littleredhen77

Hello! just thought id chime in here with my 'before' experiences. i bought a 2004 subaru outback sedan in the summer of '14 but after driving it about 6 months it developed some type of electrical? issue that i just cannot figure out. it stumped me all winter, left me without a vehicle for almost a month until i was able to get my truck back to driveable. i had paid $3500 for this car at the time so i was very frustrated that it was just about useless not long after i got it. before this happened the car was driving fine but there was quite a loud knock from the engine when it shifted into passing gear going up hills, so i tried to take it easy on her. fast forward to june 2015, i found another subaru outback sedan, a 2000, on craigs list for $450! car ran and was a daily driver up until january, but had to be parked because it wouldnt take a sticker and the owner couldnt afford parts ((it needed a windshield and tires)) i had to have it! i planned on keeping both of my outbacks so i could have plenty of spare parts. this second one ((ill call it 'the purple one', the 2004 is 'the white one')) was purchased and i had AAA haul it to the garage i work at and the next day we put it up on the lift to look her over. thats when i discovered the ROT! sooo much rot that the rear K frame was very close to being snappd right in half, and it was giving the rear wheels this terrible gangster camber affect lol! she had apparently been driving it like this for awhile because the rear tires were worn down to steel, and one of them was the spare which was also showing wire. while this was discouraging, i did have a complete parts car at home in my driveway, so i had it hauled to my house where i proceeded to swap the rear k frame all as one section with the rear diff, brakes, and struts still attached. now that that part was over, i did a timing job on it, ((car was at 212,000 when i bought it, and there was white crayon on the timing cover that said 116k)) i took swapped wheels off my white one since those tires still had more than half life left on them, changed the spark plugs and wires, changed the oil, all the filters, got it all legal to drive on the road. it drove fine for a week or so, though i was noticing a delay when putting it into drive, which like others have stated would go away with a little big of revving. i hated doing that for fear of breaking something, so i would put it in drive and just sit there for 5-8 seconds until i felt it go it. after that it seems to shift fine going down the road. it did leave me stranded at a stop light one time where it just wouldnt go anywhere until i shifted it back through the gears..very embarassing! that night after work i bought a new pan filter, spin on filter, and fluid, and changed it in the driveway. i hadnt even researched anything yet but i figured this car had obviously been neglected for however long the previous owner had it, and could prolly use the fresh fluid. it seemed to shift into drive nice and quick that night when the new fluid had just been added and i was running it through the gears to check the fluid level. but then the next morning it was back to having the delay again. very discouraging. i was actually doing some reading on a transmission swap when i found this forum. i was very close to just swapping the valve body from my white one into the purple one if in fact they were the same, to see if that would cure it. but now im going to pick up some of that trans x and try that instead. i seem to be having the same issue all of you have had and im hoping this solves it for me too! its nice to know that i do already have another transmission at my house i can use if it doesnt, and where this car was so cheap i dont mind putting all these labor hours into it especially since it helps me justify having wasted so much money on the white car that crapped out on me so soon. at least im getting my moneys worth out of it in parts lol! so hopefully tomorrow after work i will have everything i need to do this. where the filters were just changed about a week ago, and 5 fresh quarts were added, i think ill be ready to drain the pan again and add more fresh fluid along with the treatment and that should leave me with mostly all new fluid. sorry for the long longggg post but..im a woman and i like to thoroughly explain myself