New Problem: AWD All wheels Locked ?

[morgie]

Yup, a new problem as raised in my car. I have noticed that over the past month or 2...

symptoms :

Yesterday i went to a friend's shop to get 2 used tires for AutoCrossing. The run was 20min. and i was travelling at 140-160km/h (i was a little late ) . Arrived at destination, i tryed to park in reverse. Turned the wheels max toward the right, and started backing. There was a weird feeling.. like if all 3 differentials were locked and i could ear some wheels scratching or sliding on the asphalt, (not turning). I had to give a lot of power to go reverse, and as soon as i push on the clutch, the car comes to a complete halt, insted of simply continuing on the push...

I put the wheels straight, and the car was OK. Left the car cooling down for 45-60 mins, and then everything was back to normal when turning the wheels to the max.

I had similar probs with my RS after long high-way runs ( but wayyyyy less dramatic) and the dealer said to me that it was caused by the rear LSD still being locked. But as far as i know, my 92 5mt Turbo Legacy dont have LSD !

What do you think ?

[boostjunkie]

Could be your center diff burning out. A friend of mine told me that when his center diff was going bad the front wheels would "hop" along the ground under slow speed turns.

[morgie]

and I presume a new center diff cost millions ?

that's the part i was silently suspecting but not wanting to be it...

[totech]

I would check to make sure your tires are the same size, worn the same and inflated properly.

[ciper]

Torque Bind?

[Legacy777]

First thing check all your tire sizes, and make sure they are within tolerances, check air pressure.

Look on the back of the rear diff....see if you even have a LSD or not.....may want to check diff fluid while you're back there.

You also may want to check tranny fluid level as well.

If after all that, you don't see anything out of the ordinary, the cause was most likely the center diff binding. As to what damage, if any was caused.....I guess you'd have to wait and see if it happens again.

As for replacing the center diff. A guy on nasioc said it's not really that difficult......

[morgie]

I'm back from the dealer (they are big friends now that i'm always there ! hahaha) and the "Chief technical officer" told me that these were signs of a slownly wearing down (seising up) Center-visco coupler. He also said to me that 160 000km was the average longevity for that part.

Mine is not critical yet, and there is nothing i can do to rescue it... it will finaly seize and it will be hard to drive the car.... until i find a replacement part :\

But replacement parts seems to be many !
The ViscoCoupler is the same for Any Manual tranny of these models :
Legacy 1990 to 1998 (part number changed in 1993 - part was updated)
Impreza 1992 to 1998 (part number changed in 1993 - part was updated)
Forester 1998

The visco-coupler completely changed in 1999, not sure at all if it fits.

As for price, a new Visco. for 1990-1998 is around 1000$CAD , and a 99+ model is around 850$CAD, but not sure if it fits.