rockhead Posted February 20, 2007 Posted February 20, 2007 My '95 Legacy L auto (174,000 miles) has no power to the rear wheels. No unusual noise, no dash lights, nothing to indicate anything is wrong... just spinning front wheels in snow. There is no fuse in the FWD plug and the dash light comes on when I put one in. According to the PO, the transmission was replaced about 20K ago, but I have no way of confirming this. Any thoughts?
lucky7 Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 would something like this show up on a carfax report? or if it was replaced by a dealer, there surely is a service record on file somewhere. if it was infact replaced by the dealer, i would call and ask about a service history report. or if all else fails, you could get in contact with the previous owner. just a couple ideas.
rockhead Posted February 21, 2007 Author Posted February 21, 2007 would something like this show up on a carfax report? No if it was replaced by a dealer, there surely is a service record on file somewhere. if it was infact replaced by the dealer, i would call and ask about a service history report. or if all else fails, you could get in contact with the previous owner. just a couple ideas. I bought the car from a wholesaler. He told me what the owner told him. The tranny fluid is clean and the front half shafts are new. There are new exhaust parts coming off the motor. Everything indicates that the tranny has been replaced, but like I said, I have no way of confirming the replacement. My concern is what could possibly be causing the problem. I am not too familiar with the mechanicals of the AWD auto transmission and am hoping to hear of a simple, low-cost solution. By "low cost" I mean something that is not going to force me to consider dumping the car.
lucky7 Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 ah, i see. i wish i could be of some help. but alas, i have zero experience with subaru awd systems. im here to learn. best of luck.
Bdubs Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 This is the real disadvantage from buying a car from a wholesaler. They really know zero about the car, and if there is a problem with it, they are no help. Such as this situation, because you arent sure if the awd system was working when the new tranny and exhaust parts were installed or not. There could be a possibility that they forgot to hook something up, or the company that bought the car hired a real hack to do the job, and only wanted to pay as little as possible so they could make more $$ on the car. Have you brought it to a shop yet? Don't bring it to the Subaru garage, a small shop should be able to help you out.
SLegacy99 Posted February 21, 2007 Posted February 21, 2007 If you can find someone who specializes in Subaru, but not a dealer service center that would be great. I used to have one near me until he retired. Good work and saved me money.
rockhead Posted February 21, 2007 Author Posted February 21, 2007 Have you brought it to a shop yet? Don't bring it to the Subaru garage, a small shop should be able to help you out. No doubt. I have it at a local "keep it alive" guy who is very good and very fair. He's busy and hasn't had it apart yet. I am hoping to hear something soon.
rockhead Posted February 27, 2007 Author Posted February 27, 2007 Well, the verdict is just about in. The rear clutch pack is gone. It's an solenoid activated clutch that pulls in when the speed sensors pick up slippage. The clutch is about $150 and the solenoid another $90 or so. No estimate on labor, but I figure somewhere around the 2-3 hour range. A local dealer told me they would charge anywhere from $600 to $1,000 for the job, depending on how old/rusted things were. (my car is very clean). I gave him the green light and should have it back in a few days... not pushing him on this one. Between this and the recent timing belt/water pump/crank seal/cam seal job, this car owes me another 50K miles! Think I can squeeze 250K out of her? BTW, the mechanic said the tranny looks like a recent replacement and it's unlikely the clutch was rebuilt with the tranny since it's really part of the output shaft and might be an original part of the car. Figures.
rockhead Posted March 11, 2007 Author Posted March 11, 2007 OK, here's the final answer. Once the mechanic got the clutch pack apart he found the true culprit. There's a compound gear in the clutch pack which has helical cuts on the inside and outside, plus another smaller gear welded on it. This smaller gear was broken off the larger one. It appeared that the welds let go, but neither of us could really tell. The output shaft was spinning just fine, but this gear was just free-wheeling. The cost of the gear (JUST the gear) was a staggering $175 from the dealer, the only place that even knew what we were talking about. The parts guy mentioned that the early AWD's (like mine) had a problem with this part... something about the metal used being too soft. Whatever. The solenoid had to come out, so it got replaced. Everything else went fine; this car is extremely clean for the amount of ground that has gone underneath it. The car now gets 23 MPG, up from the 19 I had been getting. The revs are lower on the highway, down from ~3200 to ~2800 at 70 MPH. It's quieter and smoother. Keep in mind I had NO IDEA anything was wrong until I drove in snow. SO, to all you guys with 2.2 autos, keep an eye on your MPG's and RPM's, and drive through some mud every now and again. If those rears aren't spinning, you might have a pretty pricey repair coming your way.
Bdubs Posted March 11, 2007 Posted March 11, 2007 Well glad the problem was solved, can't say I've ever heard of such a thing happening. At least you get to enjoy the AWD.
Guest Gitster Posted March 11, 2007 Posted March 11, 2007 Glad it worked out, but $175, just the part alone I know, is nothing compared to the few grand you were looking at for a rebuilt tranny. Even a dealership selling that car isn't gonna take the clutch apart to look at that transmission if its riding fine before selling.
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