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I took sooby out for a drive cause I was feeling bad, when I started up the power light flashed for a bit (should've known right there to just stop) I didnt get a chance to count how many flashes. anyway about half way trhough the hour drive she started shifting odd. The rpms would raise a bit inbetween 1-2 shift. It has been acting up for a while bfore this but I never paid it anymind since I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Then when coming to a stop after this the revs would drop almost as if it was going to die. Very similar to when I had IAC valve issues. But anyway what could be the problem? I'm going to check the tranny codes in a bit but does anyone know off the top of the head what the problem might be?

turns out it's code 33 vehicle speed sensor 2 (VSS2), makes sense I guess. So it's the part that's in the instrument cluster eh? also sounds like it could just be the speedo cable coming detached. I'll have to check this out sometime soon, but can you replace just the vss2 or do you have to replace the whole cluster?

I'd like to know as I have that code stored although it causes no problem at all.

Steve

okay it flashes 16 times at startup. I dunno if that means anything or not. So yeah anyone know if you've gotta replace the whole thing or just that part?

Steve, how can you have a VSS sensor code when you don't have a VSS?

I was wondering that myself

unless he's talking about another car.

Maybe that's why I'm getting it.

I get 33 in the stored codes. Either I'm not clearing them right or it was a previous problem before 108k (when I bought it) that I never experienced, but either way I'm getting VSS. No driveability issues so I don't care.

Steve

Hehe, we're talking about different code 33's. I'm talking about a code stored in the TCU and you're talking about a code stored in the ECU.

d'oh.

Steve

FUCK!

now my tranny is slipping! I was also getting tons of wheel spin! When I started to drive the wheels would just spin for a bit then finally catch. Also when the tranny was slipping it would just rev up. The wierd thing though, when I would turn the car off then back on it would drive fine for about half a mile. then it would start slipping. I did change all my fluids today at work. Including a transmission flush. I think I added too much ATF, could this be the problem? Also my front diff looked like it had ATF in it instead of gear oil. When I put the car in reverse I head a grinding/tapping/chirping from inside the car. I can't really explain it. This didn't happen until I was about half way home Please smone tell me they know what could be wrong

the flashing 16 times at startup is a standard number of flashes when there is a code present.

More stuff: Last night I drained off some of the ATF and took it for a drive. It was alright for a lil bit, then I started to hear a scraping/grinding noise that coincides with this wierd ooooooo sound I've been hearing ever since I bought the car. I just assumed it was normal. Anyway, what could this scraping be? Could my torque converter be out of balance or have turned someplace or something? The symptomes I was having before sound like brake band. And I think the ATF flush just made it worse. I'm going to try messing with it to see if it will help any. But if anyone can think of anything please speak up.

I was talking to subyluvr and he suggested that it might be the seal between the front differential and the tranny is open and letting the fluids exchange. It sort of makes sense why it takes a while for the tranny to start slipping, the diff oil takes a min to get into the tranny fluid, and why when I turn the car off(diff fluid sinks to the bottom) and restart it it's fine for a lil bit, the longer I let it sit the longer it will be work like before. So my question is now. Is the seal replacable? or do you have to swap out the entire transmission?

So my latest idea is, after so many shifts the torque convertor isn't unlocking fully and is grinding on something, possibly the other half of it. It seems to make sense seeing as the revs raise a bit when it goes to shift and the rpms drop real low when I come to a stop. I'm sure someone knows something about all the crap I've described. Dont be afraid to post.

The torque converter doesn't unlock during shifts or anything like that. It's not like a standard transmission.

I think subyluvr2212's suggestion sounds very plausible. I doubt the seal is easy to replace, though, even if it is just a seal.

I wonder how much damage you'd do to your front diff by lubing it with ATF instead of GL-5 gear oil.

Some manual transaxles recommend ATF, so it may not be too bad. What will the gear oil do to the transmission?

Steve

Yeah, I've heard of a few. Hondas and Saturns, I think... But do those share the transmission lube with the front differential?

I have also heard of people putting ATF in Subaru 5MTs for short periods of time in an attempt to clean them out.

I think gear oil is just too thick to go through the pump and hydraulic circuits correctly.

In any case, THAWA, maybe you could prolong the life of your transmission a little bit by draining the gear oil out of the diff and replacing it with ATF. It may eventually kill the differential, but the transaxle is kind of screwed anyway.

Well it's had atf in it for almost two years, at least (dunno if the previous owner had it in there before) so i dont think its going to die anytime soon. I can still put the fwd fuse in and move the car. Hmm, I'm going to check tomorrow and see if there's any atf in the diff yet. If not I'm going to assume the seal is still there and someone was just stupid about fluids. About the tc locking and unlocking is the only time it locks/unlocks is when its at a high enough speed? So does anyone know for sure if it's a seal or soemthing inbetween tranny and diff?

glad to see some more people in the topic

Hey-my tranny was leaking trans fluid into the f-diff. Drove it that way for over two months-but had to drain diff every week or so depending on how I drove- and replace ATF to tranny. Once the f-diff overfills it leaks out the top vent tube onto the ground. Got a used tranny from Subaru Suzuki Kia in Rancho Cordova. Was the front seal in the tranny leaking into diff. 650.00 from them. Good luck Dave in Tahoe.

cool, glad to know I'm not the only one that has experienced this. I think it was the flush that killed it. 650 is pretty steep but thanks for the idea on price. did you take apart your tranny to find out? If so how hard was it?

The trans shop would have to split the case apart to fix the front seal- so might as well do the clutches while in there and all seals. $1500.00+ so went for used 80,000 one. Mine had 120 on it and dont know why it went. Good Luck. Dave BTW-$300.00 for R@R.

well we can both worry together now steve. In addition to the code 33 from the tcu, I've just got code 33 from the ecu, I assume the VSS used by the ecu isnt the same as the one used by the tcu since you were getting that code aswell. bah i say!

I've got another instrument cluster sitting here, should I try and swap the vss from that into mine to see if it helps? Is that even possible?

I have no idea what the hell ECU 33 does. I have no driveability problems except an occasional lingering high idle when cold from a dirty IAC. I don't even get a CEL - it just stores the code even after I clear it. But if you figure out an easy fix, I'd like to do it anyway.

Steve