assume that the fluid level has been checked and is okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Well this is going to sound bad but I haven't looked at the car at all since it happened a couple nights ago. The car is sitting at a friends house where I coasted it back down the hill to at almost 1AM. Then I got a ride home and haven't had time to go pick the car up yet. But as soon as I get it home I will check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Did they say oil pump or are you assuming they meant oil pump. Has anyone checked the tranny fluid level? There is a pump in the tranny, right behind the torque converter, If this pump dies your dead in the water. Torque converters do go but its rare. Either way the tranny needs work. Find a GOOD tranny or mechnaic shop that is wiling to diagnose the problem and just not tell you you need a new tranny. It sounds like your tranny is fixable if its either the pump or Torque converter. This is the only reason aside from loss of fluid where the tranny just dies. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Easy way to test several parts is to just disconnect one of the 2 oil lines that connect to the radiator. ATF will be pumped out with the engine running if the transmission's internal oil pump is working. No flow means either the pump has failed or the torque convertor. That's what they told me on another forum. I didn't mean the oil pump on the engine. I am waiting for my friend to get home and then I will be towing the car over to his place and I'll look at it over there. Right now the car is at another friends house where it died so I have not gotten a chance to check fluid level yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart2546 Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 One possibility, out of several:http://endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/4EATMovementInfoS01.pdf Can we assume that the fluid level has been checked and is okay? This is exactly what I was thinking, if you look back through a couple of my posts, I had an axle problem and that's EXACTLY what happened to my vehicle. A faulty snap-ring in the new half-shafts that were put in, broke and you couldn't even tell until my mechanic pulled the wheel off and shook the axle. So this may be something to look into before you go into much more money if a transmission needs pulled/rebuilt or a new tranny period. Regards, Brandon Bartolomucci Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 a striped or broken axle is a possability, as i have had iit happen to me too, just it didnt make any noise, and the post specifically sites a noise, though its worth a check. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 The link I posted was to an article about breakage of the reduction drive shaft in the trans. The input drive would still be intact in this case, and the fluid pressures would remain normal. Speaking of which, the first step is still to check the fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 I got the car to my friends house and it's in his garage. I checked the fluids and they are good in both the diff and the tranny. I got all that stuff off and I'll say it wasn't easy. I still have one bolt that doesn't want to come out of the torque converter and it's really pissing me off. Horrible design. I swear subaru insists on making all their stuff super hard to access and work on. I pulled a hose off the tranny cooler while it was running and there was flow so I guess the tranny oil pump is functioning. I'm not sure what's wrong with the tranny but I'm just going to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunered Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 might be worth taking a look at them axles before you get too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 The axles look new. I was told by the previous owner that they were replaced with new axles and sure enough they look pretty new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 Got the tranny today. It was a hassle. One of the bolts on the torque converter stripped out on my car and one also stripped out on the one in the junk yard making it impossible to get off. Maybe if they had designed it with some room to get your wrench in there that wouldn't happen. I broke both flywheels after that to get the torque converter loose so now I'm out a flywheel. Progress is haulted until I get one. Hopefully tomorrow I can go get one. I say again, subarus are so difficult to work on. My friend told me right when I got mine that they're the easiest car he's ever worked on. I need to find him and tell him he's full of it. I'd say toyotas are much much easier to work on and more reliable as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Got the tranny today. It was a hassle. One of the bolts on the torque converter stripped out on my car and one also stripped out on the one in the junk yard making it impossible to get off. Maybe if they had designed it with some room to get your wrench in there that wouldn't happen. I broke both flywheels after that to get the torque converter loose so now I'm out a flywheel. Progress is haulted until I get one. Hopefully tomorrow I can go get one. I say again, subarus are so difficult to work on. My friend told me right when I got mine that they're the easiest car he's ever worked on. I need to find him and tell him he's full of it. I'd say toyotas are much much easier to work on and more reliable as well. They are the easiest to work on, but you have to realize, swapping out a tranny is NOT an everyday thing to do. It's not fair to say the car is hard to work on because of something you do on the car once in its lifetime. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted February 27, 2006 Author Share Posted February 27, 2006 Timing belt was just replaced 3 weeks ago and that was pretty difficult. Everything is really crammed in there. There's no room to do anything in the engine bay. The fans pretty much needed to be removed just to get your hand in there. I think the main thing is that it's horizontally opposed. If you want to change a head gasket or do any sort of work on the internals you pretty much gotta pull the engine or it's gonna be a major pain. As soon as this thing runs again I'm selling it. And I just bought it 3 weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 accidental post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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