I have a feeling they will know wether it was damaged by everyday driving or being towed incorrectly. Towed from the front, front tires stay still and the rears turn. Not exactly something that occurs in everyday driving in an AWD car. I'm just afraid for you if you go and fib slightly and then they say, "well there's no way you get that from everyday driving, you have to pay for this."

It's a tuff decision to make, but I think telling them the truth may be the better way to go. This is a tuffy.

BTW - Thanks for the smiley explanation.

 

Go to a dealer you usually dont go to. Pretend you want to buy an evo. Say the following:

"It's 4wd right?"
"I heard you need to tow these on a flatbed"
"So what happens of someone tows it and doesnt know its 4wd"
"Really.. the center diff will get messed up. And whose problem would that be?"

 

Guys, guys..chill. The center diff is a viscous coupling. It will be fine as long as it wasn't moved far or at high speed...let us be thankful that for once it was a good thing we didn't have all of the electronic diff crap...!

 

Don't tell the dealership it was towed improperly. A claim against the towing companies insurance provider is your first step. If they don't cooperate then hire an attorney and sue for the damage to your "Active Center Differential" and "Super-Active Yaw Control". Also, you might want to slap an AWD sticker on your car. Anyone know why the Evo doesn't have one? Do all lack the AWD sticker?

 

Is there a receipt from the towing company to prove that they towed the vehicle? If there isn't they might not admit to hooking up to it.

The towing companies insurance should cover any damages.

I would tell the dealer service exactly what happened.

 

I would agree. I had a Subaru 2.5 RS and I did a few E-brake hairpin turns like in WRC and the VC seemed fine. Although it wasn't good for it and probably decreased its life-span, it probably decreased the life span of your center diff.

 

Have the whole drivetrain checked, if there's any damage or damage that can occur later go after the towing company. Hell I say go after them anyways. I hate towing companies they're utter scum rarely are they there to "help". I see them trolling the city streets looking to tow and screw people for an outrageous $90+ dollars for an half hour (or less) of work. Someone I knew went to small claims court and won against a towing company then they had the nerve to appeal it and lost again YET they still haven't paid up.

You are in the RIGHT on this one! The towing company @#$*ed up!

 

If you search on nasioc.com you will find many horror stories about getting towed without dollies or on a flat bed.

Have the toe company flatbed your EVO down to the nearest dealer and have it checked out.

Even towing for such a small distance can screw up your center diff. Don't believe me, search on nasioc....

the tow company ****ed up, if your cars drivetrain (center diff in particular) you get a new one on their bill...

 

I would just tell them you have a noise, the damn dealers are looking to screw all of us that own these cars. So lets screw them!

 

My 98 was towed a couple of years ago, rear end in the air.
After everything was done, my insurance company paid for a complete new transmission, and creamed the tow company for that cost, the cost of moving the vehicle between dealers, and various other costs. It is 100% the tow company's responsibility to tow any car correctly, in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. It's their job to know.

In the case of my 98, the bushings inside the centre diff were ground away and the spider gears welded themselves to the cross-shaft. The Viscous Coupling was also destroyed. I don't know the design details of the EVO transmission, but there's a good chance exactly the same damage has been done to yours. AWD DSMs survive about 1/8th of a mile before damage sets in, depending on the bearing/bushing/shim setup in an EVO diff, similar results can be expected.

Call your insurance company, tell them your car was towed and now it makes nasty noises - they'll know exactly what happened without you going any further. You do have full insurance I hope...?

Charles

 

The tow truck company is definately responsible for any damage incurred. He only has the right to move your vehicle but not to destroy the transfer case. Incompetance on their part can easily be shown. Make them pay...

 

so far no new noises coming from drivetrain cars has all the same annoying sounds. car drives the same.

you guys think i should just wait it out and see if anything happens down the line, hopefully within the warranty period.

 

Dude,

The tow company was wrong in how your vehicle was treated. You should definately get it checked ASAP so that your claim can be justified. Tell the dealer service how it was towed, not necessarily how far, unless you have measured it. They will have recommendations.

It may have messed up your clutch too wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more...

If you wait until something happens later, much later, you may have no recourse.

 

DONT WORRY. If its not making any new noises, you lucked out, be careful next time. Change the transfere case fluid if you havent already...

 

If it was picked up from the rear and the car was in neutral, the only thing I can think of getting hurt is the viscous coupler. Everything else would be freewheeling. That said, I'd take it to the dealership and see if they can help you out.

Think about it, the viscous is sitting there with one set of blades stationary, one moving with the front wheels. So the fluid starts heating up and thickening up, trying to match the speeds of the blades, which it can't. I don't know the failure mechanism, but I can guess at a few things that might happen:

1. The fluid heats up enough, breaks down, louses its coupling abilities. Say goodbye to the limited slip action of your center diff since your coupler doesn't couple anymore.

2. Maybe the fluid gets so thick that it causes all sorts of nasty internal damage to the blades in the viscous coupler. Like bending, warping, or breaking.

That's just speculation of course... but your viscous was running in an undesirable mode for a long period of time. At the very least I'd say the fluid got a little baked and the life of the coupler has probably been shortened. I don't think it's something you'd actually notice, unless you were in tune with your car, too. If the viscous stops coupling, then your center diff just acts as an open diff rather than a limited slip diff, which may make you think that everything is working fine.