ok, here we go.

[BRIANHIRTCHU]

hi my name is Brian, i hope i'm posting this in the right forum. if not mods feel free to move it.

im not new to cars or working on them, i am however new to suby i recently acquired a 94 legacy l wagon n/a

got a smoking deal because it has a couple issues which after spending the past months reading and searching and testing and probing my car and riding my bicycle to work to not put extra tear on the car till i get it dialed.

1) my tps is bummed its always conducting even when its not supposed to be no matter how i adjust it and the resistances are choppy. Ive already order a throttle body with tps on it known good unit. ill of course verify before installing.

2) where do i find a used shift lock controller for my car? the car wont shift out of park until the controller decided its time to energize. once the controller turns on the solenoid works 200 out of 200 times
brake light switch also works without fail 50/50 times
right now i have it rigged to push with my finger cos i cant get the screw in the console to work right

next question can a bad tps cause erratic torque bind and trans behavior ? i installed the fwd fuse today and the car seems to drive a gazillion times better. ill report back after a few miles.
but with my tps being so bad i cant pull the transmission codes.... i tried till i was blue in the face...


thanks in advance for any helps guys, i love my flat 4s i restore and formerly raced old air cooled vws

if its pertinent the car has 297k , runs strong for having this issue and when working it drives like a dream. lol.

once i get the electrical working ill do a trans oil and filter change and also the differentials.
and slowly im going to replace all the vacuum lines they look old!



Brian

[BRIANHIRTCHU]

sorry for having such a crazy first post, and kind of drifting im at work and dont have my notes in front of me, so all this is from memory if you need any other details let me know and ill post back asap!

[Legacy777]

Brian, welcome to the BBS.

I would start with swapping the TPS out and adjust it per the instructions on page 3 of the FSM TPS scans I have on my server. Yes a bad TPS will cause issues with how the trans shifts, so fix the TPS and see if that fixes the trans issues.

As for the shift lock controller, I'm not sure I'm following you on that. Are you saying you think the problem is the controller, vs. the relay down by the shifter? What have you done to test it? If you need a new shift lock controller, I've got the one out of my 90 Legacy when I did my 5spd conversion.

[BRIANHIRTCHU]

yes i think its the controller.

when i put 12v to the solenoid under the shifter it works every time 200/200 attempts

What do ya want for your old controller? id love to take it off your hands, so i can shift out of park like a human again lol!

[Legacy777]

yes i think its the controller.

when i put 12v to the solenoid under the shifter it works every time 200/200 attempts

What do ya want for your old controller? id love to take it off your hands, so i can shift out of park like a human again lol!

You can have it for the cost of shipping. Shoot me a PM, and I'll make sure I still have it tonight. I'll also check the parts book to make sure the controllers are the same.

[BRIANHIRTCHU]

*sigh* so my new to me throttle body shows up today and its for a 95 with a 3pin tps FML last time i buy parts on ebay lol.
PLUS it was freaking damaged in shipping cos they figures a flat rate bag is good to ship in

[vrg3]

I hate when people selling stuff online do that. It's as if as soon as they have your money they stop caring about the item completely. I once had someone ship me an LCD video projector in a box twice its size with no padding whatsoever. It arrived with cracks on all corners of the case and the lens shattered into a million pieces.

Anyway...

You might be better off finding the part from another board member. speezly speezly found a 93 L in a junkyard near him and offered to pull parts for people; maybe he could help.

On one of my old automatic Legacies I had trouble with the shift lock so I just took a ziptie and physically bypassed the solenoid. From what I remember, the shift lock solenoid presses on a little lever to allow shifting, and I used the ziptie to tie that lever back. I wish I could remember more details for you, but I remember it being a fairly simple thing to do. If you don't mind the lever being able to move at any time, this might be a "fix" to consider.

[BRIANHIRTCHU]

thanks for all the help guys.

so a minor update after 50 miles with the fwd fuse in place....

not so much of an improvement the transmission is dodgy to say the least feels likes its just not quite locking up all the time, very hard to describe.

however since i know my tps is bad im not trying to diagnose anything else until i fix it. one problem at a time lol.
the torque bind is gone now its just really awkward sometimes it downshifts sometimes the gear isnt there completely for a second or two

[oldscoobyturbo]

i too might have the shift lock parts you need from a 93-94 leggy. I parted out my last auto sedan 2 years ago and i kept the most useful parts. i take it that the later models don't have the release button on the front of the trim.