Please Help! Need Svx Experts For This!!!
 

Ok, I got 3 problems. I just bought a 1992 SVX and wanted to know if it was an AWD or not. I heard that FWD SVXs started at 1994, but Im not sure. When I peel out, only the front 2 wheels are spinning. The other problem is that, when the engine is cool like when I leave it off during the night and try to turn it on in the morning, it turns on just fine, but when I put it into ANY gear it dies right away. I cant put it into gear until the car is COMPLETELY warm. Then it goes into gear like normal. The last problem is that, when Im driving and start to slow down, like at a stop sign or something, the RMPs go un and down under 1000 RPM and eventually itll die. At almost EVERY stop. I have to keep turning it on and keep going for it to die again. I have no clue of what any of these could be, PLEASE HELP ME!!!

i would like to know how u burn out? ....i dunno......cant help ya wit anything else

Pat

Yeah! No kidding! How in the hell do you burn out?? If your car is a 1992 -- then it IS AWD. All '92's are. So, do you have a FWD light on your dash in the top left corner? It is possible to turn the rear wheels off by placing a 10 (or maybe 20amp) fuse in the engine bay fuse box. Make sure somebody hasn't done that for you. About your idling problems... I'm sorry, but I have no clue either. Let your car warm up anyways... Mine doesn't drive smooth when it's cold but never dies... Check your fuses. Good luck!


-Nick

when i burnout, it would be in the rain...i just floor it and only the front 2 wheels spin, it also feels like the only 2 wheels are movin too since handling was a lot better when i first got it and i had more power. there is NO FWD light anywhere on the dash and yes im sure its a 1992. please someone help me...maybe i do need to change the fuses for all wheels to start moving, but i havent a clue....im pretty good with cars, but i mainly deal with hondas.

Well... pop your hood, look in the right far corner and notice the fusebox... open the lid and read the fuse legend (located on top of the lid). In the bottom right corner you will see the A/C fuse and directly above that it's the FWD fuse. Check if there is one in there... if there is, this means somebody forced your SVX to FWD. If there is no fuse then something else is wrong.

-Nick

i just checked for the fuse, there isnt one in there, but it IS very dirty, you think that a wire could be cut or somthing? as for my other questions, please someone respond to them!!!

Jesus....you described my prior '92 SVX exactly. My '92 was AWD, but it was inoperable. I bought it last November and when the weather got real cold in January it started the stalling issue anytime you would put it in gear until it was warmed up. I was able to work around that dilema by letting the car warm up before I left. Then the torque converter started to lockup when the car was cold and I was driving (as it usually does above 160 degrees and 1500 rpms) but it would not unlock.....so when I would pull up to a stop sign it would kill the engine. Put it in park and restart and it would stall going into gear. This would usually piss me off and I would slip the car into neutral and hold it ~3K rpms until it was warm (basically because I had places to go and things to do). Long story....about a week later I lost 4th gear coming home. Boy did that piss me off....until I lost 3rd.

I thought I was the ONLY one who had experienced symptoms of this nature. My best guess is its something related to the inop AWD. Do you get a flashing power light on startup?

Stop doing that and get ready for a new diff and tranny. Also, find it a good home. SVX are not made to take abuses like that. :mad:

hmmmm
 

man that sounds bad...

ok bout ur AWD... look under back of ur car and see if u got diff for rear wheels... im sure u do, so car is 4x4
then could be nice to lift car up and free all 4 wheels and make sure they spin, then probably could be worth of try to hold rear wheels and see if front spin
by my understanding all 4 should spin simultaneously... if ur front wheels spin and rear ones dont then good guess can be that torque converter is screwed up and all power goes on front wheels

im not too sure about svx, but most constant 4x4 cars have that variable power for front and rear wheels, which is controlled by computer i think so that system could go bad...

bout rough idle...well man join the club i guess....there quite few ppl with this problem and we still wounder around... but it forces good learning and understanding of a car

good luck

Sergi

Re: hmmmm
 

No offense, Sergi, but you really don't know what you're talking about and I fear for the person who takes 'ur' advice.

The torque converter has nothing to do with AWD functionality on the SVX, or any other AWD Subaru car. I would venture to guess that it has nothing to do with any manufacturer's AWD system.

The multi-plate transfer clutch (on US cars - yours is probably different, since I'd guess it's a JDM SVX) is what the transmission uses to apply power to the rear wheels. When it wears badly, or when there's an electrical fault preventing it from working correctly, then the car will act pretty much like a FWD model and spin the front tires in slippery conditions.

I don't think I'd ever recommend to somebody that they lift their car up off the ground, start it, put it in gear, and then grab a wheel. That just sounds extremely dangerous.

Samerooo, I think your multiplate transfer clutch is badly worn. My wife's '90 Legacy had the same problem. Even though it was an AWD car the front wheels would slip badly before the rears engaged with a -thud-. If you never feel that -thud-, then your transfer clutch is probably completely worn and you no longer have any power being applied to the rear wheels. The answer is either a new transfer clutch (about $900, if I remember) or a new transmission (considerably more).

As for your rough idle and stumbling, I have a question. Does your check engine light come on at all? I have an idea, but I need to know that first.

PS: Sergi, I recommend that you check out this link: http://tinyurl.com/m789. Read the article about 'how torque converters work' and you'll get a better idea of what a torque converter does. While you're there, 'how automatic transmissions work' is also good to read. The AWD in US cars differs in operation compared to yours, but the basic understanding of automatic transmissions and torque converters should help you some.

thank you very much everybody....as for Mr. pockets, yes, when i turn the car on, the power light does come on and binks 10 times or so...if you have any info, please get back to me before i go pay the guys at subaru 100 dollars to check it out for me, thanks alot!!!

Ah, see, I asked about the check engine light - not the power light. But if the power light is blinking on start-up (I think the standard indication that there's a fault is the light blinking 16 times upon starting), then there's some sort of electrical fault in your tranny. So it's possible that your transfer clutch doesn't need to be replaced, just the solenoid. I forget which duty solenoid is responsible for the MPT...

oh sorry, yes the check engine light does come on, but only like 1 time after like 40 minutes of driving and only stay on for a minute or so.

Then the ECU has undoubtably stored fault codes. You can either search for the code-reading procedure on this site, buy a set of factiry service manuals or pay the dealer for an hour of labor to read the codes for you.

It's likely that you have a faulty sensor of some kind. You just need to ask the car which one is bad. It knows - you just have to ask it the right way. :D

No, really, there's a connector under the dash and grounding one of the pins on the connector will put the ECU in 'read' mode and tell you which codes it has stored. I just don't remember which pin it is, or the rest of the process.

Re: Re: hmmmm
 

Sorry, but I cannot get the link to work (sounds interesting)