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.formatting link
> Coinop.orgformatting link
>
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