I Donated thefultonhow Posted June 30, 2010 I Donated Posted June 30, 2010 My cruise control keeps on clicking off, and I searched and found that I need to grind down a washer between the neutral position switch and the transmission to fix the problem. Of course, this means I have to take the switch out of the transmission. Is the switch located above or below the top of the gear oil? If it's located below it, will gear oil leak out if I take the switch out?
Max Capacity Posted June 30, 2010 Posted June 30, 2010 No Just jack up the drivers side and you'll be fine. Grind that thing down a lot. I had to do mine a couple of times of the years. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here
I Donated thefultonhow Posted June 30, 2010 Author I Donated Posted June 30, 2010 Can I take the washer off completely?
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 19, 2010 Author I Donated Posted July 19, 2010 Okay, so I ground the washer down on Friday night, because I wanted cruise control for a road trip Saturday. Tested on Friday night after putting everything back together, cruise worked fine. Cruise worked fine for about 200 mi on Saturday, then 50 mi or so from the end of the trip, the CEL came on (with flashing cruise light, of course). I went to Autozone and the code was for the neutral position sensor. They reset it and it was fine on the way home, but it came back on today. Did I grind the washer too thin? Or is there another problem of some kind?
Max Capacity Posted July 19, 2010 Posted July 19, 2010 may be you went to thin. I took mine down so that it looked like only one washer was there. I removed the part that was the crush part. How much did you take off ? 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 19, 2010 Author I Donated Posted July 19, 2010 Hard to say without seeing the original. So this washer -- why does it have problems? Does the washer itself expand? Or is there an issue with the switch or the thing in the transmission that presses against the switch wearing down? If it's the former, I might just buy a new washer and use it for another 30k or so.
Max Capacity Posted July 19, 2010 Posted July 19, 2010 On a new one you'll see where the crush part lay's agunst the washer. I removed all the crushed part and may be some of the washer. It's been a while since I did that. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 19, 2010 Author I Donated Posted July 19, 2010 I went to the Subaru dealership on my lunch break to get a new washer. They didn't have the washer itself in stock, but the same part is used on many of Subaru's transmission sensors, so the guy went and pulled a different neutral position switch and was going to give me the washer from that. But I noticed that the plastic switch part on that sensor assembly stuck out about half a centimeter more than on the neutral position switch that's in my car. I ordered a new switch for $40; if it comes in and is identical to my current one, I'll get a refund and they'll send it back, but if the plastic part sticks out more on this one, I'll take it home and replace my current one, and that may fix the problem! I'll keep everyone updated.
Yamarocket630 Posted July 20, 2010 Posted July 20, 2010 There is a reflash to solve the problem. Well worth the money if you are out of warranty.
Max Capacity Posted July 20, 2010 Posted July 20, 2010 There is a reflash to solve the problem. Well worth the money if you are out of warranty. When did the reflash come out ? 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 21, 2010 Author I Donated Posted July 21, 2010 Hey, guess what? It was the switch itself. The new one doesn't stick out quite as much as the one that gave me this idea, but sticks out way more than the one that was in my car. I put in the new switch and washer, and now cruise works perfectly and I have no CEL. I'd suggest that anyone who has this problem in the future check their switch -- it was definitely the problem in my case. The replacement was $40 and included a new washer.
Max Capacity Posted July 22, 2010 Posted July 22, 2010 Not to sink your boat....but the dealer ground my wash the firsttime and the curise worked fine for a while, then it started doing it again, then I ground it down and it's worked fine since. Good Luck, hope this is the fix. Gee do you think Subaru figured out the problem and made the new switch ? They just didn't tell anybody.... 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 22, 2010 Author I Donated Posted July 22, 2010 No, I think the switch breaks after a certain number of miles. Maybe Subaru came up with a new switch that doesn't break as soon. I don't know. But seriously, the plastic piece on the new switch sticks out a lot farther than on the old switch. We're talking less than a millimeter on the old one, 4-5mm on the new one. And I'm using a stock, un-ground washer and it's working great.
Scooby2.5 Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I finally had to to do this over the weekend as my cruise had totally quit. I went to NAPA and took the factory washer with me. Found a matching copper washer much more thin. The factory one, measured with a dial caliper, is .079 thick The one from NAPA was .030 which looked pretty thin. Installed it yesterday and my cruise works like a champ. Monitoring it with the AP shows it turning off and on real sold whereas before it was flickering on and off on its own. I might add that I got a brand new switch and my old one and the new one acted exactly the same. Using a meter there is only a certain amount you can push this switch in to get it to work. If only pushed in a small amount it flickers or doesn't connect. If you push it in too far it does the same thing. If you push it in about half way it stays on solid. With the way this switch acts I would say for sure there is an engineering problem with the thickness of the washer and how far the switch is pushed in by the transmission.
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