'00 Forester rear wheels won't pull

Mine is an automatic with 68K. Yesterday morning we got 4" of snow here in SC and I couldn't get out of the driveway. I opened the door and looked back, the rear wheels wern't turning. I drove the Lumina to work (better tires) and started reading the past threads on the subject. I know the AWD was working properly at this time last year when I had it in the snow in WV. I checked to make sure there wasn't a fuse in the FWD slot in the fusebox. I don't think it could be worn out clutch pack due to the relative low mileage. I read in some threads about failing AWD silenoids or accuators but when I called a couple of dealerships and talked to the techs they didn't know of and couldn't find any part listed by those names. They said that it could possibly be a Valve AY Transfer CL (part # 31942AA103). Can anyone advise? I get by on a very modest salary and would like to try and fix this myself if I can get away with it. I'd rate myself as a moderately competant mechanic. I'm mostly concerned with getting a proper diagnosis. -John

Did you have the emergency brake applied before you tried to move?

I wish, It bothers my girlfriend that I never use the parking brake. I've found in some other threads I've been going through that some people have had problems with wireing harness connectors becoming contaminated and shorting out. It seemed silly to think that running my car through a car wash could have caused this but now I'm willing to consider anything. Do you know of any connectors I should be checking out?

Ahem,.....I mean no.

Mine is an automatic with 68K. Yesterday morning we got 4" of snow here in SC and I couldn't get out of the driveway. I opened the door and looked back, the rear wheels wern't turning. I drove the Lumina to work (better tires) and started reading the past threads on the subject. I know the AWD was working properly at this time last year when I had it in the snow in WV. I checked to make sure there wasn't a fuse in the FWD slot in the fusebox. I don't think it could be worn out clutch pack due to the relative low mileage. I read in some threads about failing AWD silenoids or accuators but when I called a couple of dealerships and talked to the techs they didn't know of and couldn't find any part listed by those names. They said that it could possibly be a Valve AY Transfer CL (part # 31942AA103). Can anyone advise? I get by on a very modest salary and would like to try and fix this myself if I can get away with it. I'd rate myself as a moderately competant mechanic. I'm mostly concerned with getting a proper diagnosis. -John

Not all Foresters have posit-traction (limited slip) on the rear axle. If your Forester doesn't have it, then the rear wheel on the passenger side might have been spinning and you would have never have seen it looking out the driver's door.

So are you sure your Forester has a limited slip rear differential?

If it's a '00 Forester L, then it won't have a rear LSD.

If it's a '00 Forester L, then it won't have a rear LSD. I was just thinking that too. The Impreza RS was the only [Impreza-based] Subaru that had rear LSD in 2000, and only late-year ones at that.