"chonk" going into 2nd gear
 

The owner of a FWD 94 L I'm considering buying says that the car makes a slight "chonk" going into 2nd. He's had the car for 3 years (or for 38k miles), and he says it has always done that since he bought it. Is this a sign of a looming transmission problem?

Probably just a worn mount. Does the power light flash or come on at startup?

I don't know. I'll have to contact the seller. (He's not local to me.)

David,

The owner said, "yes, it has done that ever since ive owned the car. i believe it flashes 16 times." But he also said he had the transmission mount replaced just 2.5 years ago.

I believe it's a combination of 2 things:

- the transmission mount is worn out
- the resistor that helps control transmission line pressure is not working and causing full line pressure. This is most noticable on the 1-2 shift. The hard shift combined with the worn mount is what's causing the noise.

You'll get a similar noise either shifting into reverse or stepping on the gas while in reverse.

Thanks, David. Is that expensive to fix? I'll be looking at the car tomorrow morning.

That the blue one the in NJ?

Greg

Hey David,
My tranny shifts fine except as you said the 1st to 2nd shift... Where is said resistor and Is it something I can replace without selling a kidney?

Thanks,
Daniel

The resister is located on the fender, behind the battery. Check the how-to to repair it yourself, with alittle soldering, for about $5. If you dont want to try that, members will have an extra one lying around from their 5 or 6 speed swaps. I think it goes new for about $60 from subaruparts.com

What do you mean by "come on" at start up? I beleived that the light should come on and do its diagnostic like all of the other lights in the christmas tree, and then go out, unless there was a problem, in which case it would flash 16 times, and then the code was pulled. The reason I ask is because I dont know if I just noticed it and it has been there all along, but after I start up, all of the lights go out as soon as the engine catches, except the airbag and "power" light, whcih stick around for another few seconds before going out.

Well if the power light comes on then goes out that's normal. If it didn't come on then the bulb is blown or removed which usually will indicate that there is a code that the previous owner was hiding.

Flashing 16 times on startup means there is a code and diagnostics must be performed to determine what the code is.

Thats what I thought, but when you asked him if the power light "came on" at startup, and I noticed that mine seemed to stay on a second or 2 longer then everything else, I wondered if there was something that I didnt know.

I am having exactly this problem currently... but no codes beening thrown at me...

do you happen to know the price for the Transmission Mount? I'd Like to correct this before it causes any problems...

Also, is it normal NOT to do the hard shift "clunk" when rappidly accelerating?
I hit the gas harder then normal to get on the freeway, pass, etc.. and it doesn't do the clunk, just at slower speed shifts...

First confirm that's the problem.

Cushion rubber rear
41022PA081
$86.02 @ subaruparts.com

I know about this thing, but is it the culprit for the problem I am experiencing?

Thanks,
Daniel