PLEASE advise: Transmission or brakes

daluvabull · #1 07-08-2004, 01:49 PM

PLEASE advise:
Symptoms:
1. burnt clutch/brake smell when car is stopped after driving in
stop and go traffic
2. random high pitched squeaking noise that does not change
even when braking
3. wheels will not turn when transmission is in neutral
(Sears Auto said all four brakes are locked)
4. decreased fuel economy 200 miles per tank in city driving
5. transmission error code 11 duty solenoid-A
(resistor ordered fro SubaruParts.com)
6. On a incline of wet asphault the front tires spin- the AWD does
not seem to engage
7. At 11K, the car drives and shifts as expected and there are no
warning lights except the one stated.

I suspect transmission problems. If so, which is suggested Cottmans or the dealer.

Any assistance is GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Happy SVXing

daluvabull

dcarrb · #2 07-08-2004, 02:14 PM

How closely did Sears look at the car? Sounds to me like you may have a brake problem that induced a transmission problem...

dcb

Mr. Pockets · #3 07-08-2004, 02:17 PM

I'm not really sure what you mean by #3 - do you mean the car won't roll in neutral?

If all four calipers were seized all at once (unlikely), you'd hear some terrible grinding sounds whenever the car was moving. You'd especially hear it right after a stop.

I think your error code and the AWD problem points you in the right direction. It sounds like you have transmission issues, possibly all related to one root cause like a blocked fluid passage or something.

daluvabull · #4 07-08-2004, 02:25 PM

No, the SVX does not roll in neutral (the parking brake lever is not engaged)

The Sears techs could not spin the wheels- perhaps they assumed it was the brakes (but no codes)

If the brakes were the culprit, should they not be locked all the time disabling the SVX from moving?

Another symptom, when placed in park on an incline, the SVX rolls about 2-3 inches until a gear is engaged.

daluvabull · #5 07-08-2004, 02:30 PM

Any suggestions for a fair transmission shop in the north Houston area?

Has anyone had any experiences with Cottman Transmissions?

The closest dealer is owned by the same organization of a dealership that I have had BAD experiences with on numerous occassions- ugh :-(

Mr. Pockets · #6 07-08-2004, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by daluvabull
If the brakes were the culprit, should they not be locked all the time disabling the SVX from moving?

The SVX, like every Subaru I've worked on, uses sliding calipers. When they seize up (from dirty or corroded slides, usually), they don't clamp down on the rotors so much as just drag one pad against them. It can be enough to keep a car from rolling easily, but usually it's just really noisy. You hear a horrible noise when a caliper is dragging, and you can easily tell which corner the noise is coming from. If all of yours were seized, I imagine the noise would be horrifying.

Have you had brake work done recently? If the wrong type of grease is used on the slides, they can dry out and get sticky.

daluvabull · #7 07-08-2004, 03:36 PM

There is no grinding noise. The brakes were rebuilt about a year ago and have worked good since.

Mr. Pockets · #8 07-08-2004, 04:06 PM

I think it's unlikely that your problem is brake related - especially since your TCU is storing fault codes.

SVXer95 · #9 07-08-2004, 04:33 PM

Try pulling the brakes. Then try to rotate the wheels by hand. This could give you a better idea as to what is wrong. My other piece of advice is to go to someplace a bit more capable than sears automotive. They generally don't deal with problems of high magnitude.

dcarrb · #10 07-09-2004, 07:26 AM

I agree that it's unlikely the brakes are binding at all four corners. (That did happen on my old GL when the hill-holder valve pitched a fit, but that's another story...) But I am hung-up on the "burnt brake/clutch smell," and I wonder if the parking brake mechanism could be out of adjustment to the point of dragging the shoes.

dcb

daluvabull · #11 07-09-2004, 09:43 AM

I have left it Cottman's transmission for inspection.

The parking brake mechanism is what will be investigated next- sounds logical.

THANX

daluvabull

Mr. Pockets · #12 07-09-2004, 10:12 AM

I hadn't thought about the parking brake. Interesting. Since the SVX uses the drum-in-disc, I wonder if the shoes were dragging if you'd hear a noise similar to a seized caliper or not.

Anybody have an answer to that?

daluvabull · #13 07-09-2004, 01:43 PM

Got my SVX back from Cottmans this afternoon. After a morning of diagnosis, the symptoms did not reoccur and no problems were found. No charge :-)

Wierd... plain weird

This forum is kewl! Thanks to all for your insight.

Happy SVXing!!

daluvabull

dcarrb · #14 07-09-2004, 01:51 PM

Cool that they didn't charge you for checking the tranny, but if I were you, I wouldn't get too comfortable.

(That is to say, I'd keep looking for the cause of the problems.)

dcb

daluvabull · #15 07-09-2004, 05:34 PM

Cottmans said they took apart the brakes for inspection (There is a general mechanic shop as well). They said the brakes were not locked. I informed them of the presented parking brake hypothesis.

I drove it today and did not notice any smell. I do drive very agressively, braking and accelerating hard. This past week has been all city driving (no mixed w/ highway as in the past). I will continue to closely monitor performance and operation.

Again THANX :-)

daluvabull