Trans slips

[socal1200r]

Ok, this can't be coincidental...

Just had my lowering springs, s/s brake lines, drilled rotors, and new pads installed this afternoon. Now, the transmission slips like crazy! If you baby the gas pedal, it will rev and shift okay, but anything more than that and it just revs up then slams into gear.

The trans operated fine before I dropped it off to get those parts installed. Could they have done something during the process of installing these parts that has now made the trans run like crap? Is there a hose, wire, sensor, anything like that that they could've damaged? I mean, it ran FINE before...

[Chucksta]

Random thoughts...


Were you there while the work was being done? Or, did you leave her unattended? Was the mileage in noted on the work order. .. how far from the shop to your house? What is the milage now? And, yes, you know where I'm going with that..

Have you checked the fluid level?

How does it feel when you put it in drive or reverse? Same as before? Or, is there more of a delay? Check with the HVAC on and again with it off ( changes base idle speed). Delayed engagement is indicative of a bad front pump. So is ( up to a point ) a flare in RPM on a shift.

Slams into gear? Check the dropping resistor and wiring behind the battery. But if it was the dropping resistor / wiring, all shifts should be hard. So, an outside possibility.

Yes, it is possible that it was a coincidence .. Had a fuel pump on a 5.0 'Stang decide to die while getting some vacuum lines replaced. The mechanic went crazy trying to figure out why it fell flat on it's face when you punched it.. Fuel pump would hold pressure for about ten minutes... then slowly start to drop.. It was fine up until then, it just picked exactly that point to coincidentally die.

Lowered springs? Check the transmission cooler lines in the driver's side front wheel well. Check for a pinched line.

Lowered springs? Check the transmission pan for damage.. Especially if you left it unattended.

Good luck..

[socal1200r]

Yup, dropped it off and picked it up at closing time the next day (they had it for two days, because of ordering new rear calipers).

I'll do the obvious and check the fluid level, assuming there's a dipstick and the trans isn't a sealed unit. If that looks fine, guess I'll have to jack up the front end and take a look at what you mentioned: trans cooler lines, trans pan, etc. The trans also has an external cooler mounted in front of the radiator, so I'll check those lines for being pinched / loose as well.

I just find it very strange that the trans worked perfectly when I dropped it off, and now it doesn't...

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Here is a possibility. It happened to me years ago when I had new front struts installed.

When the tech did the struts the front axle popped out of place at the differential. There is a cir-clip which holds it in place and it was just far enough out to make contact some of the time but not always. When the axle moved out of contact the engine raced and drive was lost then there would be a "slam" into gear when the axle made contact again. This was exacerbated by turning the steering wheel.

DO NOT DRIVE IT if this is your problem, it will wreck the transmission.

In my case the splines on the end of the axle got chewed up. The piece is the same as a Legacy or Loyal, can't remember which. Got the part from a scrap yard and had it installed. Had to drain the differential twice too get rid of the filings.

[socal1200r]

Originally Posted by SVX_MY_BABY

Here is a possibility. It happened to me years ago when I had new front struts installed.

When the tech did the struts the front axle popped out of place at the differential. There is a cir-clip which holds it in place and it was just far enough out to make contact some of the time but not always. When the axle moved out of contact the engine raced and drive was lost then there would be a "slam" into gear when the axle made contact again. This was exacerbated by turning the steering wheel.

DO NOT DRIVE IT if this is your problem, it will wreck the transmission.

In my case the splines on the end of the axle got chewed up. The piece is the same as a Legacy or Loyal, can't remember which. Got the part from a scrap yard and had it installed. Had to drain the differential twice too get rid of the filings.

I'll have to get the axles checked, that sounds almost exactly like what I'm experiencing...thanks for the suggestion!

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Let us know how you make out.

[socal1200r]

Originally Posted by SVX_MY_BABY

Let us know how you make out.

Will do...I'll stop by this transmission shop that's done some work for me in the past, and give them a heads up on what's going on. Will probably get it towed (flatbed) there so they can check the front axles, and hopefully that will be the problem. I'll also have them bleed the brakes since I got s/s lines installed. The place that installed them didn't do a good job in bleeding them, pedal goes almost all the way down. I'll let the trans shop know this too, and maybe they can do a "reverse" bleed, like they do on motorcycles (pump fluid into the bleeder, forcing air up into the fluid reservoir). However they want to do it, as long as they're bled properly...

[SVX_MY_BABY]

It's not a difficult job, if that's the problem. Any competent mechanic can do it.
Just involves pulling the axle out of the diff., flush diff., changing the spline, remounting the axle with new cir-clip, filling the diff with new fluid. Shouldn't take more that 45 min.
Have the fluid checked after a couple days driving to make sure there are no metal particles.

[socal1200r]

Well, apparently it was like has been suggested, one of the front drive axles became "unseated" from the differential. The trans shop tried explaining it to me, but I got the general idea. They think when my springs were installed, the shop that did it pulled or yanked on the strut or surrounding area, and loosened the drive shaft without knowing it.

They replaced the axle seal, cleaned up the bearing area and spline, put everything back together, drained/filled the differential. They also bled the brakes properly, so now it brakes like it has s/s lines.

I told the trans shop guy now that it's running right, I might drive it down to NC next week to close on a house I bought. He strongly suggested that I do a drain/fill on the rear differential, so that way I know both diffs were done at the same time, and to make sure the rear diff doesn't foam away on the 5-hour drive round-trip. Got that done today, so it's good to go.

Also had the "check engine" light come on for no reason, car seems to run just fine, no obvious reason why it should come on. The code reader at the shop that did the rear diff fluid change couldn't read the code. So I drove back to my storage, disconnected the battery for a few minutes, reconnected it, and the light's off now. If it comes on again over the next few days, guess I'll pay a visit to the local Subaru dealer and see if they can read the code and tell me exactly why the CEL is coming on.

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Glad you got the axle& diff. sorted.

No need to go to the shop to pay someone to read the codes. You can do it yourself without any tools.

Look in the HO-To documents on this site (Top Right Corner)
Open the "Trouble Codes" thread and find the Engine code pdf file.