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Re: 96 outback - rear end troubles + AT OIL TEMP light flashes at start

The only thing I've read about as a new OBW owner is the sensitivity 4WD vehicles have to differential tire size. Though I'd expect the service guys to check that, let's assume they didn't and you could jack up the car and measure the circumference of the tires - need to be within, like

1/4 inch or something of each other. Have you been diligent in maintaining correct pressure and tire rotation? Was the car towed incorrectly recently? That coulda' cooked the diff or the clutch pack in the tranny or something. BTW - I've seen this refered to as 'torque bind'. I even heard a story of some lady a long time ago driving her husband's 4X4 downtown, hubs still locked, and got it so bound up(immobilized) trying to parallel park they had to jack up the car a coupla times to relieve the stress.

Carl

1 Lucky Texan

Kurt Koller wrote:

I have a Subaru Outback, 1996. About a month ago, the vehicle started > acting strangely - going around sharp corners resulting in binding in what > feels like the rear of the vehicle, and when you start the car, the AT Oil > Temp light flashes, which according to the manual means the AWD control is > bogarted somehow. > > I just noticed that there's a fuse block under the hood that will allow you > to disable the AWD and make it a FWD vehicle. I was planning on doing this > to test my theory that there's something wrong with the computer or a sensor > because... > > 1. I took it to the local Subaru dealer. They drove it around and told me I > needed a new transmission for $3500. I asked about the light and they were > vague about it. They said my transmission oil was "all burnt up" but when I > checked the levels the fluid looked good as did both differentials. > > 2. I then took it to Aamco. You know, the transmission specialists. They > kept it for a day and told me nothing was wrong with the car. I explained > the binding and they asked if I just bought the car because maybe I'm not > familiar with e AWD programs and how they bind up like that. Horsehockey, > the car was fine for the I've had it for. > > 3. I tried the "secret handshake" with the gearshift, etc, but couldn't get > it to spit out anything. > > 4. I now have an appointment with a different "factory trained Subaru > service center" and I'm hoping to glean more info... > > has anyone had a similar problem? will driving the car as a FWD screw it up > at all (they talk about how this is useful for towing in the manual). I > can't imagine changing the car from 90/10 to 100/0 would be a big deal, I'm > sure it will handle slightly different, but that's fine. > > thanks in advance for any replies/information. > > > > Kurt Koller Developer / Hacker Minimalist, Inc.
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Carl 1 Lucky Texan
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Well, we had some issues with the tires when they were replaced, they people that did it didn't clean the rims well and we had slow leakage for a while, but then we had them fixed. I guess they could have worn strangely or something.

But why the flashing light at startup?

Horsehockey,

Reply to
Kurt Koller

My 98 Outback's AT OIL Temp light flashed for a while but it turned out to be "nothing". I'm not even sure if they told me the cause. I didn't have any binding issue, though.

Kurt Koller wrote:

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spam

I've got a '92 SVX LSL and about 18 months ago I started having the same sort of trouble with it albeit without the warning light coming on. I took it into the dealer that I trust here in Columbus, Ohio and one of the service advisors told me that it was probably caused by tire size imbalance/wear issues. I put up with it for about a year and it seemed to lessen when I put my winter tires on it but the following spring I put brand new tires on it all the way around and the problem blew up, literally overnight. I took it back to the dealer and left it there overnight for their tranny specialist to look at and I called them the next day. He told me that the transmission was probably OK and all it needed was the fluid/filter changed and that this would solve the problem. I found this hard to believe but he assured me over the phone that he had seen this numerous times and that there was probably nothing wrong with it even though the fluid looked OK. I gave the go-ahead for the fluid change with some reservations and that was last fall - Novermberish. I've driven it about

3-4 thousand miles since then and I have not even felt the smallest binding whatsoever since. I can't say that this will definitely do the trick for you but I think that 180$ is a whole lot less than 3500$ for a new tranny.

I hope that this helps you out.

Good luck,

David Bickel '92 SVX LSL 110,425 miles strong - just getting broken in finally

Reply to
DaBickman

We did the fluid change, same problem.

The flashing light turned out to be a solenoid, according to the computer. Think we're looking at $450. Still much better than the full tranny. It goes back in tomorrow (they were swamped with the new recall) for service, and we'll see how it turns out.

Kurt Koller Developer / Hacker Minimalist, Inc.

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Kurt Koller

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