AWD not working????

awdsvx · #1 02-27-2004, 06:54 AM

Last night I had my car hoisted up in the air at the Lexus dealer. The mechanic I know, is replacing my rear bearings, doing a side job for me. I noticed while my car was in the air that while my engine was on and the transmission in drive, that my driver's front tire was not spinning. Only when you give it more gas rather than just ideling, that finally my driver's side front tire started to spin, but not as fast as the rest of my tires. I thought that was odd. The mechanic not being to familar with Subaru's thought it could be the differential. Is that normal??? Kind of troubling. So if anyone has a AWD SVX please let me know if this is normal. I have a 1994 SVX LSI. Thanks.

mbtoloczko · #2 02-27-2004, 08:19 AM

The front wheels on the SVX are always driven, and the front diff is an "open" diff (no lsd), so what should happen is that if one front wheel is turning more slowly, the other front wheel should be turning more quickly. As long as that's the case, you have no worries.

awdsvx · #3 02-27-2004, 10:21 AM

Thanks for the re-assuring tip. I feel alot better now. I was thinking of the worst last night. I also called my local Suby dealer, and they pretty much said the same thing that you stated. My local Suby dealer are nice people, but I get screwd on the parts and labor. Glad I found a mechanic that does high end luxary cars for a living that will do my rear wheel bearings for just $ 150.00, but I am going to give him $ 50.00 for a tip. Still alot cheaper than my Suby dealer which would of charged me $460 in just in labor. I got my parts from 1stsubaruparts.com. I would go to Kervin Subaru, but I was told they no longer really give the discounts, like when Mike use to work there. Oh well, have to go for the next best source for parts. 1stsubaruparts.com are a little bit cheaper than subaruparts.com. Anyway just a FYI on that. But thanks again.

#4 02-27-2004, 10:58 AM

quick way to tell if you AWD is working:

from a dead stop on blacktop or better yet, gravel or dirt, punch the throttle HARD. if the front wheels spin, your AWD isn't working.

no wheelspin = functioning AWD.

-adam

#5 02-27-2004, 11:08 AM

Just make sure that your mechanic strips the 'storage' grease from the bearing and re-packs it with a good quality synthetic grease prior to installation. I'd hate to have you be one of those that ends up with three or more bearing (re)installations because it wasn't done right in the first place.

Good Luck.

-Mark