legacycentral bbs

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:10 am**

I have a loud grinding and whurling noise in Park and Neutral on my 94 legacy AWD automatic gt wagon that I just bought. The car moves and drives but it seems to jump and bind sometimes when you accelerate. The transmission has no codes stored and the transmission fluid seems clean and don't have an unusual smell. I'm leaning to the front diff. It seems that there is a lot fluid pushing out of the front diff dipstick and the fluid is low. Does anything move in the front diff when the transmission is in Park or Neutral that would cause this?Buy the way when you drive the car down the road the transmission seems to shift fine.[/u]

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:31 am**

Fluid is pushing out of which dipstick?

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:57 pm**

the front diff dipstick

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 10:53 pm**

needless to say that's not good.....have you drained the diff fluid to see what it looks like if there's metal in there?

you are checking the dipstick on the passenger side of the tranny correct?

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 10:59 pm**

su bar u guy: The front one? There are two dip sticks at about equal distance from the front. One is on the passenger side and one on the drivers.

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:12 pm**

the one on the passenger side. I didn't drain it yet. Nobody answered my question yet. Are there any moving parts in the front differential when the transmission is in Park or Neutral? Does anyone know?

Posted: **Wed Nov 26, 2003 11:26 pm**

I can't imagine how any parts in the differential could be moving if the car is stationary.

Posted: **Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:19 am**

What type of fluid is leaving from the passenger side fluid, red ATF or gold gear lube?

Posted: **Thu Nov 27, 2003 1:14 am**

Gear lube is coming out of the passenger side dipstick tube. It has the whole side of the case covered in gear lube. I plan on draining the differential oil tomorrow to see if there are any metal shavings in it. Ciper do you know if anything moves in the differential when your in Park or Neutral? It's weird, you put the transmission from Park to Drive and as soon as it goes in Drive the noise stops.I also tried it from Park to Reverse and as soon as it goes in Reverse the noise stops. I have four automatic legacys and had various transmission problems but none acted like this.

Posted: **Thu Nov 27, 2003 4:54 am**

Sounds like something screwy going on with the torque converter or clutch plates, the latter I would think stick out because something near them is turning when the engine is on and the transmission isn't loaded.

Posted: **Thu Nov 27, 2003 5:23 am**

Have you actually seen the fluid coming out of the dip stick hole? I think the two problems (noise + leak) may not be related.

For example, its not uncommon for fluid to seap from that round shaped spot on top of the transmission case. Another thing is when a seal between the pressurized transmission side and the differential leaks so ATF contaminates the differential and slowly fills it up.

I think you should take a day to clean the entire transmission on the passenger side. Then drive around a little and look again.

Posted: **Thu Nov 27, 2003 2:50 pm**

No, I haven't actually seen gear lube pushing out of the differential dipstick tube. It's got gear lube all over that area so I thought it might be some part of the problem. Do torque converters make these type of noises when they go bad?