Tranny Issue???
 

Ok... heres whats up... on the freeway cruising at about 60-65 in "D" i gently push on the accel to keep speed... and the RPM tach jumps 1200-1400 RPMS (up to 4k from 2100) and there is no wine of the engine or accel of speed... when I manually put it in 3rd gear (i feel it kick down and grab 3rd) and that RPM range at the same speed is about 3300-3500 RPMS... I put slick 50 in last week (I know bad idea), and had a tranny flush done today to try and solve the problem thinking the slick 50 cuased it... so no change after the tranny flush... now the problem is.. i am not hearing the engine wine up to 4k...(never did..humm.. if it was slipping wouldn't the engine rev a lil bit?) So is this a tranny problem or mabye a tach problem? I just changed the front belts also last week. Any ideas guys?
Just a footnote... when I do rev it out redline is like 6900 or so.. the rev limitor seems to kick back at like 5800 or near that. Nowhere near 7k. This is a FWD model I would have expected the tranny to go a lil longer than 101k. Though its had two owners before me one serviced it like a baby till 60k and the other no written records where found in the book after the 1st owner sold it somewhere in 99.

Well this is a tough call becasue we have to go off of what you hear when the engine speed increases. :) I do not know how anyone could tell you if the tranny slipping or the tach screwing up.

I can suggest that you have the 4EAT performance checked. This means that the pressures in the transmission are checked at various conditions to verify that all is well.

You could also pull the line pressure resistor (by the battery) to see if anything changes. This increases the pressure to the clutches and takes the TPS out of the picture.

The transmission can slip becasue the clutch plates are worn. It you remove the pan and look in the pan it might tell you if the clutches are on the way out. You would see metal "flakes" in the pan.

The external filter could also be blocking the flow increasing the temperature in the tranny. It would be good to replace this if it hasn't been done and if the X has one.

I like the Lucas tranmission additive. If you try that I would suggest 2 bottles.

ok got word from the tranny shop his comments were:

Yes it seems to be slipping. Yes the fliter was cleaned. Yes there were metal flakes in the oil, and he described how the tranny shifts in the SVX, something about normal pressure for most tranny shift cycles using 180 pds of pressure but the SVX is kinda wierd that the computer lowers the pressure to 70-80 pds halfway through the shift (to soften the shift) and then returns to 180 to complete the shift. He said this causes majoy wear on components after 50-60k of use and shorterns tranny life. He did not mention weither the plates where bad (just did a tranny flush didn't open it) and he says he can rebuild it for like $2800 upgrading most of the components inside and and extra $500 for some computer deal that keeps the pressure at 180 pds for the entire shift cycle. I called a Subaru dealer and Holy cow... they want like 5k for a new tranny (core is worth $1200) for a total of $3800 and thats not installing it. Ahw man this goes from bad to worse.....the wife is gonna love this... So by unplugging the deal in the engine bay ( trans resistor??) will that keep the pressure at 180 and maybe help it stay in 4th gear...and ok if this works... what kind of long term damage am I looking at by doing this... and should i just have the tranny rebuilt and then do that...I mean I'm not mechinal i just sell cars -lol- when a tranny is going... there typically is nothing you can do about it other than replace or fix...I just did a test drive with the transmission resistor unplugged ...no change same problem (when cruiseing in 4th...and a pressure on the gas sends the the RPMS to 4k-4100 and then it seems like it wants to shift but jut doesn't kick the RPMS)
...just a footnote when i bought the car I didn't know the "power" light on the dash ment anything well come to find out its the code light and mine blinks 16 or 17 times...and when i unplugged the trans ressistor (or whatever the thing is) it only blinked twice......hummm. (have yet to plug it back in.)

Brock, this is a picture of the trans resistor to disconnect in the engine bay:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17530.jpg

What I'd suggest you'd try is draining your trans and adding two bottles of Lucas Oil Auto Trans additive along with regular ATF fluid.

That Slick 50 could very likely have caused the problem. Some people add a 1/4 bottle to their trans to stop the transfer clutch from locking up (in awd models). If you added a full bottle to your trans, then a good portion of that additive will still be in your tranny right now (even after draining it once).

-Chike

I don't believe any long term damage will be done by unplugging the tranny resistor (behind the battey). It will keep full line pressure. The decreasing line pressure shenanigans were simply devised for comfort purposes, since the shifts can get a little firm with the torquey engine. I have yet to do it, but some folks swear by it, so I might try it....But I'm no guru, so don't quote me ;)

thanks for all your help guys and I did unplug the correct plug...but seems to suffer from the same problem... I edited my aobve posting to include more information... with the new info anyone have anymore ideas?

Power...
 

Power light will come on when you mash down the gas. Re- mapping the shift points to help with more agressive driving (i.e., passing) It will also blink at startup if you have the resistor unplugged, but then go away. If it is blinking while driving, your Tranny control unit is sending an error....The plot thickens...:D

I sure hope you don't pay $4000 for a new tranny! I've heard dealer cost is somewhere around $1800.

I may be a little biased but...go for a 5 spd! :)

Ok I wouldn't mind a 5spd to be honest but to have a shop do it... i mean to do it right for $2500 or less (which I would love to do) Don't i have to change the rear end and all the other stuff.. wouldn't that cost more than just the rebuild?
Whats scary part is the qoute from the dealer was a WHOLESALE cost to me for being a used car dealer... I never trusted those screw balls anyways.. (I used to work for one of their other stores...bunch of legal con artists if you ask me). Anyone wanna BUY my nice pretty CAR? its clean with no rust a california car.. -lol-

I've had my trans resistor disconnected for over 6 months with no ill-effects, and I know Immortal Suby has had his disconnected for almost 4 years with no problems.

Unplugging the resistor does keep full line pressure during shifts making them firmer, but you will still notice some 'softness' during shifts. That's because the ECU still sends a signal to reduce engine torque during the shift. Cutting that wire will truly give you quick & firm shifting.

Longassname talked about cutting the wire in a different thread. I may look into doing it, as the stock shifts last too long for my tastes...

-Chike

Not if you use a WRX transmission. 3.90 front + 1.1 center = 3.545 rear (and lots of fun!)

OK... so how much too convert the car to a 5spd using the WRX changover Earthworm mentioned.. ? I just talked to the wifey... (oh that was a fun conversation .. "just had to have that car didn't you" god i hate the line grrrr) anywho.. so we are talking options now... -lol- like this an operation or something....hey ok honestly... With 4th gear screwing up a lil like this.. is this all that big a deal really? I don't have to get on the freeway to go to go to work..i can just hit the back roads for my 10 minute commute.. My boss told me to try and sell it.. and not to say anything about the tranny (all a private sale has to disclose is smog anyways) if they find the tranny issue... just find another buyer -lol- DAMMIT i want to keep it... not sell it...

If your tranny is failing the same way mine did then 4th will keep getting worse then 3rd will also start slipping.

Oh damn... Ok... I get it.. Its sinking in....NEED TO DO SOMETHING SOON!... so no mention on the cost to covert there earthworm? -lol- I'm actually excited at the prospect of a 5spd... TELL ME more... perfromance wise...hows yours handle? Accel? Improvement on gas mileage? Any regrets (honestly) about the converstion? Does it look nice (inside)? I have a FWD so I'd be worried about tourqe steer all the damn time... it kinda does that know in auto form....any other comments on the conversion? (come on talk me into it!!!)

CAD$2500 + shipping for the parts (did the work myself with my dad).
Handling improves due to lighter weight, better distribution and the additional crossmember stiffens up the frame.
You bet! Improved acceleration throughout the entire range from bottom end to top speed.
About the same on the highway due to the higher RPMs but improved city mpg.
Maybe not doing it the best way possible. Other than that...nope.
For sure, looks factory.
You won't be using a WRX tranny then unless you want to convert to AWD. You should get away with almost any FWD tranny though.
I'm hoping I just did.

Also here are the pics I took while doing the conversion:
http://svx-iw.com/ (might be slow...downloading 10 torrents)