I got the SVX!

It is soo much fun to drive, I bought it last night at 5, still had dinner plans and after-dinner plans but I all ready put on 55 miles. I have one concern, SOMETIMES between 1st and 2nd the engine revs, this is only under normal acceleration and only occurs after about 30min of driving. I have plans to change to synthetic ATF and get a in-line tranny cooler, do any of you have any further suggestions? The car is a beauty but this is starting to worry me. He has the recipt for the tranny-rebuild/replace about 7k ago at AMMACO Transmissions.

ANY response greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Todd Gilbert!!

[Mr. Pockets]

Todd, congrats on your SVX, and I hope it serves you well for many thousands of miles.

The transmission symptom you're describing it worrisome. It could be a worn or varnished clutch (yes, already) or it might be a bad throttle position sensor.

Either way, you have clutches slipping, which is damaging them. You need to have somebody look at it right away.

[Aredubjay]

Todd,
First of all, let me welcome you. Good to see another SVX "close" to me. Soon, we should have enough folks in St. Louis to do a small meet.

Meanwhile, I'll just echo what Nick has said. I sure hope the warrantee is transferrable.

[Chicane]

FYI, the 'revving', if it's happening between shifts on mild acceleration is called 'flaring'. One fix could possibly be replacing the TPS sensor. They're about 115 bucks from the dealer, but I scored one for 50 off from ebay. I haven't put it in yet, when I do I'll be photographing the thing and offering a how-to.

- Rob

Thank you for all of your help but, no, the warrenty isn't transferable. I really don't know what to do, this car CLEANED me out, thats why I even brought it to the subaru dealer and they said everything checks out great. I paid $50 bucks for them to "overlook" something?? Why do you think that this could be a TPS? If it isn't the TPS what could it be?? Thank you all so much for you immediate response to my concern.

Todd Gilbert

[Seraph]

Congrets on the car.

DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANNY FLUID AT ALL COSTS!!! IT WILL KILL THE TRANNY. Do it slowly over time.

Lwin

[Mr. Pockets]

The TPS (which detects how far open the throttle is) is one of the things the transmission control unit (TCU) monitors to determine how much hydraulic pressure to use at a given time. If the TPS is faulty, the transmission won't apply the appropriate amount of pressure, and shifts will be too hard or too soft. In your case, it sounds like the shifts are too soft to the extreme, allowing the 1-2 clutches to slip. This has happened to other members' cars.

On a side note, if you can't afford to maintain an SVX, you may have made a mistake. These are fantastic cars, but not cheap to maintain. Parts and service are both very expensive. This only gets worse as our SVXs get older and require more frequent care.

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by Seraph
Congrets on the car.

DO NOT FLUSH THE TRANNY FLUID AT ALL COSTS!!! IT WILL KILL THE TRANNY. Do it slowly over time.

Lwin

I disagree with this. I don't condone backflushing a tranny, but I do support the forward method. Flushing a tranny by hooking up a machine that replaces all of the fluid (not just what's in the pan)while the car is running puts no strain on the transmission beyond what it experiences in normal operation.

I actually had my tranny flushed last summer because I had a fluid passage blocked somewhere and my car would stop moving after 5 minutes. The flush solved that problem. Sure, the tranny died a week and a half later, but I don't attribute that to the flush. I attribute it to the clutches that were so badly worn they were plugging up the fluid passages.

[laserx]

What's this about "flushing transmittion will kill it"? I was just about to take mine in and get it flushed. In the past I've done the usual drain and refill and thought that this year a real total flush was in order. Why would this kill the tranny? Please let me know, as tomorrow is the day I'm putting the summer rims and tires on, and planned on a wheel alinment and tranny flush,regards dave

[Seraph]

Originally posted by laserx
What's this about "flushing transmittion will kill it"? I was just about to take mine in and get it flushed. In the past I've done the usual drain and refill and thought that this year a real total flush was in order. Why would this kill the tranny? Please let me know, as tomorrow is the day I'm putting the summer rims and tires on, and planned on a wheel alinment and tranny flush,regards dave

Dave,

If the tranny is worn out, all the metal filings in the fluid will keep everything intact. If you flush the tranny, those will go out and everything will become loose. Same thing with diff (I just killed mine). That's why I recommand doing it over time slowly. Doing it let's say a quart at a time will do the job.

Lwin

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by Seraph


Dave,

If the tranny is worn out, all the metal filings in the fluid will keep everything intact. If you flush the tranny, those will go out and everything will become loose. Same thing with diff (I just killed mine). That's why I recommand doing it over time slowly. Doing it let's say a quart at a time will do the job.

Lwin

I think that this theory, while a popular one with people who don't know any better (no offense), has very little basis in reality.

1.) If metal filings and (more likely) clutch material are all that's holding your tranny together, then it's on its way out anyway.

2.) Replacing fluid a quart at a time doesn't make any sense. How many quarts does the system hold? How much does the pan hold? I'm not sure, but let's say that it's 7 quarts. If you've got burned, dirty tranny fluid, draining a quart and replacing it with clean ATF isn't going to do you a lick of good. You're going to have to do that dozens of times in order to get a good percentage of clean fluid in there. Somebody help me with the math - I can only explain it conceptually.

All that happens in a forward flush is they unhook the cooler lines, hook up the machine with clean ATF and start the car. The tranny pumps out the old fluid and sucks in the new. SOmebody please tell me how this hurts the tranny. The only answer anybody can give me is 'the dirt and debris are keeping the transmission working.' Those are pretty precarious operating conditions, and your tranny could go at any time anyway.

[Mr. Pockets]

Again, Lwin, I don't mean any offense. I agree with you - there is an occasional corrolation between people getting their trannies flushed and then seeing them fail shortly thereafter. But I submit that the reason for this isn't the flush, but the fact that those people didn't do it regularly. If you keep the fluid clean and replace it frequently, hopefully it won't get burned and hopefully you won't see a buildup of debris.

[benebob]

I have a friend who works for a company that makes all kinds of engine adds., flush kits, etc. to car dealerships and he has never had anyone come back who flushed it for a warranty claim that didn't do it to a tranny that was about to die anyway. He basically said to stay away from any kit that has an external pump though.

Most people religiously change their oil but neglect their tranny fluid then when a problem surfaces they tend to want to get it "serviced" to make it run right again. By that point the damage is already done and you might get a few extra 1000 miles out of it but that's it. Its like running an engine with the same oil until you get a knock then changing it. You're not gonna fix the internal problem though you solved the bad oil problem.

If you look on the manfacture's instructions on the flush products most say to do every 30k in normal driving, sooner in harsh conditions instead of just a normal change.

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by benebob
Most people religiously change their oil but neglect their tranny fluid then when a problem surfaces they tend to want to get it "serviced" to make it run right again. By that point the damage is already done and you might get a few extra 1000 miles out of it but that's it. Its like running an engine with the same oil until you get a knock then changing it. You're not gonna fix the internal problem though you solved the bad oil problem.

Thanks - that was exactly the point I wanted to make.

[Ron Mummert]

For the record, I gritted teeth & did the 100% power flush fluid replacment at 100K just before the Lafayette trip on a tranny rebuilt at about 60K. Car's got 116K now with no ill effects noted.

Ron(now almost totally relaxed).