AWD? i dunno

[2.5GT]

I dunno if its me being stupid or not. but my back wheels, everytime i have the car up on the lifts, i always spin the tires. if i spin the left wheel (by hand of course) the right wheel will not spin with it.
almost teh same witht the front wheels..

whats goin on? its feels almost like 60% fwd when i drive the car...

[Huffer]

Do you have an auto?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Has your car been towed recently?

[shazapple]

Open diffs FTL

[2.5GT]

It's an Auto and it has never been tow since I've own this car.

and open differential?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Open differential means that the left and right wheels are not locked together, which would explain your turning the right wheel and not having the left one turning.

I just asked about the towing because of the FWD fuse.

[2.5GT]

So what has to be done to solve this problem?

I've never been off road with the car before. It's just a daily driver.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Well, if there's a fuse in the spot, that means you're in towing mode. So whip out your manual and find out the spot for the towing mode fuse (FWD fuse) and see if there's one in there.

It's a long shot, I sincerely doubt there's a fuse in there.

[Huffer]

FWD fuse is passenger side, right by the firewall (behind the strut tower) in the engine bay.

it's a small plastic box with "FWD" in white lettering. if the engine bay has never been cleaned, it's possible to miss it.

[2.5GT]

That's the first thing i check, was there a fuse in the FWD socket. And there wasn't one in there.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Then I'm guessing that it's just the 90-10 power split that's standard on an automatic.

[2.5GT]

But i thought it was full time AWD? all the wheels spins?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Yes, but it's a 90-10 power split between the front and the back. I'm not exactly sure how you were testing this, but the back wheels may not have spun due to something holding them back. After all, 10% of the power that goes to the wheels is pretty pathetic on an N/A 2.5L.

[2.5GT]

hm....when even if i were to spin the drivershaft, the back wheels doesn't do anything.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Are you spinning the driveshaft at at least 500 rpms? Because you've gotta realize, that being in gear, the engine at 500rpms won't move the wheels much.

[Huffer]

the 4EAT is designed only to direct power to the rear wheels under traction loss, or hard cornering.

Put the car in the air, put it in D2, and give it some revs. The rear wheels should turn.

[2.5GT]

I'll give it a try this weekend and see whats up.

But on another subaru when i did this (turning the wheel by hand) the other side of the wheel spins with it too. i think this was a newer outback.

[shazapple]

Theres pretty much 3 types of diffs. Open, limited slip and locked. You cant really use locked on the streets, cause then turning would be difficult (the outside wheels have a larger radius of turning, so they travel farther than the inside wheels). Limited slip diffs allow that extra travel while still giving power. Open is the cheapest an pretty much just sends power to the wheel with less friction.

The auto transmissions have clutch plates which will send the power 90/10 front/back unless otherwise needed. As the plates slip (aka front wheels spin, rear wheels dont) fluid heats up and pushes the plates together, giving you your 50/50 split. Of course, this takes a little bit to activate. In the 1,2 or R shifter position the TCU will automatically set the torque split to 50/50. I stick my car in 2 and have fun when Im playing in the snow.

The newer outback probably had a limitd slip differential, so it was sending power to both wheels. Your car doesnt have one though, so its easiest just to let one wheel spin like a mofo. All Subaurs are not created equal when it comes to AWD :(

[2.5GT]

oh ok, so this is normal :oops:

Thanks for all the info. When it comes to Subaru I'm clueless :lol:

[Huffer]

And that's why we're here. :)

[bubaru21]

so my L with 4eat would have the 90/10 split then? is there any way to change the split ratio?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Yes, 90/10 split

Change the ratio? Put it in D1 or D2. That'll lock it in 50/50.

Or get a tranny swap :lol:

[shazapple]

Theres a solenoid that controls the torque split. Putting it in 1,2, or R activates this solenoid. People have wired a switch up to it to create the 50/50 torque split on demand. No idea on reliability though.

[Wiscon_Mark]

You can burn the Duty C solenoid out if you use it too much. As you mentioned, it works on fluid heating up, so if you keep it too hot, it literally burns the solenoid.

[bubaru21]

i dont think you would want to drive around in 50/50 anyway. that sounds like it would actually hinder handling. i was thinking some how get it to a 70/30 or 60/40 split.

[Wiscon_Mark]

It wouldn't hinder handling at all. It would reduce understeer a lot.

[scottzg]

if you turn one wheel and the other doesn't spin, the power is going out through the driveshaft. The AT could be completely disconnected from the rear end when the car is in P or turned off, wouldn't be surprising. Better way to test is to stomp on the gas from a stop on a rainy day.

If you hold the driveshaft in place, the other wheel will spin BACKWARDS.

OMGWTFCDROM!

[SHOfast]

hm....when even if i were to spin the drivershaft, the back wheels doesn't do anything.

If you are describing this correctly you have a problem. If you spin the rear driveshaft (between the transmission and the rear differential) at least one rear wheel will spin. There is no clutch or disconnect after this point, if there is rotation into the rear differential and none out that would mean there is no gearset in the rear differential. A broken gearset back there would make sorts of noises and jerking motions.

Are you sure you are turning the rear driveshaft?