is there a good differential additive out there? or do i just need to do a flush? traveling at low speeds and turning i can feel the disks grabbing. ill be honest i dont really know much about tranys and diffs, im more of a motor guy. can anyone give me some pointers?
bring it in? its no more than a drain plug and the yellow dipstick. not to offend your mechanical aptitude. just saying its pretty easy.
If you are referring to your center differential, which is right off of your Transmission. It sounds like your Center Diff. Clutch Plates inside are sticking. Your problem sounds exactly like what my car did after about a month of ownership. The dealership will charge $XXXX dollars to fix this. You can do it yourself though for a few hundred though if you are mechanically inclined. What kind of transmission/vehicle is it?
97 impreza sport. its really that seriouse? 135k miles, i've never heard of anything like that with subaru's. but that would be just my luck.
Replacing the fluid is much cheaper than replacing the center diff clutch plates. I would try that first, like the others suggested. As for fluid... I would get some Subaru OEM fluid. It is your safest option IMO. If you still have the problem, let us know. GL!
if you haven't done it yet, open hood look on passenger side for a yellow dipstick (near firewall on trans) check fluid level, add fluid if needed.
well replaced fluid today. i put in full synthetic, and the disks are still sticking. but it feels like its better, im going to give it a couple days. i also called and talked to a very reputiable subaru mechanic, and he said that its the cuppler that needs to be replaced and that its some what common. and parts and labor would cost me $800. i havnt looked into how much the parts actualy cost to do it myself. but do you guys think it would be easier to just try and find a diff used tranny/center diff. rather then spending all that money? again, im no idiot when it comes to mechanics. i just dont know anything about tranny and diffs.
replacing the center diff alone will be much easier/cheaper than the whole transmission. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to. if you can replace the whole transmission, you can replace the center diff. and yea, it's not unheard of.
I have replaced a transmission before, but never got into the internals and I replaced the sticking plates myself. To give you an idea of the process I had to: -remove exhaust -remove rear drive shaft -support tranny -remove rear tail housing -reverse to install It only ran me about $300 including fresh fluid and gaskets. Maybe 5 or 6 hours time. The tail housing took awhile to remove... Plates are different in the AT than the coupler in the MT, but the location/process is similar. Personally, I would fix it before buying a new rear diff. Really good walk-through here, specifically for 5-Speed Subaru Transmissions: http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f89/center-diffs-how-replace-them-46979/
You are okay for a bit. Since you are replacing the part I don't think you can do too much extra damage. Just don't go too long. Also, take a look at your tire circumference. The reason this problem occurs is from your tires spinning at different speeds. It could just be from slippage during winter/rain, but in my case, the previous owner drove it for over 6 months with mis-matched tires which burnt it up. Double check yours so that you don't replace the coupler and then break it again shortly after...
yea, i have. all the tires are the same make and size. im guessing its from all the agressive driving i do on gravel. and on the snow, and i know the guy before me was also into the rally scene. but thanks for the info and link to that walk threw. it doesnt look like it will be too bad.
any suggestions on who to get the center diff from? or am i going to have to go threw the dealership?
only thing that's going to be hurt, is the center diff. which is already shot. once it's REALLY locked up, it'll strain your axles and such, maybe put a tad extra wear on your tires. but nothing severe. Also, locked center diff = understeer.... as for getting one. throw up a WTB thread here, and maybe NASIOC and RS25. the center diff is a small enough unit that it could be shipped pretty easily, you could probably find someone with blown up gears and a good diff. otherwise junkyards.... I got a used one last fall for $50. that and a little RTV, and you're set.
Ive gone through two used ones in my impreza, I'm at the point where I'm just going to live with it, Its not a hard job, its just not fun to do more than once. Oh and no amount of fluid is going to fix it, the center diff (actually its called a viscous coupler) is a sealed unit, no fluid change is going to effect it.
alright well at least i know its not going to do any seriouse damge if i dont fix it right away. thanks for the input guys!
i drove my 95 legacy with this problem for at least 80 thousand miles. it was annoying in parking lots but that is about it.
oh really? wow, i guess i really dont need to worry about to much....not that i wont fix it eventualy.
