bheinen74 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) My dad said he noticed a shutter sound when going into high gear lockup, in my parents 06 Legacy Sedan 2.5 limited, automatic. Car has 45k miles. He drained the ATF, it is BURNT. Mind you people, Iowa is pretty darn flat, my dad is 72 and my mom is 71. They do not drive it past the speed limit. They did not buy the car new, but with only 45k on the ATF, it sure should not be burnt. It is black. I looked at it. I smelled it. Yes it is black yes it smells burnt. Like said, he noticed a shudder sound on high gear lockup, so decided try to drain and refill the ATF, but has no idea it was burnt and black. WTH. Anybody got any answers it would be appreciated. Dad is concerned, and frankly so am I. We both think at that mileage it should not be burnt. My parents purchased the car i think at 35k miles and he did change the spin on ATF filter when he bought the car. My mom does not use the paddle downshift, but my dad does use that auto shift down all the time. I said that may not be good for it, he swears it would not have that function if it wasnt designed to be used. Again, only 45k actual on this one. Driven by my mother mostly, like said they have put maybe 12k on the car or near it since they bought it I am thinking this is bad and will only get worse. He is going to drive it like 15 miles now that it has new Subaru OEM genuine ATF synthetic in it, then he is going to drain and refill for 2 more times. Is there a known issue on this? I thought the Auto's were rock solid.. Edited October 5, 2011 by bheinen74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I had a thread resembling this a few years ago and I believe some pic sin the thread or in my "album" of the ex GF's. I was just doing normal servicing and was amazed at how used up the fluid was. She had no symptoms at the time. I have no idea how she's made out since (and it ain't worth opening that can of worms to ask). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Is it still under the powertrain 60K warranty? If so, take it to the dealer and have it looked at. This is from the Subaru web-site. "Powertrain Limited Warranty Coverage: 5 Years / 60,000 Miles The components in your Subaru that are part of the powertrain are covered for a period of 5 years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first. Defective parts will be repaired, or, at the option of SOA or your authorized Subaru dealer, replaced with a new or remanufactured part without charge to you for labor or materials. The powertrain components include the major parts of the engine, transaxle and differential. A complete list of the covered parts, along with important details concerning coverages, limitations and your responsibilities under this warranty can be found in your Subaru Warranty and Maintenance Booklet. Please read your booklet carefully. If you're not sure about whether a specific failure on your Subaru is covered, your Subaru dealer will be able to inspect your vehicle and answer any questions you have." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eulogious Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Uh. That is really strange. I know you are supposed to change it out at 60K, but to have it be black at 45K. Strange indeed. Since the car wasn't bought new, who knows what the PO did to the car, or how they drove it. They could have beat the living snot out of it for 35K. You never know. But I would be surely be blaming the PO for this one. Your folks don't seem to be the type that would be balls to the walls all the time. I would also look into taking it to the dealer to see what they say about it, if it's free of course. Other wise a few drain and fills should clean up anything funky with it. Just keep an eye on it, it should be fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Draining the ATF, only removes about half the ATF from the transmission. The other half remains in the torque converter. You really need to drain and fill three times (with short drives between refills) to do the job really right. Black burnt ATF is a sign that the trany fluid got really hot, and prolly repeatedly so during its life time. You have to drive a car really really hard to do that, or have the car severely over loaded on a long drive to over heat the ATF. Does your Subie have a trailer hitch on it? If so, maybe the previous owner pulled a heavy trailer, which caused the ATF to over heat. Subie automatic transmissions are built really strong. They do not have a history of problems. I suspect the previous owner is the culprit in this story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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