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Fwd lamp on HELP!


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So my dad picked up a 97 legacy ob today and it's pretty effin mint. Fully loaded, leathers, heated seats the whole works. Now he's seriously at a loss when it comes to cars and when he showed it to me I saw the fwd lamp on. Now this is a crazy assumption but does it mean that he's only driving with only the 2 front wheels?? I peeked under the chassis and did see a rear diff and driveshaft. But that's as far as I could've investigated. Some advice would def help thanx guys
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There is a fuse holder under the hood, toward the back of the engine bay on the passenger side marked 'FWD' and I bet there is a fuse in there ;)

Pull it out. However its likely that the REASON the fuse is in there (which indeed makes the car FWD only) is because they were hiding some mechanical issues (binding in turns for example.) Take it out and see how she drives!

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No the fuse is what makes the car FWD. It is meant to ONLY be used for diagnostic purposes or when you get a flat tire to get to a tire shop to fix the blown tire. IIRC subaru recommends to not travel more than 50 miles with the fuse in.
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So I took the fuse of and took it for a spin. And during the turn it does bind. I took it to my buddies tranny shop and he said its either the transfer clutch??? Does that sound rite I forgot lol. And/or the coast clutch. Couple Benjamin's and it'll be good as new
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Yeah. It's the transfer clutch most likely (or the solenoid). The clutch pack that splits power front-to-rear gets worn out and needs to be replaced. If you don't replace it, you get that terrible binding in turns and there isn't much you can really do about it. If I recall, back before I was brave enough to work on my car, I paid the stealership to fix it to the tune of $1,200, lol.
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So I took the fuse of and took it for a spin. And during the turn it does bind. I took it to my buddies tranny shop and he said its either the transfer clutch??? Does that sound rite I forgot lol. And/or the coast clutch. Couple Benjamin's and it'll be good as new

 

9 out of 10 times its the Duty C Solenoid. Parts from Subaru (3 gaskets and the solenoid) will run you right about $130 - $150

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slow down, if the FWD light comes on it is not the duty c. iy is still working, at least it is working when power is sent to it 100% of the time to create FWD.

 

it could be the clutch discs, and if you open it up to replace them you may as well replace the duty c. it is only about $110 more and you really don't want ot have to go back in again later.

 

but depending on the year and the miles, it could be the trans fluid. is it old and dirty and dark??? do a ''drain and fill'' 3 times with driving in between each. it will cost you 3 gallons of ATF. you do it just like an oil change. remove plug, drain fluid, install plug, add fluid.

 

old and dirty fluid can gum up the duty c valve body and or clutch discs causing binding. in addition to sending power to the rear wheels the clutch is designed to allow slip in between the front and the rear which eliminates binding.

 

change the fluid, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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That's actually sounds like the cheapest way to go now rarher than blowing crazy cash. The car does have 233k and we really don't kno the history of the car. Just yesterday I replaced the valve cover gaskets, the alt/ power str belt, pcv valve, spark plugs, wires and a oil change. valve cover gaskets were destroyed and the guy just decided to use the same old gaskets like a retard smh. Belts were just about to pop. So I'm gonna have to assume that the tranny fluid must be bad too. I'll do a drain and refill like u said. Thanx for letting me kno
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