97 Legacy torque bind even with fuse in??????????????????

[BoostedBalls]

My wife's 97 Legacy GT 4EAT seemed to develop torque bind overnight. I put the fuse in expecting to get rid of the torque bind and run 2wd until I can fix the real issue. Well, I put a fuse in and it is still in 4wd. The fuse isn't blown.

 

I also have CEL codes for: Throttle position sensor, knock sensor, misfire in #1,2 & 4.

 

I wonder what is really going on here. any thoughts?

 

I'm gunna change the spark plugs and check the TPS for resistance and maybe replace the knock sensor with one I have laying around.

[bheinen74]

duty C has failed but failed in on mode.

?

[Skip]

I believe behein is corn-fused as to the operation of

DS C

 

This solenoid opens a "drain" for the hyd pressure going to the

clutch pack that locks the rear drive to the front.

 

When DS C fails the drain for the hyd is closed and all hyd

pressure is fed to the clutch pack - thus locking the rear drive to the

front.

 

The FWD fuse tells the ECU to send a signifigant duty cycle signal to

DS C thus opening the drain and not allowing

any hyd pressure to reach the lock up

clutch pack.

[idosubaru]

wow, with all those codes i'd start with trying to diagnose those. i doubt all of those codes just showed up at the same time for no reason, some more information might help us help you.

 

if the wire or power is cut to the Duty C solenoid, then it will be "locked" so to speak. that's how those of us manually control lock up. just cut one wire and put a switch in.

 

has any recent work been done? sounds like maybe a harness isn't seated properly or corroded?

 

does the ATF or POWER light blink 16 times at start up?

[Anon.II]

...

does the ATF or POWER light blink 16 times at start up?

 

I'm not the OP, but, yes, egads, from TIME-to-TIME I have the 16 (power) flashes.

 

I've felt the torque-bind shudder as far back as, hmmm, 5 years?

--only every so often, then perios w/o (and care at making sharp turns,

when evident). Reading here re tires (and needing them badly), I got new

tires this summer; the shudder has appeared since, on occasion, and the

flashes after. (Am now building a collection of UltiSub wisdom re this

problem, to aim to redress it, thanks.)

 

--Anon., II

[johnceggleston]

I'm not the OP, but, yes, egads, from TIME-to-TIME I have the 16 (power) flashes.

 

I've felt the torque-bind shudder as far back as, hmmm, 5 years?

I got new tires this summer; the shudder has appeared since, on occasion, and the flashes after.

 

 

the flashes means there was an electrical problem with the trans the last time it was driven.

 

my duty c was intermittent for several years before ultimate failure. i removed the rear section of the drive shaft until i could make repairs.

 

what year & miles is your trans. the usual first fix is changing the trans fluid, which can not hurt. but if you have the flashing light it may not help, with an electrical problem.

[PAezb]

Have you ever replaced the VSS on the tranny? When it begins to fail it can send erronious signal pulses to the ECU/TCU. Escpecially in the 0 to 20mph range, even slight variations can cause any "bucking" you may be experiencing.

 

How's the speedometer needle look when accelerating?

[BoostedBalls]

The AT Temp light does blink when I first start the car!

 

Maybe I have a bad connection somewhere. The engine was pulled a while back for head gaskets by some shop. I'll have to look over the wiring and hopefully I can come up with something.

 

The speedo needle looks steady.

[nipper]

When the car starts if there is an electrical failure in the last operation cycle in the tranny, the ATF light will blink 16 times.

 

With your symptons, we can sit here and tell you how to pull the codes, or we go with the obvious. I am going with the obvious. You have a duty C solenoid that has developed an open, and therefor not working. The FWD fuse acts like a switch. It tells the TCU to hold open the C solenoid (powering it) to dump all the pressure to the AWD clutch pack. If that solenoid (like yours) has failed, it wont have any effect.

 

It's like telling a dead dog to fetch. The order has been given, the stick has been thrown, but the dog ain't going to get it.

 

There are several ways the AWD can fail. This is one. The second is it gets all gummed up and sticks. The next is the clutches get tired and then you have no AWD. The final is that you have mismatched tires and overheat the clutches and they get fused.

 

You can try chainging the fluid and hoping that the C is stuck, and the TCU is not seeing that signal response, but usually the FWD fuse and driving the car can dislodge the stuck valve.

 

You need to get this fixed. It can make the car handle in a rather unwelcomed exciting way on wet surfaces. Also you are putting a lot of stress on the transmission mount, universal joints diffs and tires.

 

nipper

[Suzam]

...It's like telling a dead dog to fetch. The order has been given, the stick has been thrown, but the dog ain't going to get it.

 

nipper

 

 

What a sad story! What was the dogs name, Nipper?

[nipper]

yup missing not having a dog. But lookin at getting one in spring for Mom.

[Anon.II]

Re "what year?", sorry, 1991 Legacy L+ wgn, 182k or so. About 2? years

ago, when I first noticed the flashing light, I took it to a transmission shop

who found nothing obvious wrong, and they replaced fluid. (Later I read

hear Nipper's (IIRC) admonition about trans. shops!) (But local stealership

has a something-like-only 60% Wash.Checkbook rating of Getting it Done

Right 1st time. It won't be me, but I hope some independent shop who

can replace the Duty-C solenoid, if that's the cure.)

 

Thanks,

(-;

[nipper]

Your going to need clutch pack as well as the solenoid at this point, if its been two years. This is one thing that dealerships repair really really well.

 

Choice B is a used transmission.

 

 

nipper

[Anon.II]

the flashes means there was an electrical problem with the trans the last time it was driven.

 

my duty c was intermittent for several years before ultimate failure. i removed the rear section of the drive shaft until i could make repairs.

 

And did the repairs include replacing the clutch pack,

or just the solenoid? (If not the clutch pack, how's running?)

 

--Anon.II

[Anon.II]

Your going to need clutch pack as well as the solenoid at this point, if its been two years. This is one thing that dealerships repair really really well.

Choice B is a used transmission.

nipper

 

Thanks. It's been more like FIVE years, but, again, something rather

intermittent, and as best I could, unaggravated (the earlier recommendation

somewhere here about doing several tight figure-8 turns sending shudders

through ME ...). Is there any symptom of this need (i.e., that the clutch

pack is bad, from the abuse)? For most of the time the car's been driven

without problem (and maybe yet somewhat guardedly re turning hard).

 

(You see my question re this above, for a datapoint.)

 

--Anon.II

[johnceggleston]

And did the repairs include replacing the clutch pack,

or just the solenoid? (If not the clutch pack, how's running?)

 

--Anon.II

it was a 96 legacy sedan 2.2L w/ 133k miles and i swap in a rear extention housing from a bad trans. i included a new duty c and had the luxury of inspecting the transfer clutch before the swap and it looked ok to me. labor was about 285$ which i thought was high. but cheaper than dealer repair or replacement trans. the duty c was about 75$ on line, be sure to get 2 valve body gaskets if you order it yourself. so i spent about 360$ on the fix.

 

runs great, now with another 15k miles on it.