SVX Tranny Weirdness & Other Woes

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by LarryIII
I had the tranny in my '92 flushed with synth. ATF and added synth. ATF After a week of driving to and from work here are my impressions. It is definitely slipping in 4th gear/OD when I accelerate. I am going easy on it. It also seems to be "ungumming" itself. It is acting like it was sticky and the more I run it the better it is, 'go figure'.

Next:

I had Rosie's '94 towed into a dealership. The starter is dead . I'm having it replaced.

Larry,

4th gear overdrive and second gear 2 range are both driven by the notorious "brake band"

This thing has to be adjusted to a specific torque to operate properly.

If it is a little too loose, the changes will be silky smooth, but there is a chance it will slip under load or when changing gear[partially due to the low line pressure at low revs] If it is too tight, then the changes will be jerky.

Reason I mention this, if your gearchange is not jerky, i.e. too tight, it might be worth your while getting the gearbox technician tightening up the band a tad. Might keep it going for you for another while without a rebuild.

Just a suggestion,

Joe

[LarryIII]

Thanks Joe, I'll look into this.

[TomsSVX]

when i was checking into my trans my buddy told e that if the brake band needs tightening, you are more than likely wearing it thin. Not to scare you Larry but if indeed your band is loose yes tighten it to spec but keep in mind it shouldn't need to be done and maybe a new trans is in the near future for you.
Tom

[LarryIII]

.... and now for the rest of the story.

Part 2 of my original post was about the starter in Rosie's '94 SVX, "PEARLY". Got the car back last night with a new starter motor in it. It now starts perfectly and still runs great.
All it took was BIG BUCKS.

Looks like I got a starter motor for Christmas.

Larry (won't be getting socks & underwear for Christmas)III

[SilverSpear]

Originally posted by LarryIII
.... and now for the rest of the story.

Part 2 of my original post was about the starter in Rosie's '94 SVX, "PEARLY". Got the car back last night with a new starter motor in it. It now starts perfectly and still runs great.
All it took was BIG BUCKS.

Looks like I got a starter motor for Christmas.

Larry (won't be getting socks & underwear for Christmas)III

hehehehe, if I were you I would wait till christmas eve, put some dynamite sticks inside the engine and blow the whole thing up... it would make a nice spectacular tree !!!!

a gift for your car on christmas !!! the h*ll with the car !!! we also need to enjoy life and not to spend money for our car's enjoyment!!!

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by LarryIII
.... and now for the rest of the story.

Part 2 of my original post was about the starter in Rosie's '94 SVX, "PEARLY". Got the car back last night with a new starter motor in it. It now starts perfectly and still runs great.
All it took was BIG BUCKS.

Looks like I got a starter motor for Christmas.

Larry (won't be getting socks & underwear for Christmas)III

Larry, what is your address? I just hate the idea of a grown man driving around with no socks or underwear.

[SilverSpear]

Originally posted by svxistentialist


Larry, what is your address? I just hate the idea of a grown man driving around with no socks or underwear.

come on... stop making fun of him... on Christmas I am getting the clear headlights, V1 chip, the new Sony Ericsson S700i and a big *rgi party on new year's !!!!

[oab_au]

Originally posted by tomssvx
when i was checking into my trans my buddy told e that if the brake band needs tightening, you are more than likely wearing it thin. Not to scare you Larry but if indeed your band is loose yes tighten it to spec but keep in mind it shouldn't need to be done and maybe a new trans is in the near future for you.
Tom

No Tom I would't say that mate. The adjustment is fitted on the outside of the box, so it can be adjusted, as it wears. No problem with this, it is the same as adjusting the rear brake shoes, for the hand brake.

The lining on the band is quite thick to allow for wear and adjustment. The main problem is that Subaru didn't tell any body about it, they just offered remaid boxes

Larry, if it is slipping in D, I would use 3rd till you get it adjusted to prevent any more wear.

Harvey.

[TomsSVX]

i guess he was using knowledge of of types of transmissions when he told me. Since subaru transmissions are generally very good and don't need much maintenance, he doesn't see many in his shop. thnx for the info it is very helpful. Now if i ever need to work on another suby, i can just tighten their band and tell them i did a complete rebuild and charge them out the ying yang!! i wouldn't really do that to another subie owner

[Earthworm]

I think it's worse than the band brake. My tranny started doing this and no adjustments to the band brake would help. Eventually 4th was useless and 3rd started to slip as well.

If I were to guess I would say the high clutch is almost gone. The black in the oil would be what's NOT left of the clutch.

The mechanic at the former Subaru dealership here says he's replaced several high clutches without incident so it seems that not everyone is afraid to open up the 4EAT.

[svxistentialist]

Could be so David. If the clutch goes, the clutch goes.

It is still worth the trouble of checking tension on the brake band. If it continues to slip in 4 after a reasonable adjustment of the brake band, the problem is obviously elsewhere.

I think it's normal practice to do any so-called "on-car" adjustments prior to stripping major components down and rebuilding. If the tranny had to be rebuilt, the brake band would be replaced as a matter of course anyway.

If the slippage happens to be caused by a loose brake band, the tranny might stay going for a good length with relatively small labour input just for a little adjustment.

Unless I had other reasons to convince me the tranny had to come out, my money would go on minor adjustment first.

Joe

[thundering02]

Just thought Is there a way to manually lock up the tourque converter say cross a couple of wires? and could this be potetially be the problem because it wont lock up until its warm and now being winter and "never" locking up due to insufficent heating......Ive lost about 2-3 mpg just on that fact alone. to and from both jobs.

[Earthworm]

That can be done. Duty Solenoid B activates TC lockup.

I wouldn't suggest this as the transmission should be run at a specific temperature. You are going to lose MPG regardless. I would suggest only using the built-in tranny cooler from the radiator to actually heat the fluid.

[lee]

Originally posted by Earthworm
I think it's worse than the band brake. My tranny started doing this and no adjustments to the band brake would help. Eventually 4th was useless and 3rd started to slip as well.

If I were to guess I would say the high clutch is almost gone. The black in the oil would be what's NOT left of the clutch.
...snip...

Concur, just swapped out for an Imprezza 4.11 (which Larry, I think might be the cheapest option given the number of Imprezza/Legacys in the wrecking yards). No amount of band adjustment saved mine. I will say I drove for several thousand miles taking it easy, but in the end I had black fluid and metal shavings on the magnet in the pan - high clutch.

[oab_au]

Yes I do agree with the clutch as the trouble.

The high clutch is on in 3rd, and the high clutch and the band is on for 4th. As it starts the trouble in 4th, you have to think is it the band or clutch ?, the band can be adjusted, the clutch can't, so you do the band. If it is the same after that, it is the clutch.

The load is higher in 4th so that is where it is first noticed. The high clutch and the high gear set suffer from the blocking cooler problem, with the lack of lube oil into the mainshaft. I guess it is a 92 model.

Harvey.