I drive a 1994 subaru legacy turbo stationwagon with all wheel drive. the car has 205,000 miles on it. recently, my awd quit working. there was no noise of anything that would indicate a major breakage, no indicator lights on the dash came on either. i just couldn’t get up my driveway. i took it to the shop that i always go to and my mechanic called a tech line which suggested a tranny fluid change that didnt help much. can anyone help me with this?
I’m not especially famililar with Subarus, but I believe there’s a fuse for the AWD system you might want to check. My other thought is if it’s possible that your driveway is just especially icy-- believe it or not, things can be slippery enough that even an AWD vehicle can’t make it up, especially if your tires are borderline.
Actually, the fuse that you are thinking of has to be inserted in order to disable the AWD system. Unless the owner or someone else decided to put that fuse in place in order to purposely disable the AWD system, this is not the solution to his problem, unfortunately.
Automatic or manual transmission?
The automatics use a hydraulically operated valve and clutch pack in the transmission to activate or deactivate the rear drive. Even if the valve fails, however, the default is DRIVE to the rear wheels (unless the clutches are completely SHOT). Inserting the 2WD fuse others mentioned releases the rear wheel drive, and makes an automatic transmission Subaru a FWD Subaru. Fuse in = 2WD. Fuse not in = AWD.
The manuals are slightly different, using a viscous center differential. and a fluid change in the center diff might make a difference, especially considering the mileage.
It’s also possible that, as Greasy Jack suggested, maybe conditions were just THAT bad. What, exactly, happened to make you think the AWD “quit working?”
Junkability has arrived. Maybe the car is not worth fixing. Your choice. I vote for a newer one. Save your head gaskets for your next one. They were good ones.
Your transmission is autmoatic as all leggy turbo wagon’s were in 92-94. The likely case is at the end of your automatic transmission there is a clutch pack & solenoid for the AWD to operate and one or both have failed. I would suggest finding a mechanic familiar with Subaru AWD to diagnose what is going on.
Your car is quite rare and your engine is sought after. If you decide to part with it put the entire car up for sale on Subaru forums at least and you will get around $1000+ just for that engine despite mileage.
That 2.2L turbo is known to be quite reliable. Interestingly all turbo engines against conventional wisdom from this engine on to current(WRX, Legacy turbo, STI, Forester turbo) are beyond reliable.
A Subaru guru site is here>>>> wwww.ultimatesubaru.org