5EAT Weirdness?

Well, I'm really doubting my choice to buy the auto now.

 

A few months ago I had the issue with flare and then hard thud on the 2-3 upshift. Appeared suddenly out of nowhere. A trip to the dealer for a reflash seems to have cured that.

 

Now today, driving about 40 mph, I went to pass someone and all hell broke loose. Sudden deceleration and then Bang! down to second and go like hell. By sudden deceleration I mean it felt like the transmission went into reverse for a half second on the way from fifth to second. I got some whiplash from the sudden decel and then accel. It was violent enough that I expected to see oil and parts all over the road.

 

What I believe happened is something screwed up in the electronics, valve body, or actuators and it engaged the clutches for two gears at once, effectively locking the transmission (or trying to).

 

Could not get it to repeat on the rest of the drive home, but now I don't trust it.

 

Anyone seen anything like this? TIA

We've all had so much wierd crap happen in the 5eat that honestly i'm gonna say thats normal operating procedure. We've had flares, up/downshifts for no good reason, ATF temp lights going no for no reason..... etc.

 

Best you can do is observe and see what happens.

I dunno, i never had that kind of issue. only the slipping which was cured by the VB upgrade.

I'm not feeling the love for the transmission, that's for sure. Looking at alternatives now.

-Pay to have a manual swapped in? Seems like a huge expense just to end up without a factory warranty.

-Trade for spec. B? I thought originally the B was not good value for the money compared to the GT. Don't care about nav systems etc. Seems a pricey way to get a manual trans.

-STI? No offense to STI drivers, but the styling of the 5 door just does not cut it for me.

-which leaves me with... WRX 4 door? 265 hp out of the box, 5 speed manual. Is that tranny stout enough to put a clutch in and run it up to about 325 whp?

What about the body and chassis, anyone who's had the Impreza and Legacy care to comment on that?

 

Hell, otherwise I'll be down to GTI's or Mazda 3's. Don't really want FWD, and don't want a typical piece of Detroit muscle either. Should have maybe got a 3 series, but I don't like the look of the current generation.

 

Almost forgot about the EVO. A little too noticeable for my taste, but I could live with it I guess. One of my main loves for the Legacy is the understated looks. Really helps when you have a memory lapse and roll by a radar gun a tad quickly.

 

What to do????

Tranny swap is prohibitively expensive/not worth doing. You would come out ahead by trading/selling the car and buying a manual. Spec.B would be a good choice, you get the 6MT AND if you are so inclined, you can even swap in a limited slip diff for the front, something that the 5EAT brethren can't do

 

You seem kind of undecided on what to do. Are you sure you thought long and hard before jumping in a Legacy? Not that it was a bad choice, but contemplating your other options and talking about what you like about Subaru, you don't mention the things that truly set it apart, such as full-time awd and the Boxer engine. If these are not that important to you, then sure, look at other makes. If you think you will have better service/reliability by jumping in a v-dub or Mazda ... then the best of luck to you.

Are you really that discontent with your current LGT? If the issue above can be reproduced, the dealer should by all means fix it for you.

It's a good car, I wouldn't be so quick to ditch it.

My shrink says I have manual trans envy...

 

Seriously, though, I wanted a manual last year and settled for the auto. This will probably be my reason to trade. Reasons being, in no particular order:

 

I have no patience for cars with reliability issues, especially intermittent ones hard to reproduce and get a quick fix.

 

I want to build up the power, and if I do it now, I'll end up owning that trans when it blows. Can't rightly expect SOA to repair a trans behind a tuned up engine.

 

Did I mention I wanted a manual trans?

I regret everyday for buying my 5eat. I went stage 2 with a tmic, pulley down/up pipe, and Infamous1 tune a couple of months ago and am just waiting for it to crap out on me. WTF was I thinking. Though that buying a auto would be better for my girlfriend that cant drive a stick. $hit I f*ucked up. I guess I am going to have to baby it and stick out another year so that I can buy another subie. Dont get me wrong I love the car and have another daily driver so I can keep myself from doing too much damage to her, but did I mention I f*cked up? Oh yah by the way I told my subaru dealership to take my extended gold warranty and shove it. What I do to my car is my own stupid fault. Besides, the 1300 I saved on the warranty I can expect to pay for a used 5eat and put it in myself when I do tear mine up.

^Good luck finding an auto for 1300 ...

^Good luck finding an auto for 1300 ...

 

You can find a used 5EAT for under 1k.

 

http://www.car-parts.com Buy a spare, and build it. don't end up like me....my 5EAT decided to take a dump....almost acted exactly like the OP's...except mine won't drive at all.

^ Oh wow, that's definitely encouraging. So far I thought the only option was a rebuilt/refurbished/shipped from Japan tranny via the delear which was to the tune of 4 grand.

I think you had a fuel cut moment and just don't know it.

that kinda what I was thinking too.. I had a whole bunch typed but I reduced it to a just before posting cos I wasn't sure I was reading it right.

I think you had a fuel cut moment and just don't know it.

 

+84 If the 5eat did something like that, I'm surely young and reckless enough to know about it by now for sure. and you described fuel cut perfectly...

Someone explain to me how fuel cut can cause severe DEceleration. As in sudden hard braking.

 

Lack of accel, yes. Decel, I don't think so.

There is sweet nothing wrong with the 5EAT. Have your car checked.

Someone explain to me how fuel cut can cause severe DEceleration. As in sudden hard braking.

 

Lack of accel, yes. Decel, I don't think so.

 

I'm trying to think how you can deliberately hit fuel cut (not something I ever try to do). Maybe put it in manumatic 1st gear and take it straight into redline. You will hit fuel cut if it doesn't upshift. it will feel like your car blew apart and you hit a wall ...serious deceleration there, but you'll be fine yet again).

 

When I first hit fuel cut my heart was still racing 5 minutes later, it's a horrible feeling the first few times, and then it just becomes really bad-feeling is all.

Someone explain to me how fuel cut can cause severe DEceleration. As in sudden hard braking.

 

Lack of accel, yes. Decel, I don't think so.

 

Yeah you are thinking all wrong here, no offense. A person's senses are relative from one moment to the next. You're going from WOT hard acceleration one moment to no acceleration and instead engine compression which is effectively engine braking on steroids. Engine breaking going down a hill is smooth because there is still fuel injecting and detonating exactly as the ECU requests so the car is smooth. Now instead take away all fuel. It was how very very old cars use to stop before axle or caliper or whatever braking systems were included on the first vehicles with real brakes.

 

Still worried?

When I first hit fuel cut my heart was still racing 5 minutes later, it's a horrible feeling...

 

 

First time, I thought I had blown the engine.

Ok, let's take the next step. How does an automatic in "D" hit fuel cutoff, without a transmission glitch???

Ok, let's take the next step. How does an automatic in "D" hit fuel cutoff, without a transmission glitch???

 

First, you said broken or damaged or something serious. That's not it. It could have been a glitch that helped get you to fuel cut, along with everything else being right for it at that moment.

 

You're right, it shouldn't. Yet it happens on occasion to people on here, and other things than the earlier COBB AP maps can get you there. If your tranny was hot, or if it had some glitch related to the sometimes crap shifting of the '08 5eat, even a short delay in upshifting can give that extra time needed to rev into fuel cut, especially since your car downshifted for extra power, it probably then overcame that little extra bit of engine speed needed to hit it.

 

Another thing, possibly contributing, is that the stock tune isn't perfect, and this kind of thing can happen if you don't have a great tune. Your car is not the same as the next 08 5eat, but the tune is.

fuel cut feels kinda like hitting someone..(like having a wreck not running someone over.. ) I've only managed to do it twice and both times I've cringed and sort of worried that I broke something.

 

I seem to recall a loud noise, a sudden jerk, and then it resumes when your rpms are in a "safe" level.

 

easiest way to make your car hit it is throw it in manumatic mode, and redline 1st gear, but stay on the gas.. it will most certainly do it.

 

as to how it happens in stock automatic mode.. I cant say theres a rational explanation other than the TCM and ECU may not have had the best conversation. The rules are still the same, if the ECU sees the engine getting close to "hurting itself", its gonna cut fuel no matter what the transmission "thinks".

Happened to me once about a week after going Cobb Stg. 1. WOW, did I think my car was hurt. But it wasn't. Hasn't happened since, been over a year. I dunno....

I'm not feeling the love for the transmission, that's for sure. Looking at alternatives now.

Well, the only other alternative is manual, and I somehow don't think you're more protected from hitting fuel cut with it

it down shifted and ramped up the RPM, and then couldnt shift fast enough (slush box, this happens in 1st and 2nd without the VB mod) to avoid hitting fuel cut. the stock fuel cut (usually left untouched with tunes) will drop you from high RPM to somewhere around 3-4k i want to say. this will definitely make the car feel like you just killed it.

 

keep an eye on it, though. your tranny could be starting to slip if it continues to happen. the slip makes it longer to shift gears so the RPM keeps climbing even though the transmission is trying to change gears...results in hitting the fuel cut RPM if you've got enough pedal in it. pull off the pedal just a little bit before you reach redline (not a lot, just a little) and it might help.