Subaru Legacy BC AWD -90 Diff locks?

[Kiesijemmari]

Does Subaru Legacy BC All-time 4WD -90 have diff locks at front/rear? I just bought my Legacy and it "jumps" and "hops" when turning tight at very low speed/almost stationary. Or does central diff's viscolock do that hopping? There is a lot of resistance and you have to use a lot more gas, but as you turn steering staight it disappears.

What oil should I use for diff's? Does Mobil SHC 75W-90 do the trick?

Thank you already!

[rallyak]

It sounds like the center diff, I'm assuming that it an auto. You can test that by placing a fuse in under the hood on the passengers side, there is a small ( looks like a fuse holder) box that has 4WD on it. Open it up and put the fuse in it, what that dose is makes it fwd, if the binding is gone most likely center diff.

[Kiesijemmari]

Sorry, I forgot to write that it has manual transmission.

So, do they have front and rear diff locks?

[wtdash]

Hi and Welcome to the Forum...

No front/rear diff locks on US cars except the rear VLSD on the '91 Legacy SS.

Are you in the US? I know other countries had different transmission options.

Yours is exhibiting torque bind which is much more common on the automatic-equipped cars. As noted above it occurs in the center diff..

I would try changing the transmission gear oil to see if that helps @ all....but I'm not the manual transmission expert....hopefully others will provide better feedback. I'd also replace the rear diff oil...use the same stuff.

The 75W-90 should be fine...but recommend the Subaru Extra-S if available.

GL,
TD

[Kiesijemmari]

Thank you for your reply!

I'm from Finland. I don't know if there are differences in gearboxes in our models compared to US models.

I will try that Mobil SHC as I can get it from work quite cheap and straight from a pump

I just found out that my distributor axle is leaking oil in to the distributor cap, causing massive missfire... Are there any seals to change or other nice little fixes? I somehow don't want to change whole distributor, it seems to be quite expensive =\

Are there some "weak spots" in these cars? I'm new to whole brand, this is my first Subaru - And in fact - My first water cooled boxer too. Found out that rear top spring mount is very hard to find and quite expensive...

Thank you already!

[Legacy777]

Welcome to the BBS.

Does your Legacy have the low range gear box? If it does I believe it has a locking center diff vs. the viscous coupling in the non-dual range transmissions. If you have the dual range gear box you should not run around in 4WD on dry pavement.

Changing the gear oil will not affect the behavior you described in either of the transmission types, however it wouldn't be a bad idea to change the fluid if you don't know how old it is or if it looks bad.

As for seals the rear cam seal on the passenger side head (for a LHD car) is a common leak point. It's just an o-ring. The front oil seals can leak, but unless you're replacing the timing belt or if they are leaking very badly, I wouldn't bother with them right now.

[Kiesijemmari]

I have single range gearbox, no other sticks but gear shifter.

Is the distributor shaft O-Ring seal hard to replace? Is it normal O-Ring or some special sized one? What do you have to disassemble to replase it?

[Kiesijemmari]

Mine does have distributor cap and rotor. Oil is leaking into distributor cap, causing massive missfire.

My legacy is fuel injected 1.8 litre.

[mike-tracy]

I think you're the only active member with a distributor setup

Check this website out http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/en_g10/

I know they don't hav 1st generation legacys, but perhaps the earlier imprezas had similar or the same engine.

Failing that, maybe an. autoparts store would have a graphical parts lookup program.