You won't believe this!
WOW..this has taken some time to fix...but finally done and everything working as Subaru originally intended.
It is an unbelievable tale of bad workmanship tho...
The noise was not any body parts rubbing or rattling.
Apparently when the agent (Winger Subaru) repaired the transmission for the previous owner, they sent the unit out to have the work done by a local auto-trans 'specialist'.
I located another transmission specialist and after a run he diagnosed the front trans-axle pinion bearing, so I gave him the job of fixing it.
However, after they had removed the transmission he called me and asked me to call by the shop where they had the trans-axle laid out on a bench.
Believe it or not, there was less than one egg-cup of diff fluid left in the axle housing!!
Both pinion AND crown wheel had run so red-hot they had actually peeled the metal up and off of the facing teeth on both parts!!
Seems that when the first guys did the work they had neglected to put in a thirty cent O-ring that seals the face of the pinion bearing housing to the gearbox, so that over time all the diff oil had migrated FROM the axle INTO the gearbox, leaving the trans-axle dry as a bone!!!
No wonder it was complaining! And just imagine what that heavy-duty axle oil had done to the rest of the transmission when it mixed with the light-weight auto-trans fluid!!!
After some hasty calls and much, much, much conversation Winger agreed that the work had been incorrectly done...and eventually (three weeks later) I was presented with the car...back in good working order.
Do not ask me how much work had to be done to get it repaired (or how much it eventually cost someone), but it did need a complete replacement crown wheel and pinion, and a complete transmission rebuild, including the rear clutch pack.
To cut a long story short, the work cost ME just two replacement rear gearbox mount ....no more than that.
I have to give credit to Winger Subaru in Auckland. When the chips were down, as a Subaru agent they did the right thing by the SVX.
And...as a result..the car now drives as it was intended....perfectly.
4WS is a challenge for sure...but as the days and weeks go by I believe I am mastering the art of the ability to turn on a dime. It truly is a great design and makes what is undoubtedly one of the best vehicles ever made into something that is just unbelievable.
I just wonder why Subaru never continued with 4WS?
Ian
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