Tranny uh-oh!

#1 09-07-2001, 01:50 PM

This scared me, although it hasn't happened since....
I just left work, was on my way home. Drove down the street from my ofice, up the onramp onto the freeway. Slow-moving people in my lane, so I floor it and go around them. Get up to about 75, back off the throttle, RPMs settle down... then when I give it "maintain cruising" throttle, the car starts violently shuddering, like the engine's misfiring or something. I take my foot off the gas, it's fine. Put it back on, more shuddering. I floor it most of the way, forcing a kickdown, it accelerates fine. Put 'er in Neutral for a second, rev the engine. "OK, it's not the engine". Put her back in D, littl ebit of gas, and she shudders. "Argh!" I put her in 3rd for about 5 seconds, then back in D, and she was fine again, and has been fine the last 3 days. All of that happened in about 10-15 seconds.
I'm guessing it was something with the torque converter... maybe not disengaging properly? Whatever it was, it scared the crap out of me! I did a Search on "torque converter" here for a few minutes, but didn't find much relevant stuff. What do you think, Eddycat?

eddycat2000 · #2 09-07-2001, 04:14 PM

Hmmm...could be anything at this point. Could be a mount going all the way to the dreaded dying transmission thing. If you can reproduce it, then I'd suggest taking it to a shop and having it looked at, if not...well I guess it'd be wait and see time.

Mine can and will clunk *badly* if you have to get off the throttle and then back on it suddenly. As in, the idiot on the onramp in front of you can't decide what he's going to do. Might be something similar to that too. Sorry I can't be of more help.

#3 09-07-2001, 07:02 PM

Well thanks for giving it a good think

And wouldn't you know it? It did the exact same thing today on my way home, on the exact same stretch of road. This time however, the first thing I tried was going into 3rd, then back into drive. That didn't help. It just went away after 15-20 seconds or so, just like last time. I had a feeling it might happen again, because as the tranny shifted up through the gears, it seemed to stay in 3rd a little high in the RPM range for how little throttle I was giving it... then once it got into overdrive... shudder shudder shudder

I meant to check the tranny fluid level when I got home, but forgot (!) because my wife called me on my cell phone saying we needed milk... stupid BadDog! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I'll have to check it tomorrow after I take a little trip somewhere and she's good and warmed up.
I need to call 1-800-Subaru-3 on Monday to find out my car's warranty "start date". It's a 97, with 48,900 miles... hopefully I still have drivetrain coverage!

#4 09-10-2001, 07:25 AM

Update:
Subaru says that my powertrain warranty expires 11/24/2002 or at 60,000 miles (I thought it was 50,000 but 1-800-Subaru-3 says it's 60,000 & confirmed it twice).
So hopefully, I can get this issue taken care of by my dealer!

Aredubjay · #5 09-10-2001, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BadDog
Update:
Subaru says that my powertrain warranty expires 11/24/2002 or at 60,000 miles (I thought it was 50,000 but 1-800-Subaru-3 says it's 60,000 & confirmed it twice).
So hopefully, I can get this issue taken care of by my dealer!

You go dude!!! That's excellent news!

cocacola08 · #6 09-10-2001, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BadDog
Update:
Subaru says that my powertrain warranty expires 11/24/2002 or at 60,000 miles (I thought it was 50,000 but 1-800-Subaru-3 says it's 60,000 & confirmed it twice).
So hopefully, I can get this issue taken care of by my dealer!

Wish all could be so lucky!