i've recently noticed that i'm getting quite a bit of front wheel spinning [ie. when flooring it on wet asphalt]....and then when the rear wheels finally do engage, there is a rather loud clunk coming from the rear of the car. while driving my parent's '90 legacy, the rear wheels tend to engage almost instantaneously; whereas my svx will take up to 1 second. also, should i be able to spin the front wheels while doing about 20mph in 1st on wet pavement? i realize these cars have a lot of power, but it seems that the AWD should be engaging a lot quicker.
any ideas what's going on?
do i have a loose something or other? OR is it my rear differential going bad?
all thoughts would be helpful.
toby

this is just my opinion, but it sounds as if you have a problem. I cannot even get my car to spin its front tires on wet surfaces if there was money on the line. Oh I could if I put the FWD fuse in, but under hard acceleration on wet roads I cannot get mine to slip. Should probably ask Eddycat2000 on the Yahoo board, or hope he shows up here.

i tend to agree with you.
i believe the ECU mod has been performed, which might make it a bit more jerky at takeoff.
the tires are all new, so that shouldn't be it.
whatever it is, i hope it's not too expensive.
toby

I had the same problem and had Level 10, a high tech transmission shop, look at it. The apparent problem was a rear valve body (AWD valve body) and torque transfer solenoid, which was supposed to be replaced with my former transmission rebuild. However, it wasn't replaced/ upgraded - until Level 10 just did it. Subaru has an upgrade to these original things, in case you have a 92 like me.

GT--any ideas on the cost of the AWD valve body or torque transfer solenoid? i have a 92 like you.
toby

No. I just know it is supposed to come with a rebuild. I had Level 10 replace mine, but they ended up rebuilding the entire transmission for quite a hefty price.
GT

Valve body prices
 

If you search the Y*h** archive for "Level 10", I think that was mentioned one or two times.

ME too
 

My SVX does the same thing and it has been really horrible since the turbo Install. Me and Robert owner of Forced Air tek. have concoted a crazy Idea, anyways more on that later

Oooh! Not good.
 

I remember this one! I remember my '95 having EXACTLY those symptoms. It kept up for about three months, then completely ceased. I thought nothing about it until I realized I had no movement of the rear wheels either...

Took it to the dealer and they found the driveshaft had literally broken inside the rear diff, so no power was getting to the rear wheels. They were at a loss to explain the clunk, suspecting perhaps that the parts in the diff had become loose before detonating. Might be something worth checking (but given diag fees, might be just as well to replace).

Hope this helps.

replace?
 

thumper_svx: did you have to replace the drive shaft or the rear differential? or both?
thanks.
toby

Let me think...
 

I think it was a matter of replacing the drive-shaft... I don't recall my diff looking any newer after the work than it had before :)

Still not cheap... but it did the trick.

My 94 has this slow engagement problem.... Among other tranny problems. It's in the shop wright now for a tranny rebuild, we'll see by the end of this week if the problem has been taken care of....

I'll keep you posted

rear wheel slow engagement
 

I went to see my car at the tranny shop last night... The guy showed me the damaged parts.... no suprises to him, the "high clutches" had no meat left, the "break band" was completely worn and it started damaging the "drum". The car will be ready by Thursday but I can't go pick it up before Saturday..... I hope no one sees me in my father-in-law's 87 Sentra..! ;)

Anyways, $2000 Can. is the total including the rebuild torque converter, not too bad I guess. About the rear wheel engagement, he say that everything in that area of the tranny is perfect (zero damage) except for the worn seals. His guess is that the generally low hydraulic pressure in the tranny due to wear and tear is sending insufficient oil pressure the the AWD clutches.

We'll see on the next snow storm..... (the last one was last Saturday 4 inches of it)