Problem: legacy III with automatic transmission won’t drive off in “D”

P

pc.guyc

First of all I need to say that I’m living in Belgium (Europe) so
sorry for my bad English.

Our car is a 2000 subaru legacy III stationwagon 2.0 AWD automatic
running on LPG. We own it since last year. We are the third owner; the
previous owner was the service station owner’s son and the first owner
was one of their customers. They always maintained the car and our
problem never occurred with them.

From the beginning the car sometimes didn’t drive off when putting the
gearlever in “D”. In “R”: no problem, but no moving car in “D” or “3”
or “2” or “1”. Shutting down the engine and starting again doesn’t
help. The only way to drive off is to step on the gas until the engine
roars at (at least) 3000 rpm; after some shocks the car is moving
forward, but you clearly feel that it isn’t “healthy”. From then on,
the car drives completely normal.

Recently I found a way to reproduce this rare but dangerous problem. I
was driving at some 60 km/h when I saw that the gated grade crossing
was closed so I got my foot off the accelerator. By mistake I also
shifted from “D” to “N” and as a result the car was slowing down very
gently until a full standstill. When the train had passed by, the car
would only drive off when I brought the accelerator at 3000 rpm. Again
some “unhealthy shocks” but the car moved and I could continue my
trip.

For a good understanding: this way I can always “provoke” the
problematic behaviour, but in real driving conditions it occurs rather
seldom and unpredictably, e.g. while doing a manoeuvre (and then it
can be really dangerous). I completely can’t find any logic in
occurrences of this problem. Heat, cold, humidity, dryness, … :
sometimes it occurs frequently during a week or so, and sometimes the
car drives trouble-free for some three weeks. The problem doesn’t
arise when the gearshift stays in “D” or “3” or “2” or “1”.

Last year they checked the automatic transmission; there was some
defect but it has been repaired. The problematic behaviour disappeared
for a rather long while but gradually and slowly it came back. Could a
bad contact in a plug / socket cause this? Or a dirty diode? I’m only
thinking…

What is clear to us is that the car, when being parked for some while
(can be two hours, can be a night), then most of the times needs some
seconds to drive off from standstill. This is only the first time;
once the car has driven some meters, it is fine for the rest of the
drive.

Furthermore we notice that the car, exactly while shifting
automatically from second to third gear, for a short time peaks to
3000 - 4000 rpm. This is rather often, but certainly when I’m driving
calmly and I’m not accelerating quickly.

Is there someone who knows about these problems or recognizes it? It
that case I would appreciate your help. In the service station they
are in good faith, but they don’t know about these problems and until
now they weren’t able to solve it. And here in Belgium (and the rest
of Europe) there is less experience with automatic transmission than
e.g. in the U.S. or Australia.

I’d like to receive your constructive feedback, that I will pass on to
the service station. Myself I’m not very technically skilled but I’m
good at thinking logically, maybe that can help too!

Greetz

Guy, Belgium
 
First of all I need to say that I’m living in Belgium (Europe) so
sorry for my bad English.

Our car is a 2000 subaru legacy III stationwagon 2.0 AWD automatic
running on LPG. We own it since last year. We are the third owner; the
previous owner was the service station owner’s son and the first owner
was one of their customers. They always maintained the car and our
problem never occurred with them.

From the beginning the car sometimes didn’t drive off when putting the
gearlever in “D”. In “R”: no problem, but no moving car in “D” or “3”
or “2” or “1”. Shutting down the engine and starting again doesn’t
help. The only way to drive off is to step on the gas until the engine
roars at (at least) 3000 rpm; after some shocks the car is moving
forward, but you clearly feel that it isn’t “healthy”. From then on,
the car drives completely normal.

Recently I found a way to reproduce this rare but dangerous problem. I
was driving at some 60 km/h when I saw that the gated grade crossing
was closed so I got my foot off the accelerator. By mistake I also
shifted from “D” to “N” and as a result the car was slowing down very
gently until a full standstill. When the train had passed by, the car
would only drive off when I brought the accelerator at 3000 rpm. Again
some “unhealthy shocks” but the car moved and I could continue my
trip.

For a good understanding: this way I can always “provoke” the
problematic behaviour, but in real driving conditions it occurs rather
seldom and unpredictably, e.g. while doing a manoeuvre (and then it
can be really dangerous). I completely can’t find any logic in
occurrences of this problem. Heat, cold, humidity, dryness, … :
sometimes it occurs frequently during a week or so, and sometimes the
car drives trouble-free for some three weeks. The problem doesn’t
arise when the gearshift stays in “D” or “3” or “2” or “1”.

Last year they checked the automatic transmission; there was some
defect but it has been repaired. The problematic behaviour disappeared
for a rather long while but gradually and slowly it came back. Could a
bad contact in a plug / socket cause this? Or a dirty diode? I’m only
thinking…

What is clear to us is that the car, when being parked for some while
(can be two hours, can be a night), then most of the times needs some
seconds to drive off from standstill. This is only the first time;
once the car has driven some meters, it is fine for the rest of the
drive.

Furthermore we notice that the car, exactly while shifting
automatically from second to third gear, for a short time peaks to
3000 - 4000 rpm. This is rather often, but certainly when I’m driving
calmly and I’m not accelerating quickly.

Is there someone who knows about these problems or recognizes it? It
that case I would appreciate your help. In the service station they
are in good faith, but they don’t know about these problems and until
now they weren’t able to solve it. And here in Belgium (and the rest
of Europe) there is less experience with automatic transmission than
e.g. in the U.S. or Australia.

I’d like to receive your constructive feedback, that I will pass on to
the service station. Myself I’m not very technically skilled but I’m
good at thinking logically, maybe that can help too!

Greetz

Guy, Belgium

There is a known problem with the 4eat transmission that subaru refers
to as the 'delayed engagement' problem.
Your description sounds like it could be that issue.

You can google this phrase:
subaru 4eat "delayed engagement"
with the quotes as shown and you'll get lots of info.

There is a piston (actuator piston?) in the trans with a seal around
it, the seal shrinks a tiny bit and the piston lets too much fluid
past it.

There are some transmission additives that some have found to help
quite a bit. When you google you'll see some subaru forums in the
hits, it's probably the best route to go join one or two as there is a
lot of info on this subject on those forums.


Dave
 
There is a known problem with the 4eat transmission that subaru refers
to as the 'delayed engagement' problem.
Your description sounds like it could be that issue.

You can google this phrase:
subaru 4eat "delayed engagement"
with the quotes as shown and you'll get lots of info.

There is a piston (actuator piston?) in the trans with a seal around
it, the seal shrinks a tiny bit and the piston lets too much fluid
past it.

There are some transmission additives that some have found to help
quite a bit. When you google you'll see some subaru forums in the
hits, it's probably the best route to go join one or two as there is a
lot of info on this subject on those forums.

Dave- Tekst uit oorspronkelijk bericht niet weergeven -

- Tekst uit oorspronkelijk bericht weergeven -

Hello Dave

Thanks to your reaction I found indeed a lot of info on this problem.
At the moment I think (and hope) that it has been solved. Until now,
the car is doing fine, but still sometimes it seams to take more than
1,5 seconds to drive on (which is normal, according to Subaru).

Also normal is the peaking in RPM when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear.
According to Subaru it's only the first time after driving off, which
seams to be correct.

There was also another problem, but it's difficult for me to write it
in proper English... When the transmission oil has to be changed, it
has to flew fluently out of the transmission while there is an air
inlet. But this inlet was obstructed, which causes the transmission to
act inpredictably.

That's all I can tell now. I write it here so it can be usable for
later research.

But really thanks a lot!

Greetz from Belgium

Guy
 
Hello Dave

Thanks to your reaction I found indeed a lot of info on this problem.
At the moment I think (and hope) that it has been solved. Until now,
the car is doing fine, but still sometimes it seams to take more than
1,5 seconds to drive on (which is normal, according to Subaru).

Also normal is the peaking in RPM when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear.
According to Subaru it's only the first time after driving off, which
seams to be correct.

There was also another problem, but it's difficult for me to write it
in proper English... When the transmission oil has to be changed, it
has to flew fluently out of the transmission while there is an air
inlet. But this inlet was obstructed, which causes the transmission to
act inpredictably.

That's all I can tell now. I write it here so it can be usable for
later research.

But really thanks a lot!

Greetz from Belgium

Guy

Nice to hear the follow-up!


dave
 

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