hankosolder2

Well, that's not what I wanted to hear, but it's probably the truth. This has the spin-on external filter, which I replaced with the correct OEM part at the first fluid change. Is there an internal filter as well? I did not see any dents on the pan. Nathan

OK, I've now changed the fluid multiple times, added and drained around 12qts of ATF, I've also been driving the car a bit more so I can note the issues. Temps below around 40 degrees: -somewhat delayed engagement of Drive in cold weather. Not really much of an issue, but a potential point of concern. -"flare" on the 1-2 shift, flare on 2-3 shift, drastic slip/flare followed by a violent slam when the torque converter locks up (I think.) It's a little hard to tell exactly what what's happening... After about 2 blocks, it drives and shifts fine, all symptoms disappear. When warm it will click off nice shifts even at WOT without a trace of flare or other issues. The symptoms are reduced or eliminated in warmer weather. Does anyone know what part(s) could be bad? Any thoughts about whether it can last like this? I think I can work around it by just leaving the car in 2nd for the first couple of blocks (need to experiment) but I need to make a decision about what to do (or not do) about this issue.

Will do. Any thoughts about whether I should do multiple filter changes as well? I was thinking maybe two more drain / fill cycles, keep the filter (which I just changed), then do one more drain / fill and a 2nd filter swap in the spring.

Changed the fluid and filter today. Old fluid is looking pretty bad. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52174895@N02/16013268182/ I swear it has a slight odor of gear oil as well, but the level on the diff side is up to the mark. Comments, questions, suggestions? I'm definitely going to do some extra fluid changes ASAP. Is my trans borked? I've always had 5MT vehicles, and this experience is a good example of why.

Fairtax, I did not know that. So, in general, other than actually taking a sample of the fluid and sending it off for analysis, there's really no way of knowing if someone has filled with the incorrect fluid. In this specific case the car was dealer only serviced since new, so presumably the only fluids they could have added would have been Subaru's version of Dexron or Subaru's HP fluid so I just wanted to verify that the dealer added the correct version of fluid. Presumably Subaru has consistent color coding specs for each type of their fluid.

Thanks! Is that photo pouring out some HP ATF for my homies? :-) To me, the HP fluid doesn't look as different from Dexron as I was lead to believe. Ordered the HP fluid, and an OE trans filter. I'll probably drain, fill and change the filter for now. Repeat when the weather improves and just keep an eye on things. I wouldn't be surprised if this was normal(ish) ... it's just a 2 sec or so delay to engage Drive in very cold weather and an occasional harsh shift. Nathan

No to the Fel-Pro. They have a good rep for domestic stuff, but I have read of issues here. OEM Subaru or six star are the way to go.

Bought an '07 Forester (4EAT, I guess. No 5 speed auto in the Foresters at this point, yes?) 1 owner, dealer maintained from new, 47K miles. In cold weather, drive is slow to engage. It will also sometimes do an extremely harsh shift on the roll. (I'm not the primary driver of this vehicle, so I haven't been able to pinpoint just when it happens. It did it once when I was driving and it was downright dramatic.) Anyway, I decided to check the trans fluid. The color looks very close to regular Dexron. Isn't this vehicle supposed to have the HP fluid? Can anyone help me ID what color the fluid should be? Thanks!

Thanks!

I've got a '98 Legacy 4EAT I'm trying to get through emissions. If I jack this car up so all 4 wheels are off the ground and put the FWD fuse in, is it possible to do a "drive cycle" and set the readiness monitors without actually driving it on the road? Nathan

I thought the same as you... all 5W-30s would be equally viscous. That must true under the temperatures and conditions of the viscosity rating test, but it seems to be untrue in practice- synthetic oils just seem to be less viscous when judged by how they pour. (Note, I'm not a synthetic oil fanboy by any means, I use Dino oil and only use synthetics when the manufacturer mandates it.) I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has observed this and if they understand the reason.

Well, as luck would have it, I have a set of four like new snow tires size 195/60/15 from my Accord (it burned a valve and is going to be donated.) So, I will need a set of 15" rims which will fit the Subies (the Honda rims are 4-lug) and I'll be golden. (I don't like seasonally swapping tires on to rims... too much hassle.) Thanks to all who helped.

The Legacy L has 14" wheels, with the stock 185/70/14.

I've got a '98 Legacy 4EAT and a '98 OBW 5MT. Is there a snow / tire rim combo which can fit both cars? The OBW has the larger brakes, so I don't think a standard Legacy rim/tire will clear. My concern is that both cars are high mileage and if one dies, I'd still like to be able to use the tires/rims on the other car for this winter. TIA, Nathan

Here's my thought... the O2 sensor is going to adjust the mixture. Unless the difference in the long term fuel trims is outside of the maximum window allowed, it will work OK. The mixture might be a bit off when you floor it and it goes open loop, but I wouldn't be surprised if that is scaled based on the long term fuel trim values "learned" during closed loop operation. This is speculation, not based on actually having tried this. You could ask someone who has done the swap what their long term fuel trim values read to see how close you are cutting it.

How about getting all 4 wheels off the ground? Put it in D with your foot off the brake- if it doesn't stall, and then does when you apply the brakes and stop the wheels from turning, it's most likely the TC is locked, and the symptoms will be just like a stick shift car where you can't disengage the clutch. I'm liking presslab's logic here.

Replace the knock sensor. It's inexpensive enough (from e-bay) that it's not worth the time getting into attempting to diagnose it. If you change it and still have knock sensor codes, then you'll need to trace the wiring. 97% chance it's the sensor itself. It's a known failure on these cars. The EVAP code can be a huge pain to troubleshoot, but it won't effect how the car runs. Don't worry about it for now, unless you have emissions inspection in your area.

Shop #3 did install a used diff, supposedly with 60K miles on it. (That mileage always seems to surface on used car parts... I think it's the lowest possible credible number or something when you're pulling a fictious mileage out of your rump.) The price was not a great bargain (they doubled the J/Y price on the used diff and charged a pretty decent chunk of labor to install it) but it saved me a 400 mile round trip drive, and it's working well now, so fine by me! They said there were chunks of metal in the oil, so that implies there was some oil in there.... :-) Nathan

Well, the rear differerential was replaced by indie shop #3 and the car supposedly drives just fine now. So I think the rear diff failed due to something other than the strain caused by torque bind- or we'd be back to having torque bind symptoms. As I mentioned in my first post, the "binding" sensation I experienced when driving the car was different than anything I'd experienced in a Subaru suffering from torque bind- it was a sharp, snapping "WTF was that?!" type of sensation, not the shuddering/chattering sensation of normal torque bind.

I would suggest you steer over to legacycentral.org - it's a site dedicated to first generation turbo legacies. I believe there's even detailed auto>manual swap info over there. Good luck with your project!

Independent shop #3 also says it's the rear diff. She's probably going to have them fix it there- at a price which will have USMB folks cringing. I'll report back with the outcome in case anyone is curious.

Well, I'm not sure I want to burden any USMB folks with my family members! She's taking it to yet another shop on Monday, we'll see what they say and take it from there. Thanks to all for their suggestions so far.

I forgot about the questions! I do not know if the diff was low on oil. 160K miles on the car. I do believe the diff had a fluid change in the past at the dealer.

I know TOONGA mentioned a mechanical water temp gauge (jokingly?) but how about an electrical coolant temp gauge? Isn't the one on the dash "buffered" by the ECU to pretty much point at the center unless the car is grossly overheating? It might be interesting to see what your actual coolant temp is. (Then again, you probably still have a scan gauge for that.) Just a thought.

Turns out it is an '01. Still probably 4.44? It's so irritating dealing with this long distance- totally conflicting diagnoses, ridiculous prices, etc. If the car was in town, I could do my own diagnosis, could pop a J/Y diff in there and or disconnect the drive shaft for pennies on the dollar. Gary, is it possible to non-destructively pull the rear half shaft axles out of the outer CV joints? I'm trying to figure out a way to fix this car for sure in a single trip if I drive up there to help her out. So, I'm thinking pull the rear half shafts (leaving the outer cup/splined shaft/axle nut ) and pull the rear driveshaft to the diff. But, it would be nice to have it be easily reversible so it can be fixed properly later.