Vibrations And Gear Shifting Issues

[Abu Raihaan]

Hi Guys,

I'm currently having a Subaru Impreza GC1, YOM 2000 (Basic 1500cc Auto) and currently having the following Issues with her and would like to get your professional inputs for resolution and appreciate if you could lead me to the correct Dr who could treat her:

1. Vibrations at Speeds between 110 KMH to 125 KMH only (once 130 KMH reached vibration disappears).
2. Takes a long time to fall into 4th last gear, tends to run on 3rd gear most of the time having the engine rev high and reduced fuel economy.
3. She Gives a big jerk whilst shifting gears when I try to Rev Hard at once in case, when sudden pick up is required ex overtaking a bus / trailer.

I was out of the country for 3 years and the car was used by my (F*****) In Law, and was in pretty bad shape when I came back.

However I managed to bring her 80% back to life after a complete service (excluding ATF Oil Change), Engine Tune Up, and a few Touch up Paint works.

There are no warnings, indicating in the dashboard neither whilst I scanned for Issues at my regular Garage. However the chap couldn't find fault for the above problems, therefore seek professional help from you guys.

[dilan_randika]

Do a wheel balancing & AT oil change and check what are the results.

Edited January 6, 2014 by dilan_randika

[Reckless]

Yes change ATF. Also check the engine / gearbox mounts while you are at it.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Reckless

[Fixzit]

As you have mentioned you have already done an ATF change.. and you only have a delay changing into 4th gear I think you need to get your transmission repaired by a good mechanic.. also if you can be more specific about where the vibration comes from as in the steering wheel or you can feel the whole car vibrating. . Experts here can give you better advise. .

[CJ5]

  On 1/6/2014 at 1:16 PM, Abu Raihaan said:

Hi Guys,

I'm currently having a Subaru Impreza GC1, YOM 2000 (Basic 1500cc Auto) and currently having the following Issues with her and would like to get your professional inputs for resolution and appreciate if you could lead me to the correct Dr who could treat her:

1. Vibrations at Speeds between 110 KMH to 125 KMH only (once 130 KMH reached vibration disappears).
2. Takes a long time to fall into 4th last gear, tends to run on 3rd gear most of the time having the engine rev high and reduced fuel economy.
3. She Gives a big jerk whilst shifting gears when I try to Rev Hard at once in case, when sudden pick up is required ex overtaking a bus / trailer.

I was out of the country for 3 years and the car was used by my (F*****) In Law, and was in pretty bad shape when I came back.

However I managed to bring her 80% back to life after a complete service (excluding ATF Oil Change), Engine Tune Up, and a few Touch up Paint works.

There are no warnings, indicating in the dashboard neither whilst I scanned for Issues at my regular Garage. However the chap couldn't find fault for the above problems, therefore seek professional help from you guys.

Sounds like a fried auto box. As you have not done an ATF change do that ASAP and see if the problem goes away. If it goes away consider yourself lucky. If it remains.......

ATF must be changed at least every 25,000- 30,000kms going by the recommendations of most manufacturers.

As for the vibration, very likely the mounts, so get those checked first before probing deeper.

Edited January 7, 2014 by CJ5

[Rumesh88]

  On 1/6/2014 at 1:16 PM, Abu Raihaan said:

I was out of the country for 3 years and the car was used by my (F*****) In Law, and was in pretty bad shape when I came back.

However I managed to bring her 80% back to life after a complete service (excluding ATF Oil Change), Engine Tune Up, and a few Touch up Paint works.

Any reason why you excluded ATF oil change? If you decide to do it now, get the sump cover removed and let the mechanic take a good look at the magnets, the filter and sump bottom. If you see lots of metal filings on the magnets and brown colored pieces on the sump bottom there is a very good chance that your AT box is on borrowed days as others have pointed out above.

BTW there is this old adage which I picked up once from some of my Burgher friends.

"There are three things in life that one shall not share or swap. Those are 1. your fountain pen, 2. your car, and 3. your wife."

[Abu Raihaan]

  On 1/6/2014 at 7:26 PM, Fixzit said:

As you have mentioned you have already done an ATF change.. and you only have a delay changing into 4th gear I think you need to get your transmission repaired by a good mechanic.. also if you can be more specific about where the vibration comes from as in the steering wheel or you can feel the whole car vibrating. . Experts here can give you better advise. .

The reason for me to delay te ATF Oil CHange is because I was advised by the Service Station to check the gearbox out by a mechanic before changing the Oil or I will have to do it twice.

Leaving bygones to be bygones I will be doing the ATF Oil Change as advised this weekend on priority, while at it will check on them mounts and clean the magnets + filters of the AT Gear Box.

As for the Vibration it starts from front wheels, where i feel it on the steering, and thereon implying the whole car to vibrate. I've recently carried out a Wheel Alignment as well.

[XBeat]

Abu,

Recently I had a similar issue with my FB15, which has a similar age of your Subaru. Fortunately I found a good mechanic and got it repaired.

In my case..

01. The car took a longer time to shift gears. This resulted reduced fuel economy. The reason was worn out pressure plates. I had to get them replaced.

02. There was a jerk when it shifted to the 2nd gear. It was due to a faulted solenoid valve. I got it replaced too. As per the mechanic's explanation, the grit from the worn out pressure plates has stuck inside the solenoid to make it faulty. He had replaced some other sensors after monitoring the system. now I experience smoother and faster shifting without jerks.

Did your car gives out any alarms when you switch it on?

In fact mine didn't gave any during initial stage. It just went in to a safe mode weirdly. i.e. all of sudden the car is not shifting beyond 1st gear and all I can do is to cruise at a very low speed around 20 kmph. The car returns to normal mode when I switch off and restart the engine. This thing happened suddenly in an unpredictable manner.

Later it started to give 16 blinks of O/D off light before ignition. See for this alarm and count the number of blinks. It will be useful for your mechanic. Also see whether this blink happens during the run. Try to notice whether the fault happens in a cold start or not. These observations are useful for the mechanic to diagnose the fault.