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Duty B Solenoid Replacement

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#1 ·
How To Replace the Duty B Solenoid aka Duty Solenoid B aka Lock Up Solenoid

Car: 1997 Legacy Outback Wagon 2.5L DOHC 4EAT Phase 1 Transmission with 207,xxx miles

Recently, the check engine light went on and I had a code of:

P0743 Torque Converter Clutch System Electrical

This was intermittent for a few days then was on all the time. The car drove normally except for the lack of Torque Converter lockup. When the TC fails to lock at highway speeds, engine RPM is higher than normal cutting into gas mileage and more heat is generated within the transmission. More heat is generally not good for transmission or ATF life.

After a few days, I got an additional code:
P0740 Torque Converter Clutch System Malfunction

Research indicated that the issue was probably with the Duty B Solenoid which receives a signal from the TCU and opens to allow ATF through to lock up the TC. To quote an Endwrench article:

"Duty Solenoid B is located on the lower valve body
next to the ATF temperature sensor. It operates the
lock-up clutch in 3 modes: ON, OFF and a gradual
ON/OFF control of the lock-up clutch during gear
shifting in order to reduce shift shock."

Further research revealed very little from which I surmise it is rare for this solenoid to fail. I could not find an instance where someone had actually replaced this part, though I'm sure it has happened.

For some unrelated work which I didn't want to do myself, I had my car into a local independent shop with a very experienced Subaru mechanic. He told me he had never seen P0743 or P0740 codes and had never replaced a Duty B Solenoid. Yikes.

Auto-transmission work is a scary thing for most DIYers, me included. I had no desire to tear into it. BUT, from the little documentation I found, it appeared that the Duty B Solenoid was accessible by merely dropping the pan, so I decided to forge ahead.

Attached below is an extract from the 1997 FSM showing the diagnosis steps. There are additional steps in the manual but they require equipment not normally available to a DIYer, so I left them out of the extract.

When checking the resistance of the solenoid with a multimeter, I could not get a consistent reading but all readings were well out of spec on the high side. So, I swallowed hard and ordered the somewhat expensive, non-returnable part (part# 31939AA052 $175 list). Since this is a rare failure, nobody stocks the part and I had to wait. It took one week from order to delivery, only one day of which was actual shipping transit time to my home. When I received the new solenoid, it tested steady at 13.9 Ohms ... spec is 9-17 Ohms, so good!

The actual replacement was easy. After draining and dropping the trans pan, the solenoid was easily accessible without having to remove any additional parts, not even the screen filter. I simply had to disconnect the wire connector, remove three bolts and loosen a fourth (all with 10mm heads) and pull the solenoid down out of its hole.

I always seem to have a problem with wire connectors, but this one was easy. Simply pinch and pull.

There are three bolts used to mount the solenoid, 2-28mm ones and a 33mm one. The 33mm one is the one farthest toward the front of the car. This same bolt is also used to hold a bracket and I needed to loosen the other bracket bolt to swing it out of the way and get the solenoid out. When installing the new solenoid, make sure the bracket mounting flange covers the solenoid mounting flange ... if you reverse them, the solenoid o-ring may not seal correctly in its hole.

Torque specs:
28mm bolts: 8.3±1.1 ft-lb
33mm bolts: 5.8±0.7 ft-lb
ATF drain plug: 18.1±1.4 ft-lb
Oil pan bolts: 3.6±0.4 ft-lb


The only surprise I had was after dropping the pan. The wiring connector for the solenoid was out of its bracket and dangling down in the pan area. I have no idea if this contributed to the failure or not. I was unable to get the connector to remain in the bracket, so I wrapped the wire around one of the pipes to keep the connector as high as possible.

After that, it was simply a matter of putting the pan back on and pouring in the ATF. I had drained the ATF into a bucket with volume markings and it measured 5.5 quarts. Some ATF also ended up on the floor, so about 6 quarts in all.

In summary, although this is a rare failure, it is an easy DIY fix. I hope this write-up and photos will help the next person with the same problem.

P.S.: All codes are gone and the Torque Converter is locking up as it should on the highway. Success!
 

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#3 ·
Additional notes:

There are several solenoids in the pan area. The Duty B Solenoid is mounted on the lower valve body and is easy to access.
The other solenoids are mounted on the upper valve body and are not so accessible. To get to them requires removal of the
valve body and separation of the upper and lower parts ... a scary prospect for most DIYers what with something like 30
bolts of differing lengths to remove and warnings about not losing various springs, metal balls, and various other loose
parts. Unless I was desperate or no longer gave a *#%$, I'd probably either let someone else do it or just go get another
transmission. Your call if it comes up. Be brave.

With the pan drained and off, there is still a lot of oil drip. In fact, it never stopped the whole time the pan was off.
I'd recommend a large drip pan or piece of cardboard to avoid making a mess on your garage floor. I have a Blitz drip pan purchased from
Autozone and it works great ... only $10, still the same price I paid four years ago. Safety glasses are a good idea, also.

Blitz/3/4 x 25 x 36 in. galvanized drip tray (11430) | Oil Drain Pan | AutoZone.com

I last dropped the pan 4 years ago to replace the screen filter after a DIY HG repair and have done three drain-and-
fills since, the last one 15 months ago. This time, the pan was remarkably clean and there was no debris on the pan donut
magnet either ... a very pleasant surprise.

For the pan install four years ago, I used a synthetic felt gasket with an RTV dressing (Permatex Ultra Grey) with no leaks or any other
problems. Cleanup of the pan and transmission surfaces was easier than cleaning off the original factory
sealant, but was still a PITA. This time I used a rubber gasket (Fel-Pro TOS18684) that specified no sealant be used. No leaks so far and
should be a snap to clean up if there is a next time and it might even be reusable.
 
#7 ·
Sorry to bring a old topic back to life, but my wife has a 2007 Legacy with a similar problem. Recently she has had the CEL come on with the P0700 and P0741 error codes. She took it in to the dealer and they performed a ATF drain and refill but that did not fix the problem. The only drained off 4 quarter and did not do a complete flush.

After looking all the web sites and Subaru forums, it appears there is a common problem with the Transmission Torque Converter Solenoid Valve with the previous generations 4AT transmission. Is this still a known common problem with the 4th gen Legacy with the 4AT transmission? Is that solenoid still located above the ATF pan on the valve pan on a 2007? Where can you purchase the solenoid?

We've gone back to the dealer but they want to replace then entire valve body when just the solenoid can be replaced. Subaru says the solenoid is not a serviceable part!

Thanks
Brian
 
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