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1998 - AWD not engaging?

('98-'00) 
10K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  2.5x_sleeper 
#1 ·
I have a 98 Subaru Forester L with the automatic transmission. The car has 105,xxx miles on it. The car had torque bind and it was throwing the code 24. Duty C Solenoid which is the Transfer Duty Solenoid. So I replaced the Transfer Duty Solenoid along with new fluids. All Subaru OEM parts. After installing everything back, AT OIL TEMP light was off and I had no more torque bind. Everything seems to work all fine and dandy. I go up to the mountains and I get stuck in some snow and my front tires just sink. I then realized that the rear wheels were not engaging and just sitting there.

So my question is, what are the possibilities of what happened or didn't happen. I wouldn't doubt if it was user error (me) because I've never taken anything off of a transmission before. Could it be the possibility that I didn't tighten down the Torque Duty Solenoid enough (which if I remember correctly, that might be it) causing the solenoid not to build up enough pressure to engage AWD? Or maybe the tube that goes into the solenoid isn't seated good enough?

Any inputs/thoughts are appreciated! Thank you!
 
#2 ·
Is the AWD light lit up on the dash? That generally comes on when there is a problem. There is a fuse that can disable AWD, and if it was put in, the AWD light lights up.
 
#3 ·
No lights popping up. I know of the FWD Fuse that you can put in that only engages the front wheels in which a light would pop on, but neither the light nor that fuse is in the slot. So I'm a little stumped.

I went to the dealer ship and got new gaskets because I believe I didn't tighten down the Torque Duty Solenoid all the way causing it so not enough pressure would build up in the solenoid to engage AWD. So I'm going to take it apart again this weekend and redo what I did and make sure I tighten it down enough. I hope that can fix it. I can't really think of anything else being the issue because I was getting torque bind before this which means the AWD was engaging. Then I went and replaced the Solenoid that was faulty and then I don't have AWD, but the torque bind is gone. I'm happy that the torque bind is gone, but just for piece of mind that everything is working properly, I'd like to make sure my AWD is working just in case of a bad snow. Plus, I'd like to play in the snow too without having my buddies civic pull me out.:shake:
 
#4 ·
Just so you guys know, I found out the issue. I took the rear casing off the transmission and found that the Transfer Clutch Pack was pretty toast! Previous owner must have driven a while with the Transfer Duty Solenoid was bad for a while causing a lot of stress on the Transfer Clutch Pack.

Bought the new parts from Subaru and should be putting it all back together tomorrow. Then maybe a trip up to the mountains to test out the AWD! :icon_biggrin:
 
#5 ·
Keep in mind that the standard power distribution on a functioning 4EAT transmission of that generation uses a 90:10 split with 90% of it going to the front tires until it detects slip and tries to balance things more rearward.
For an instant 50:50 split you have to manually select 1 or 2 on the shifter, which cuts the voltage being sent to the TCP and will give you full AWD but a binding issue under normal driving conditions.

So if you drive the car and still notice it has a bias for FWD, try the manual selection option to see if the AWD still functions in it's factory 50:50 state.
 
#7 ·
@gonzalezgo note that this is a 9 year old thread, so you may not receive a reply to your question.

Also... please complete your "Public Profile" ► add your vehicle details! ◄
Bobby...

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