Misc. Ramblings....SVXY ('92 SVX LSL with Touring Pkg.)

LarryIII · #1 11-10-2005, 05:41 AM

Many of you know that I had SVXY's tranny rebuilt this past August and promised to give periodic reports on it as time goes by.
1) I have noticed something about the time it takes for the ATF to heat up enough to have the tranny shift into OD. The drive to work early in the morning is just about all empty highway. Before the reuild, the tranny took about 7-10 minutes to warm up and shift to OD. Now it seems that it does it in 2 stages. Stage 1 occurs about 10-15 minutes into the drive. This gives 80 mph at 3000 rpm with the selector in drive. Then then there is an almost imperceptible shift at 20-25 minutes into the drive which gives 80 mph at 2750 rpm with the selector in D. The same thing happens at night but the times are shorter which I attribute to more traffic so the tranny heats up faster.
This 2-stage shifting never happened before the rebuild on SVXY and doesn't happen on our '94 or '97 SVXes. I think that this is just another little quirk which makes SVXes so endearing.

2) Last Friday afternoon, on my way home from work, I was cruising at 70-75 mph in the left lane on I-476 (The infamous Blue Route). I was listening to tunes when suddenly there was the loud sound of shattering glass on the driver's side, like a Coke bottle breaking. It scared the H*** out of me. I loooked around and all the window glass was A-OK. I thought that maybe a bottle hit the car or I rolled over something. Since there was no visible damage to the windows I kept going, thinking that it might be the waterfall grill or light assemblies. When I got home, I did a visual inspection of the car's exterior and found nothing. The next morning I went to gas up and noticed that the driver's side window would not go down. I could hear the power window motor working but nothing happened. The window stays up.
I am surmising that the sound that I heard was the window pane shattering inside the door (Weird). Subsequently this week the window has fallen down a little bit. Its largest opening is about 1/8th inch. I have not taken the interior door panel off yet to see what happened. I scheduled that for this Saturday morning. It's going to be a busy weekend (the fun just never stops) . We are redoing our kitchen. The appliances are scheduled to arrive tommorow morning. Unfortunately, the kitchen work takes precedence over SVXY. If I remove the door panel, I'll post a report on what I find. I may need a driver's window pane and/or the raise/lower mechanism.

TN_fwdsvx · #2 11-10-2005, 08:10 AM

It might not be as bad as a broken window. I heard a similar sound when my sleeve-lock regulator broke. Clear packing tape will hold up the window until you can get a replacement clip. New clip aprox. $15 at local Subaru dealer (Memphis, TN) was cheaper than buying online + shipping.

Copied below from a thread on this forum. Sorry to orginal poster, I didn't copy your name to the file on my computer.

Window Fix

62101PA081 Sleeve-Lock Regulator

It's pretty easy. a couple of screwdrivers is all that's required - one medium phillips, one small flat.

1. Remove the two screws under the felt at the armrest.
2. Remove plastic panel under door handle (this is what I used the small flat screwdriver for).
3. Remove the screw under the plastic panel you just took off.
4. Remove the two screws at front edge of door.
5. Grasp door panel at bottom and pull away.
6. Lift door panel off the door, be careful not to "yank" away as the courtesy light and power windows need to be disconnected.
7. Pull back clear plastic enough to see in big hole in metal door (may have to remove the armrest support - two more screws).
8. If the window and the wire (wire looks like a bicycle cable) is not somewhere around half up/down, need to press window switch to get wire in right place. You can tell when there's a little rectangular metal part - that looks like it's joining the wire - is positioned so it's in the middle of the opening of which you pulled back the plastic sheet.
9. Disconnect door wiring at connectors and move door panel someplace safe for a moment.
10. Get clip ready and move window up/down as appropriate until a T shape hole in the lower part of the frame is positioned at the same height as the metal rectangle on the wire I mentioned before.
11. Position new clip (actually called a sleeve-lock regulator) over the metal rectangle riding on the wire. Position the clip so the opening of the clip is facing into door - the metal part fits in the clip - really only one way. Push clip in far enough so the slits in it can move into the legs of the T-shape hole in the lower window frame. Slide clip down leg of the T until the thin tab on the clip snaps into place on the big side of the T. (this sounds bad I think, but really will be pretty obvious once you're in the door).
12. Put it all back together.

Good luck.
Tom

Earthworm · #3 11-10-2005, 11:22 AM

Yeah, it's the sleeve lock regulator.

As for the transmission, what happens before stage one?

TomsSVX · #4 11-10-2005, 12:31 PM

Larry you transmission is functioning properly... For stage 1 shift...that is the shift into 4th...the trans temp needs to reach 50*F I believe

Stage2 shift is the torque converter locking...this requires an ATF temp of 150*F

Tom

Chiketkd · #5 11-10-2005, 12:40 PM

Larry,

How cold has it been lately in the morning as you drive your car into work? Your trans does seem to be functioning normally though...

-Chike

LarryIII · #6 11-10-2005, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthworm

Yeah, it's the sleeve lock regulator.

As for the transmission, what happens before stage one?

David,

It's in 3rd gear.

Tom,

Never felt the torque converter locking up before. I guess they did a good job when they rebuilt the tranny.

LarryIII · #7 11-10-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthworm

Yeah, it's the sleeve lock regulator.

Won't know what it is, untill I get the interir door panel off. Before that I have to remove the old dishwasher and install the new one. Ditto for the new electric cooktop.

A vendor called me at work during lunchtime. He offered me 2 tickets for the Giants/Vikings game on Sunday at the Meadowlands. As much as it hurt, I had to turn it down (married guys will understand why). I think it's going to be another fun weekend under the kitchen sink.

TomsSVX · #8 11-10-2005, 01:13 PM

meh, you are not missing anything by not seeing the Giants

Tom

n00b on demand · #9 11-10-2005, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarryIII

Won't know what it is, untill I get the interir door panel off. Before that I have to remove the old dishwasher and install the new one. Ditto for the new electric cooktop.

A vendor called me at work during lunchtime. He offered me 2 tickets for the Giants/Vikings game on Sunday at the Meadowlands. As much as it hurt, I had to turn it down (married guys will understand why). I think it's going to be another fun weekend under the kitchen sink.

Damn Larry...you coulda seen Eli in action. I will be in philly monday night for the eagles/cowboys game...and will be at the meadowlands next sunday when we play the giants.

Earthworm · #10 11-10-2005, 01:15 PM

We're basically telling you it's the sleeve lock regulator

It's the little clip that attaches the power window cable to the window assembly.

Back in my 4EAT days I could drive 10 mins before it would shift into 4th due to the tranny not being warm enough. Sometimes it was cold enough in winter that the torque converter would unlock due to the tranny cooling off too much (below 100°F). This was without an external cooler even.

LarryIII · #11 11-10-2005, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by POWER on demand

Damn Larry...you coulda seen Eli in action. I will be in philly monday night for the eagles/cowboys game...and will be at the meadowlands next sunday when we play the giants.

Tom,

They are going to hold a mock funeral for T.O before the Dallas game. It will be staring at 7:00 PM in the stadium parking lot. They will also be burning T.O. jerseys.
They have been selling tee shirts which say 'Dallas S*cks and T.O. Sallows'.

Just be careful when you come to this game. The drunken rowdies will be out in full force. I will watch this game an look for you.

LarryIII · #12 11-14-2005, 02:01 PM

TN fwdSVX (Tom),

Thanks for the info. Your analysis and procedure were dead on. I am glad to report that the window pane is intact. I followed your procedure and it was easy. I have to order the part.

I wish removing the old dishwasher was as easy. I finally did get it out and installed the new one and I only have one buggered up finger ( left hand index finger) to show for it. Once I got the old one out, putting the new one is was a breeze.

Thanks again Tom.

LarryIII · #13 01-03-2006, 04:53 AM

Tom (TN_fwdsvx)

Yesterday, I tried to put in the 'clip' (sleeve lock regulator P/N 62101PA081). Thanks for the detailed instructions. Things went relatively easy. However, everytime I operated the window with the door button the the clip popped out of the T-shaped hole in the metal frame on the bottom of the window frame. Am I doing something wrong? The power window cable does not line up directly with the position of the clip in the T-shaped hole. It is offset about 3/4 of an inch towards the rear of the door. This is enough to pull the clip out of the T-shaped hole due to the twisting motion on the clip caused by the tension on the power window cable. This happens both in raising and lowering the window.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.