legacycentral bbs

Lately my tranny has been acting up. First off before I bought it the previous owner said something about a transmission sensor needing to be replaced but he couldn't remember what part it was. Now what's happening is sometimes when I make a very low speed turn the whole car shakes and shutters, pretty bad. Like torque bind but I have read our cars don't get that, it's just a solenoid that needs replacing or something. The POWER light does flash sometimes but not every time. Also what happens is after it shifts, it takes a few seconds and kinda kicks into gear more. The acceleration isn't that great either.

Also. I cannot figure out how to read trouble codes from the ECU. The steps say turn the ignition off, move lever to D and turn ignition on. Well I can move the lever when the ignition is off... Help?

Robert,

It sounds like the duty C solenoid is probably the culprit.

As for checking the TCU codes and moving the gear selector to D, there should be a little black button or flap that opens up so you can move the gear selector when the ignition is in the OFF position.

Thanks for the response Josh

How would I go about replacing Duty Solenoid C? I don't even know where that is..

And can you elaborate on the little black button? Only thing I see is the big button on the left of the gearshift to switch gears and right below that the 'manual' button..

Unfortunately I don't have a great picture, but you can get an idea of where the button/area is in this picture.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... button.jpg

You can also see it in this pic

http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/ima ... iorold.jpg

As for the duty c solenoid, it's inside the transmission. Try putting a fuse in the FWD fuse holder to see if the problem goes away. If it does, the duty c solenoid is probably working ok and you may just need to change the fluid or the clutch packs may be worn.

I'd suggest changing the fluid first as that usually helps.

I have heard that changing the ATF can lead to issues on high mileage trannys, mines at 269k. Do you think it's a good idea to change it? I thought about changing it not too long ago but resisted because I was reading about how when people changed their fluid it drained metal shavings and stuff that held everything together.

Also I switched my manual button pin from A4 to A6 in hopes of getting the power mode mod to work but it never worked, I never bothered to switch back the pins. Should I do that before I try and read codes from the TCU since the manual button is operated in the steps?

I opened the black flap and it reveals a screw. I unscrewed it and I couldn't move the shifter.

The issue with the high mileage transmissions is primarily around power flushing. A simple drain and refill should be ok.

Umm, yeah I would assume you'd need to put the manual button back, or hook up a different switch to use as the manual button so you can read the codes.

What if you pushed down on that screw? Are you able to push in the gear selector button and move it out of park?

Maybe someone with a newer 92-94 legacy can chime in since the 90-91's just had the button you pressed in.

Bump anyone know about this button?

I have a 94 legacy turbo touring wagon, in my experience there is no shift interlock switch on these model of cars, its all electronic and i know this because if the battery dies your screwed, the car is stuck in park. The previous models did have a black button you could push to move the shift lever. Id switch the manual button pins back and follow the procedure for reading codes. Should you reuqire a duty solenoid c i have one new in box with gaskets. Long story short i purchased the solenoid to do a repair to my transmission and never used it as dieseldevil hooked me up with a transmission. I salvaged the clutch pack and solenoid from his transmission and the way i went. Hopefully this helps. PM me if you are still having troubles following the procdure. Hopefully this helps, good luck.

Well, I looked in the parts manual, and it appears that the 94 is unique and has no such button. I find this odd because the 95+ had a little flap you can open.

I seem to recall when I had my auto that I could move the gear selector to park, still hold in the button, but the shifter interlock system would be "happy" and think it's in park. I think I could turn the engine off and remove the key. As long as kept holding in the shifter button I could then move the gear selector.


Actually....I just read the instructions again.....you don't need to put the car into park to turn the ignition off. You just can't remove the key without the gear selector in park. What I would recommend doing is putting the gear selector in Neutral, turn the ignition switch off. You won't be able to get it completely to the off position, but that's fine. As long as you move it out of the ON position it'll cut power to the TCU. Then just follow the instructions on my site.

I just came across this thread.

As Josh stated, the '94's don't seem to have that button. My '94 TW is another example of not having that button. I don't know for sure but I think the button and supporting mechanism can be retrofitted from an earlier year model. Pushing down on the screw that's already there won't do anything because the mechanism to bypass the lock needs to be installed (if it can be done).

I got the what I think is needed from a wrecked car when I was in AZ, but as is typical with me, a host of unexpected, urgent things came up and I never made the opportunity to take apart my shifter to see if it can be done. It is so convenient to have that button as I had to use it several times when I had my '93 ss.

On the shift lock button topic, my 94 turbo wagon has the hole for it but no button. I took the screw out in hopes of adding the button but the bolt hole for the button isn't there. The mechanism for shift lock is there though.

Weird. We'll probably never know why 94's didn't have it.