Tranny Problems Needing Attention – Questions
 

Spring is near and I’m planning my maintenance items on the SVX. A couple things that need attention:

Problem 1: Some of you may recall me posting (late last year) a severe knocking problem that turned out to be a couple loose bolts that hold an anodized plate on the engine side of the fly wheel – flex plate I believe in Subaru lingo. One bolt fell out and was stuck in the bell housing – causing the dreadful sound. I was able to replace those bolts through the access window behind the throttle body - No problem. The problem is that the anodized plate the four bolts hold on (still not sure what that is called) developed two hair-line cracks from the excessive vibration, and it needs to be replaced. Question: How hard is that to do? What is that called and how much are they approximately? I can stick a tranny, but if this is a major undertaking, I might farm it out.

Problem 2: On occasions, the sensor that tells the shifter that the brake is depressed, allowing you to move out of park into gear, is not sensing. Or, the shifter is not getting the message. Is this a common problem? Where is the switch located? Also, possibly related, on occasion it will not start. Some juggling of the shifter seems to help it decide to do so. Same sensor?

Thanks in advance.

1) Yes I believe you are correct in the term "Flexplate" describing the item. In order to gain access to that i believe the easiest way is to pull the tranny. If you dont like that route you can pull the engine but i think the tranny was way easier than the engine. Either way if it needs to be replaced maybe you can just seperate the tranny and not have to pull it out all the way??? Just a suggestion. 2) Sorry dont know whats wrong here.

#2 sounds like a Shift Lock Solenoid. It's not very common to see one go bad, but it does happen. It's located directly under the shifter assembly. I believe it gets its signal from the brake light switch. The shift lock solenoid does two things: prevents the shifter from moving out of PARK unless the brake pedal is pressed, and prevents the engine from starting unless the shifter is in PARK. So it's very possible that the soleniod is causing both of the problems you encountered.




Dave

Hey guys, I'm starting to have this same problem, About how much does it cost to fix it?

If it is the shift lock solenoid, I've got an extra one from my AT shifter assembly which I no longer need.

Replacing the flex plate usually requires pulling either the engine or transmission, but sometimes a clever mechanic can just separate the two and do the swap through the gap between them. Usually it's a million times easier to just remove the transmission, as it probably is in this case.

If the flex plate truly is starting to crack as you say, don't dally too long. I've heard rumours of some flex plates where having small cracks is normal, but if it breaks, and it's probably just a matter of time, it can do ugly things. Frequently it does no damage, but not always.

If that is what is really wrong with mine, how much would you want for it?