AWD gone - FWD only. Can I leave it that way for a while?
 

As a student without a lot of extra money around, is it going to do any kind of permanent damage to just leave my 92 as effectively Front wheel drive only? I had the binding problem that is common, and did put in the friction reducer as recommended, and the problem was fixed. The next day I had the ATF drained and filled, and the rear diff drained and filled. Still it was OK, but now it is raining (in Southern California!!!) and I can easily spin the front wheels and wind up the RPMs. On dry ground, I can chirp the front wheels. Can I just leave it this way for a while?


Mat

Not recommended. Possible, but not recommended.

Mine drove for at least a year in front wheel drive only. I got it from the dealer like that but didnt know it was in fwd only because the fwd light in the dash doesnt work. But also my front diff ate itself up, though i don't know if it was caused by it only using fwd. It seems other people have had their diffs go out in the same way, but it might have sped up the process.

It depends on why you have no AWD. In my case, the transfer clutch basket was broken. (See photo.) These parts are grinding around inside your tranny. I don't know how long it'll take to cause problems, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. (I drove around for five days before I fixed it.)

If it's just a slipping clutch, malfunctioning solenoid, or frozen valve; it's completely harmless. If it's not, you're taking chances. You can test the solenoid fairly easily in two different ways:

First, check for trouble codes. You're looking for trouble code 24, "Duty Solenoid C." You may also have a latent [stored/previous] code 32, "Vehicle Speed Sensor 1," from spinning your front wheels.

Second, open the hood and turn on the ignition, but don't start the car. Listen underneath the car for a quiet clicking/buzzing noise. Under the hood, open the fuse box and put a fuse in the FWD fuse slot. The clicking should go away when you do this. If you notice a difference in the noise, the solenoid is working.

If it's a broken clutch basket, you can pull out the sensor (Vehicle Speed Sensor #2 I think?) from the tranny. The dark oily hole in the top center of this photo is where the sensor is located. You'll need a 10mm wrench to remove it. (It'll help if you have a jack or some ramps to get under the car.) When you pull it out, if there are a lot of metal shavings on it, you're clutch basket is almost certainly broken.

If the clutch basket is broken, it only grinds when you turn sharp corners or spin the front wheels. If it's already broken, it's probably made a big mess of metal shavings, but it'll take longer to make a bigger mess if you don't spin the tires.

Frankly, I don't know what the long-term consequences are if you drive around with a broken basket. I recommend you replace the basket as soon as possible. If it's a plugged fluid passage, it may cause things to wear out quickly. If you can turn a wrench, you can change a broken clutch basket yourself. You don't have to pull the transmission - just the housing at the end of it. I'm not sure where to get a replacement. I welded mine back together, but I'm not willing to recommend that because I've only been testing my repair for a few days now and I don't know if it'll last. (I think it will - it has so far.)

Tranny photos in my locker:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/user.php?UberRoo|15418


http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...rRoo/15425.jpg

I had a similar problem and mine was safe to drive. The tranfer valve assembly was stuck. My svx had no pressure at the extension housing pressure port. I changed the valve/solenoid myself and the clutches were ok. However, I may have shortened the life of the front dif and front axles by doing fast take-off's :rolleyes:

That and getting airborne John:rolleyes: :eek: :D

Oh, wait, that shortened your engine life:p

Todd

Almost made it a V6. :D

Harvey.;)

UberRoo if that is only your 16th post, I am impressed, you sure know how to answer a question. I am going to do everything you said when I get up to my parents house and get a jack. I checked the trouble codes though, and the only one I had was on the "previous" test, and I had 3 slow flashes, and one quick flash, for a total of 4. I didnt see that one on the list, so maybe I am not reading it properly? I'll post my findings later this week on the rest of the situation. Thanks for the reply so far everyone. If anyone else has been in this situation, let me know.

Mat

Three long, and one short is "31, Throttle Position Sensor." Sometimes if there is more than one code, it'll flash a few times for the first code --- medium pause --- flash a few times for the second code --- long pause --- repeat. Make sure you don't mistake the pauses BETWEEN codes for pauses IN a code. They're fairly obvious, so it probably is code 31. Also, I don't think there's a code 20, 21 or 10, so it's not likely you mistook a long pause for a shorter one.

Thanks for the compliment. I'm a new member, but a long-time "gee-I-wish-I-had-one-of-those" person. I've been turning wrenches for years, so it's all the same stuff....well...almost.

I think a lot of people have been in your situation, but few actually diagnosis or fix the problem themselves. They just get sent off to a tranny shop and come back working. *Magic*

Let me know what you find out.

:D

Well I tried the tests and everything seemed OK. I then lifted the car off its wheels and found that all four wheels DO indeed turn under power. I took it to the local Subaru dealer and have them take a look at it. They came back to me saying solenoid was fine (which I already knew) and that there is some power getting to the ground from all four wheels (which I also knew). They then told me that the next set of tests would be over 300 bucks and any problem they find would be really expensive. I think I am just going to drive it like this for a while. The car has 213K on it, and I have had it for about the last 100K, and the tranny has been fine so far. Eventually I would like to get a 5spd in it anyway.

Mat

If you can spin the front wheels, the AWD is not working - period. There are two reasons why it's not working.

1) The clutch is not being activated.
a) Bad solenoid
b) Plugged passage
c) Bad TCU
d) Something else similarly related.

2) The clutch is broken.
a) It's worn out.
b) The basket is broken.

When I started noticing AWD problems with mine, at first they seemed intermittent. Eventually, it was obvious that it wasn't working at all. My explanation for why this was is because the broken part was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle piece. When the clutch is being engaged, it was forced against into the "puzzle" and didn't tend to spin. Sometimes however it wasn't aligned and it just spun. Eventually it became worn and the edges rounded until is spun all the time. Under no load however, it probably would have enough force to spin the wheels anyway.

The other possibility is that the clutch is worn out. If it slips, that should be relatively harmless and cheap to replace.

well i went 16000miles on my svx with fwd only with some sort of broken AWD problem without a hitch, until my front diff catastrophically blew up

however my diff ran out of fluid before that for a little while (about 500 miles on very low oil), because it blew the dipstick out and all the oil inside as well, which probably contributed more to the demise of the diff than the fwd