96 Legacy/Liberty -- transmission shudder

[Evan BAILEY]

Subaru colleagues,
Our 1996 Legacy(Liberty in Oz) automatic sedan, 140K kms (c.90K miles), has
developed a shudder in transmission when going around corners.
Anybody else with similar problem, and any suggestions on what should be the
things to check?

The car has had a very genteel life on city roads up till now and I would
prefer to check out inexpensive tests and remedies before major overhaul of
transmission etc.
Any ideas?

evan in Oz

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

If problem solved by inserting FWD fuse in fusebox under hood,
diagnostic for 'Duty C Solenoid' or clutch-pack failure in tranny. One
moderately expensive, the other major geeters.
Have you been using donut spare or mismatched tores? Sometimes that can
cause this problem on AWD cars.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[djay]

Subaru colleagues,
Our 1996 Legacy(Liberty in Oz) automatic sedan, 140K kms (c.90K miles),
has
developed a shudder in transmission when going around corners.
Anybody else with similar problem, and any suggestions on what should be
the
things to check?

The car has had a very genteel life on city roads up till now and I would
prefer to check out inexpensive tests and remedies before major overhaul
of
transmission etc.
Any ideas?

evan in Oz

Evan,

Any maintenance done to your tranny lately? I had a similar thing happen to
me when I had my transmission flushed. Drained a pint of transmission fluid
and added a pint of lubegard. 2 days later and the "shuddering" was gone.

YMMV,

Djay

 

[Evan BAILEY]

Carl, thanks for suggestions.
re 3 tyres (Michelins) have been matched and rotated properly.
re 2 I hope it is not the clutch-pack failure in tranny -- initial quote =
$2-3,000 !
re1 Can you please explain what you mean by:
"If problem solved by inserting FWD fuse in fusebox under hood, diagnostic
for 'Duty C Solenoid' "??

TIA,
evan in oz

 

[Evan BAILEY]

Thanks, but no recent work has been done on tranny. Should I flush auto
transmission first before doing anything else?
ev.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

I have an '03 Outback so I'm not certain any 'geography' under the hood
will be the same. If you have a manual for your car there will probably
be some mention of the procedure under spare tire use. But there should
be a fusebox under the hood (not the one in the pass. compartment) which
will have an empty slot labeled FWD or similar. There shouls also be an
unused 'spare' fuse there which, when inserted in the FWD receptacle,
forces the tranny into FWD instead of AWD(it applies 12V continuosly to
the solenoid, disengaging the clutch pack in the tailshaft). If your
symptom continues, it's likely the tranny needs work. If you're lucky,
there's some issue with the Duty C Solenoid. This is what folks wish
for, but it seems it usually turns out to be the clutchpack. The rebuild
procedure includes inserting some steel sleeving where aluminum was the
wear surface from the factory. I think (IIRC) M.Y. '96 had the aluminum
tailshaft. Others here may know more about this. If you live in an area
with a high Sube population, you should be able to find a mech. to
assist with the diagnosis. It's a fairly well known issue.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[djay]

I'd try it. Tranny flush here at a quickie lube is about $65. Fairly
inexpensive if it fixes it. Remember however, my shuddering began right
after the tranny flush. So you pay your money and you make your choice!

DJay

 

[Edward Hayes]

Make absolutely sure that any AT flush preformed uses the recommended
fluid. Some of the quickie oil places like to use a "universal fits
all" fluid. I personally don't recommend flushes as routine maintance
because of all the problems I read on this and other news groups. In
addition, it's not a recommendation in my 2000 owners manual at any
mileage. I use the severe recommendation and do a pan drain every
15,000 miles. Eddie

 

[Evan BAILEY]

Subu Colleagues, thanks for yr advice -- fortunately this problem was fixed
by renewing the 4WD solenoid -- much cheaper than full transmission job.
Bye, ev in Oz.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

SELF hi-5!!!


;^)

Carl

Subu Colleagues, thanks for yr advice -- fortunately this problem was fixed
by renewing the 4WD solenoid -- much cheaper than full transmission job.
Bye, ev in Oz.