Trans cooler lines

[CoupedUpSubie]

A friend of mine has a leak from the trans cooler lines by the cooler. The car is a 97 Legacy. I have seen people say that 5/16" hose. Can I easily replace this without jacking the car up? I have been able to fit under every stock height subaru I have worked on. Also is there anything I should do to prevent air binding or proper filling of the lines?

[porcupine73]

I've had those pipes rust out on two of my soobs, where they pass under the battery. I replaced it with hose. I think I did use 5/16" hose, fuel injection hose in one case because it was what I had on hand. 3/8" hose works but seems a little too big iirc.

 

More than one well respected member I think suggested buying the replacement metal lines, maybe $40 or so, rather than replacing the whole length with hose.

 

I was careful to keep the hoses matched up in the order they originally were going into/out of the rad.

 

I guess if you can fit under there without jacking you can do it. I just pull up on ramps for jobs like this that don't require removing any wheels. You don't necessarily need to get under the vehicle to replace those lines with hoses but where they are near the heater hoses it is a bit of restricted access for the hands to fit in there.

[CoupedUpSubie]

Would they be metal if it was installed after the car was made? I haven't looked at it yet. I'm just looking for as much info as I can so I know what I am looking for and what not, first time really dealing with an A/T.

[porcupine73]

Oh I don't know, I just assumed you meant the cooler in the radiator. The oem add on cooler I don't know off hand how it installed. I've seen the metal lines under the battery rust out a few times though.