AT OIL TEMP flashing

[nipper]

Why in the world would you get a newer one. This is once in the vehicals life repair

Unless you can find a newer sooby for 800 bucks


nipper

[xnavnuc]

I just *LOVED* reading Nipper's responses in this thread...heh, heh

Anyway, what he said is da trut! OBTW the TCU constantly monitors the solenoid valves' coils for open circuit conditions (coil wiring itself). So when it reports the duty cycle C solenoid (24 code) the solenoid is inoperative and will remain that way FOREVER leaving you in C4WD. If you keep on driving in a perfectly straight line and never make any turns you'll never have to worry about this failure.

It's a **** of a lot cheaper to have the solenoid replaced, NOW, then waiting 'till the clutch pak itself seizes and ceases to function as anything other than a solid piece of metal.

The 'Curmudgeon' has spoken

[nipper]

Originally posted by xnavnuc
If you keep on driving in a perfectly straight line and never make any turns you'll never have to worry about this failure.

Even people in nebraska have to turn around eventually (Thats the one stae ive been in with incredibly straight and long roads).


nipper

[bigalpha]

Well, I really like my car, but there are so many things that are wrong with it and it's pretty old and it has a lot of miles on it.

My immediate question, is: how many more times will there be a $800 one-time repair? Or even a $400 one-time repair.

There comes a point when ya gotta stop putting money into the car, IMO. I think I just hit that mark.

It would be one thing if it's something I could do myself. I think, in the past year, I've spent $800-$1000 just in repairs to keep it running safely. I'd rather put that $1000 into a newer Subie that didn't have as many problems, or any problems.

How long does it take the clutch pack to become a paperweight? If that clutch pack welds itself together, is the car still drivable?

[nipper]

Well some things are maintanence, and some things are repairs.

Very few things fall into the repair part on a sooby, the AWD would. Timing belts brakes struts are maintanence.

Like i siad this is a one time repair, unless you put another 180,000 miles or more on the car then it may need it again.


nipper

[xnavnuc]

Originally posted by nipper
Well some things are maintanence, and some things are repairs.

Very few things fall into the repair part on a sooby, the AWD would. Timing belts brakes struts are maintanence.

Like i siad this is a one time repair, unless you put another 180,000 miles or more on the car then it may need it again.


nipper

Right on! All you really need to evaluate is the body condition (and seats/glass/etc that relate to safety and driveability). If the car is OK (no major rust, no pre-existing, covered-up dings/crunches) then maintenance is all you should have to do for quite some time (a few years? who knows?). Any car you drive is gonna require annual costs...it don't matter that they are loan pmts, depreciation, planned and unplanned maintenance etc. If your 2.5 has already gone as long as it has then it is likely that it has already had any head gasket work (if at all). If that is the case and it exhibits little or no noise upon cold start conditions then it likely has no bearing issues nor excessive 'piston slap' (a common boxer engine with short skirted pistons ailment). ****, even if it does have noticeable slap when cold if it quiets down when warm then all you need to do is baby it a bit (no jack rabbit starts especially when cold). Change the oils and filter(s) REGULARLY (I recommend 2500 miles on high mileage Subies) keep track of the timing belt mileage and have it changed before it breaks (I recommend 80 K miles) along with replacing the water pump and small hose, all (4) cam seals and front crank seal.

There are a few hundred other things to consider on high mileage cars but they mostly fall into the annoyance arena. The important thing is to find a good garage that you TRUST and get into bed with them. Let them know your intentions to maintain the car over the long haul and they will make sure that whatever mechanic works on the car gives it a thorough going over. BE PREPARED to spend, say, $1200 a year on maintenance. Put aside the $100 a month to cover it. Rest easy with the fact that you are probably saving $500-700 a month over owning/operating a brand new $20-30K vehicle. DO THE MATH if you don't believe me. A used Subaru is a damned good investment!

[bigalpha]

Alright, I thought I'd drop in an update:

After talking it over with my woman, we decided to get a new car. We went and tried to get a newer Subaru, but there are none in this town that fit the parameters we wanted (wagon, 03-05).

So, we went ahead and sold her Stratus and got a Mazda 3 Touring, 5 door. But, we did keep my wagon.

I took it to the dealership and they checked it out. Turns out the solenoid is perfectly fine. There are no (electrical) problems in the tranny. The fluid is fine, too. Turns out that there are wires from the wiring harness from the car to the TCU that are cut/spliced. I have no clue why and neither does the dealership. They say that there are some wires that run up into the dashboard, but in order to find whatever it is they'd have to take the dash apart. Either that, or whatever was there was removed.

Dealership says that either 1) The TCU is just going bad, 2) The wire problem is making the TCU go bad, 3) It's just the wires that are causing the problem. To replace the module is going to be $760 or so. Then, if that doesn't solve the problem, it's off to more expensive options.

I did get a copy of the notes the Tech made about which connector is giving some voltage problems. I'll try to get back tonight with more on that.

[xnavnuc]

Whuff! I guess I shoulda included someone getting their meathooks inot the dash wiring as a 'drop dead'. I used to sell whole dashes for the case of 'The dog ate my car' situation (really!). It is about a full day's work to replace a complete wiring harness within the dash and it takes a methodical worker. It could take perhaps a couple hours to 'end to end' a harness if all you are concerned with is inter-computer connections. Perhaps another hour to fix whatever is broken... BUT the question being begged is ... what else has been messed with?

This car may be a horror show (or it may not). Other than that, good luck.

[Subaru88]

i had AT OIL TEMP light ( 16 times flashing on start up ) first i did disconnect battery it fix it in my case. i driving a lot so i guess i mess up with shifting handle when shut off engine or something. before loosing time reading and writing allways try this first and then ask if it didn't fixed in your case

[vegastriguy]

Not sure if it is ok to sort of jump on board this particular thread and post a queston/experience today.

My car stats:
2002 Outback, 150K miles. Both boots are cracks open and I have the typical leakage on the exhaust. I also believe my carrier bearing is bad and I need to replace that whole drivetrain/line for $400 I have seen on this forum. The whine has gotten louder the last couple of days I have noticed.

Ok, so today I do a freeway drive about about 40 miles each way. As I am just about getting home, the AT OIL Temp is flashing. First time I had seen that warning light. So, I drive another 1/4 mile to the Autozone. Check my oil level....very low. My tranny fluid registers way above the hot level line. As I am just getting home my tranny is starting to slip a little which it never has. I pull into the garage and add two quarts to make my oil level good.

Park the car for about 2 hours, crank up the car for about 3 minutes, kill the engine. Check my fluids. Oil still good, AT oil still high. When I start the car I get so warning light but I decide to just try to the end of the block and back. Within a minute the AT Oil Temp is flashing again. The tranny is not slipping like before but I am driving it very gentle. Pulled into the garage. Forgot I had a jack and started looking around. Everything looks ok but and, I wiped down all the thrown PS fluid or whatever comes out of the boots.

I am hoping that my renewed oil levels should rectify things on the short term? My next step is to get the drivetrain assembly. I was thinking of draining the AT oil and just taking a look at it? Would it be ok to drain it and put the same stuff back in?

Any other input you can provide is appreciated. I apologize if I should have not piggybacked this thread.