95 legacy revs when in gear

[tomistom2]

I just bought a 95 legacy with 167000 miles on it. When it is in gear, sometimes, it will rev anywhere between 100 and 500 rpms. It is an automatic transmission. it doesnt do this in nuetral or park. I have put it into 3rd and 2nd as well and it will continue to do it. if i let off the gas it seems to "equal" out at around 2000 rms. Any suggestions?

[Legacy777]

Welcome to the BBS.

I'm not sure I'm following your description. It kind of sounds like you're indicating the transmission is slipping while in gear and driving. Is that correct?

My first suggestion would be to check and/or drain & refill the transmission fluid. To check the level the trans needs to be up to normal operating temp. After that is done, park on a level surface, slowly cycle the gear selector from Park to 1st, and back to Park. Leave the engine running and then check the dipstick on the driver's side. The fluid should be pink in color and not smell burnt. If it is, then you should drain & refill with fresh fluid.

[tomistom2]

well i checked the trans fluid and it did need to be topped off. It looked and smelled fine. Seemed to work well after that, but then continued to do the same thing right after. checked it again, still full. Its like it surges, and it only does it when its in gear. Ive also noticed that while its cold and running, it doesn't seem to do it, and it gets progressively worse as the engine comes up to temperature. Another clue may be that when its doing it, ive tried to give it lots of gas, (maybe power out of it) and it acts as if its not receiving the extra fuel. It just stays surging in the same rpm range as before, where as if it was in neutral, it would rev really high. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Legacy777]

It almost sounds like this is an issue with the engine, not the transmission.

When you're experiencing this issue, if you put the gear selector in neutral, does the engine rpm still surge?

[tomistom2]

no, it doesnt do it in nuetral or in park.

[Legacy777]

Have you tried to put in neutral immediately when the problem occurs?

[tomistom2]

ya i have, and it behaves as it should with no problems. ive done it in town going 25 and on the highway as well. it behaves perfectly in neutral and park. Other wise i would have thought filter or something.

[tomistom2]

and its almost like it surges and bogs down as well. its pretty commen after its warm when i stop at a stop sign, and then accelerate, it bogs way down, and giving it extra fuel doesnt change anything, it just bogs and surges.

[Legacy777]

When you say "bogs & surges", are you meaning that you are giving it gas, but the car isn't moving, and then all of a sudden it takes off?

[tomistom2]

ya, but it does it repeatedly. sometimes its damn near no rpms sometimes it just stays between 2 and 3 thousand.

[tomistom2]

by the way, thanks for the help your giving me. If i can manage to fix this on my own id be very happy. I live in a small town in alaska and the nearest reputable shop is 120 miles away. Ive always had older cars, with manual transmissions. Ive also always liked subarus!

[Legacy777]

Hmmm....I'm kind of stumped without some more information/testing.

Some things you could try is putting a fuse in the FWD fuse holder near the passenger strut tower. This will keep the transmission in FWD only. If there's binding associated with the AWD system, that may be causing things.

Also, something to try is to keep the gear selector in the 1 or 2 position and see if that changes anything.

I still think we need to narrow down the problem and make sure it's with the trans and not the engine. If a catalytic converter is plugged it can cause boggin when it heats up due to it being more restrictive. Similarly, if there is junk in the trans, when it starts up it starts pulling crud from the pan up into the screen and trans.

Honestly, I'd probably suggest dropping the trans pan and see what it looks like and if there's any major chunks stuck to the magnet in the pan and if the screen looks ok. Other than that, if there is something further wrong internally with the trans, it would require dropping the trans or at the very least dropping the valve body, which can be done without removing the trans from the car. However, I'd suggest having a mechanic troubleshoot things further before doing that.

[tomistom2]

well i decided to drive it to anchorage. After a bit, it started to surge and bog, i pulled over, turned it off, then started it after a few minutes and it made about 20 or 30 miles with not a problem, then started to surge again. repeated the process, and it worked. even turned it off on a straight stretch without pulling over, and it didnt do the surge thing till a bit later. got to anchorage, pulled into a jiffy lube and gota trannny flush. worked great for about 50 miles, then worked great for about 70, lots uphill. i had noticed it usually shows (surges/pulses) more uphill. got it home, parked at a friends, now it barely starts. granted, its about 10 degrees and blowing 50, so its really effing cold, but these are tried and true alaska cars. im at a loss. i can fork over some duckets to fix this, but dont want to be left hanging. if you can trouble shoot this, theres a buttload of wild smoked salmon and other alaska goodies headed your way. i really dont want to bite the bullet on this one.

[Legacy777]

That's interesting that just turning the car on and off makes it go away. I would say that rules out a clogged cat.

The next step I guess is to get it started.....you say it won't start now? Has it started in temperatures this cold before without any problems?

Do you happen to have an OBD2 scanner or could borrow one from somebody? What about a laptop? If we could monitor some of the ECU parameters when the problem occurs, it may give us an idea to the problem.

Feel free to shoot me an email, I check it more often then I get on the bbs.

[tomistom2]

it says yer email is off. it started miraculously the other day, drove fine for a day or so, now its doing its wont start thing again. Im pretty sure its the fuel source. I took the air intake and sprayed starting fluid into it, and it would start to catch, but as soon as the fluid burned off it would die. could this be a chip or something that needs replaced? cuz when it works it works right away.

[Legacy777]

Hmm, where are you going to see that my email is "off". You should be able to just click on the email button. Are you not seeing it?

Try looking under the rear seat on the passenger side. The connector for the fuel pump is under there. It should be a clear rectangular shaped plug. Sometimes the connectors can get loose and cause high resistance and arching. If the plug looks burnt, that may have happened, and you may want to pull the wires out and replace with a standard insulated blade connector.

Other thing to try if you think it's fuel related is to hook up a fuel pressure gauge and check the pressure while starting.

[tomistom2]

is this under the seat inside the car or on the outside? looks like id have to take the seat out, which probably isnt a biggie. but id rather not if its under the car itself! when i go to emai you it sends me to a page that says page cannot be found.

~tommy

[Legacy777]

The connector is in the car under the rear seat. There's two 12mm bolts that hold the bottom part of the seat down. The bottom part of the seat is hooked in, and you have to kind of have to pick up the front of the seat while pushing the back side of it down and back to get it to un hook.

Here's some pictures of the connector

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... P_6347.JPG
http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... P_6348.JPG
http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... s/fuelsys/

As for the email, what email program do you use, i.e. outlook, gmail, yahoo, etc? When you move your mouse over the email button, in the lower left hand corner do you see the hyperlink for the email address?

[tomistom2]

im seeing the email button, when i press it my browser says its a non existant address, and right to the right of email, it says off in red letters. my email address is gmail, but i dont have it set up to email from gmail on this computer.

thanks for the car info! gunna try to check into it today!

[Legacy777]

It sounds like the computer may have been configured to use gmail or another web based email program to email, and that's not working any more. In internet explorer (assuming that's what you're using), go to Tools menu at the top, Internet Options, and then the Programs tab. Under the E-mail line, what does it say there?

Anyway, you can email me at josh(at)surrealmirage(dot)com

[tomistom2]

well i got in under the seat and nothing looked ragged or burnt, i have a trickle charger on it right now though, its awfully cold outside. Im thinking of just getting it towed to a shop here, but they are all kinduv halfassed really but its just reaching that point. hopefully it warms up and i can stay motivated to stay out and mess with it. anyways, more later.

~tommy