transmission

#1 10-06-2004, 01:53 PM

Hello everybody! Just joyned the club.Couple of days ago I sold my Legacy and bought '92 SVX. The car is from Luxembourg and I'm the 2-nd owner.It has 80803 miles on the clocks ,and according to the paperwork the mileage is genuine.All works perfect , apart from the gearbox, it won't shift to 4-th gear ,and it shifts to 3-rd,when it reaches 4500 RPM. I know that most SVX suffer from this problem.
I live in Lithuania (one of the Baltic states) and SVX is a very rare animal in this country.Due to this there is no trained mechanics familiar with this model.I found one service garage and they going to rebuild my trunny.What worries me - is they'r experience with SVX (or no experience I should say).And there is a chance that we won't be able to find spare parts. Is there any others Subaru gearboxes can be fitted? I know that most of them will
bolt on , but I guess that I'll need to change gear ratios.

Thanks for your help and advice! and Good luck with your's SVX.

oab_au · #2 10-06-2004, 04:25 PM

Gee they are comming from far and wide.

You say that the transmision won't shift into 4th, and it shifts into 3rd at 4500. Does it shift into 2nd?.

If it starts in 1st misses 2nd, engages 3rd, but does not get 4th. It could be the band that needs adjusting.

If you could give a better description of the trouble, it would be easier to diagnosie.

It may not all doom and gloom.

Harvey.

svxistentialist · #3 10-07-2004, 02:02 AM

Hi Harvey, Hi nrg and welcome.

Yes, mate, give us more detail on what the tranny is doing or is not doing. When I imported my first car from Japan the box was in poor condition, and I drove it for over a year with only third gear working.

That's right, it will pull from standstill in third, probably from fourth if truth was known.

Being 92, I presume you are 4wd. The only other gearbox you should consider is a Legacy box, and even there, the clutch packs are not set up to handle as much torque as the SVX dishes out. [And with the 4wd, the final drive will be different, and you will have to change the rear diff/axle as well]

Harvey is very likely on track about your brake band. You would be best to let auto transmission specialists take out the tranny and rebuild it. Because of the 4wd, it has more clutches and solenoids than a standard box.. Other than that, anyone expert in rebuilding BMW or Mercedes trannies will know what to expect, and be able to do the job right.

There is a specialist transmission manual called the ATSG manual for rebuilding them, available from the US for only about $20. If you want the address or phone number, let me know.

And very nice to have another member and another country!!

Joe

svxistentialist · #4 10-07-2004, 02:19 AM

nrg,

Have a look at this US site on Subarus, lots of info on the transmission.

Scroll down to near the end, there is a 16 page feature from 1998 on the transmission, called 4EAT, which will tell you most of what you need to know. Below that is an article about adjusting the brake band. You need to print this off for your technicians/mechanics, they need to know this to try adjusting your brake band first, BEFORE you pull the box for a rebuild.

http://www.endwrench.com/archive/sysdrive.html

Joe

PS Ignore the stuff about the rear drive servo, its only on US cars, but the transmission guys will understand

#5 10-07-2004, 04:28 AM

Hello mates,
Thanks for your help.
My English is not as good as I wish it was,but I'll try to explain.
In " D " position it start from 1-st , shifts to 2-nd , then when it reaches about 20 MPH -it wont shift to 3-rd until 4500RPM,and then you drive about 40 MPH at 3200 RPM ( approx) but it wont shift to 4-th , even if you floored the pedal.

P.S. I believe that I've got USA model ( as I can see from the headlights and turn signals)

svxistentialist · #6 10-07-2004, 05:09 AM

OK......

If you have the US model, it will be easier to get technical information. Most of the info available is for US lhd models.

When you say it has moved to 3 and revving at 3200 [or did you mean it makes the change up to 3 at 3200 in second?] gives you 40 mph, this does not make sense to me. Mine does nearly 90 in 4 at 3000 rpm, and I think in third 3200rpm is 70 or more, must check.

Try this;

Put the car in 1, drive it forward to 6000rpm+, see that it goes as you would expect.

Now put the lever in 2, drive forward at a steady pace, note what rpms and speed the change happens from 1 to 2.
Drive on up the rev range in 2 to 5000-6000, check there is no slippage. You will be going quick, don't hit anything.

Now do the same thing with the lever in 3. Accelerate steadily, check if the change from 1-2 happens about the same revs as before, note also the rev point and speed when the change from 2-3 happens. Continue accelerating in 3 to 5000 or so, see if any slippage [unexpected revving, rather than speed building steadily]. Again, be careful.

Now try the whole thing again in D. If the changes from 1-2 and 2-3 happen where you expected [speed and revs as before], but 4 will not engage, then it's likely that 4th gear clutch pack has burnt out and/or locked up. This will mean rebuilding the transmission.

If instead the gears skip through 2 direct to 3, and then won't engage 4, then it is possible the brake band is loose. It is possible to tighten this by adjustment. If it has been loose and slipping for a while, then the friction material will have worn away, and again, you will have to refurbish the transmission.

Joe

#7 10-07-2004, 11:58 AM

Hi Joe , Hi Harvey , Hi guys
I will do this test-drive tomorrow ( I still have 4 points left on my driving licence before I loose it , I'm not violent , but police think that sometimes I'm driving too fast ) I'll let you know how it went.

And once again I'll try to explain the problem. There is 4 gears to drive forward ,and rear gear. With gear selector in "D" position,(from stand still) you accelerating , and you can feel that 1-st gear engaged , then 2-nd , and then it slipps.You push the pedal to the floor,and the car won't go any faster ( until 4500 RPM ).From 4500RPM the 3-rd gear engages ,and RPM goes down to about 3200 RPM ,and you doing about 45 MPH.After that you can push the pedal to the floor and reach 80 MPH or more but 4-th gear won't engage.(the tachometer needle will be in red zone)
Let's say that if it was manual gearbox ,it woul'd meen that your clutch worn out.

Thanks for you help mates!
Keep It Real!

Alec

svxistentialist · #8 10-07-2004, 12:43 PM

That sounds a lot like Harvey suspected. It is slipping in and through 2nd, then when the pump pressure is a bit higher with the revs, it's catching 3rd, but it won't engage 4 for you because the band is slipping.

This could be good news, a bit of adjustment to tighten the brake band might get you all four gears.

It could be temporary, but if it works it will be a cheap solution.

Print off the instructions in this link for your mechanics:

http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/drivetr...ustInfoW98.pdf

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to see pdfs, but this is no problem, you can get it in a free download from the Adobe site.

Got to it, and watch those police points.

#9 10-07-2004, 01:56 PM

Hi Joe
Thanks for help! I'll do this test-drive tomorrow , and then tell you exactly how it behaves. If this adjusting is a temporary meassure ,( even if it solves the problem for the time being ) I think that I go for rebuild , so I don't have this problem in the nearest feature.The service garage quoted me about 200-250 pounds for labour (excluding parts). If they do it succesefully , then I'll get oil cooler and filter.(the price they asking is nothing compare to what you would pay in UK or other countries,but in here it's a normal price)

Thank you mate!

Alec