FIXED!! Trany delayed forward engagement

[Rooster2]

Hello

 

The car is back since several hours. Driving is OK, but it is too soon to tell that everything is OK because it has been always like this the first weeks after they changed the transmission oil! I noticed though that the car drives off faster after having put the lever into "D". There's 1 bottle of Trans-X (1 quart) added to the transmission oil.

 

Keep your fingers crossed, just like ours!

 

Greetz

 

Guy

 

 

Guy,

 

I too, have my fingers crossed that Trans-X will work well for you. Please continue to keep us posted on how well your trany continues to perform.

Regards, Larry (Rooster)

[Cougar]

Having the transmission engage immediately when you shift to Drive is a good sign the valve trouble is fixed. I think you will find the trouble doesn't come back. Hopefully at least, this is the end of this sordid tale.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Cougar

[Gentz]

After doing my HG, I put in a bottle of the miracle cure during the fluids refill. Seems to have helped but has not yet completely solved my problem. Still slips some in the 1st to 2nd shift when cold. Its only been about 200 miles so we will see how it goes.

[johnceggleston]

After doing my HG, I put in a bottle of the miracle cure during the fluids refill. Seems to have helped but has not yet completely solved my problem. Still slips some in the 1st to 2nd shift when cold. Its only been about 200 miles so we will see how it goes.

 

year, model, miles?

 

what was the trans doing that made you think trans-x would help?

[guyc]

Hello

 

As all of you helped me very well, I promised myself to keep you updated.

 

1. So, yes, the transmission is still working well. Until now, it has always performed OK.

 

But... Since approximately 2 weeks now, I notice a delay of 2-3 seconds (which was not just after we had our car back) when shifting to "D" after the car has been parked for more than 4 hours or so. And also since we had our car back, the shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear sometimes happens with a short peak of high rpm.

 

I must admit: the transmission fluid has not been drained fully (it has been inside since some 25,000 km or 15,000 miles) and the car stays always in open air, even overnight, and temperatures were very low because the winter here has been extremely long and cold. (Temperatures were always below 0 °C = below 32 °F.)

 

2. I have visited another garage this weekend for another reason. There I explained that the problem of the transmission has been solved. The man (but I don't know if I can believe him) told me that he had a similar problem with another car, and changing the torque converter solved the problem there.

 

Any suggestions / feedback on 1. and 2.?

 

Thanks and greetz

 

Guy, Belgium

Edited March 15, 2010 by guyc

[Rooster2]

Hello

 

As all of you helped me very well, I promised myself to keep you updated.

 

1. So, yes, the transmission is still working well. Until now, it has always performed OK.

 

But... Since approximately 2 weeks now, I notice a delay of 2-3 seconds (which was not just after we had our car back) when shifting to "D" after the car has been parked for more than 4 hours or so. And also since we had our car back, the shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear sometimes happens with a short peak of high rpm.

 

I must admit: the transmission fluid has not been drained fully (it has been inside since some 25,000 km or 15,000 miles) and the car stays always in open air, even overnight, and temperatures were very low because the winter here has been extremely long and cold. (Temperatures were always below 0 °C = below 32 °F.)

 

2. I have visited another garage this weekend for another reason. There I explained that the problem of the transmission has been solved. The man (but I don't know if I can believe him) told me that he had a similar problem with another car, and changing the torque converter solved the problem there.

 

Any suggestions / feedback on 1. and 2.?

 

Thanks and greetz

 

Guy, Belgium

 

Guy,

In my opinion, after thinking about all that you have done to improve the performance of your ailing transmission, I am thinking it would it be better to replace the transmission with a good used one from a wrecking yard. Even if you replaced the torque converter, the transmission has led a hard life, and still may have additional problems.

[bulwnkl]

If the 'easy' and 'cheap' fixes didn't work, then perhaps it's time to replace parts. I once had a '99 Outback wagon that experienced delayed forward engagement. It was under warranty at the time, so I made no effort to try my own fixes, I just took it straight to the dealer. They replaced the torque converter, and that solved the issue for the next 10 or 15k miles (we got rid of it after that).

 

I should note that we only had ~55k miles on the car when that occurred.

[bheinen74]

okay my brothers delay cam back about 6 months after the trans x additive was added.

It was just added to the trans at the time he bought it, and we drained a cup or so of the normal out then and the delay went away, until it finally came back.

 

Well, it came back, so he drained the whole transmission and filled with new Amsoil synthetic, and i think he just said it was fine again.

 

will report again.

[paulbram]

New user here. 2000 Outback with 125,000 miles. I'm thinking I have the same issue as everyone else. My Outback usually engages from P to D just fine, although it can be a bit harsh and slow when cold. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to kick in. What has been happening to me from time to time is when I pull up to a stop light or pull off of the freeway to a stop sign, it will sometimes slip out of drive and then just kick in kind of hard when I give it some gas. The other day I pulled up to a stop light and when it turned green I hit the gas and nothing happened. What I did NOT do is give it very much gas. I just figured my transmission was shot. Moved it from P to D back and forth, nothing. The only gear that worked was reverse. Some fine folks pushed me into the gas station parking lot and after a few attempts I was able to get it into drive and it seemed to be working just fine again. All this time I never reved up the engine very high at all, I didn't even think to try that.

 

After finding this forum and reading up on all the Trans-X success I went to my local AutoZone and picked some up. I then brought my car to the Subaru dealership and told them to flush the transmission fluid and replace it with a Synthetic. They said their standard TX fluid is synthetic anyways. I then told them to leave it 15 oz short and gave them the Trans-X "fix in a can" I picked up. It's at the dealer now. I'll report back how it goes. I really hope this is the same issue as everyone else. At 120K miles, I'll have a hard time justifying spending too much money on this car.

 

Thanks!

[Rooster2]

New user here. 2000 Outback with 125,000 miles. I'm thinking I have the same issue as everyone else. My Outback usually engages from P to D just fine, although it can be a bit harsh and slow when cold. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to kick in. What has been happening to me from time to time is when I pull up to a stop light or pull off of the freeway to a stop sign, it will sometimes slip out of drive and then just kick in kind of hard when I give it some gas. The other day I pulled up to a stop light and when it turned green I hit the gas and nothing happened. What I did NOT do is give it very much gas. I just figured my transmission was shot. Moved it from P to D back and forth, nothing. The only gear that worked was reverse. Some fine folks pushed me into the gas station parking lot and after a few attempts I was able to get it into drive and it seemed to be working just fine again. All this time I never reved up the engine very high at all, I didn't even think to try that.

 

After finding this forum and reading up on all the Trans-X success I went to my local AutoZone and picked some up. I then brought my car to the Subaru dealership and told them to flush the transmission fluid and replace it with a Synthetic. They said their standard TX fluid is synthetic anyways. I then told them to leave it 15 oz short and gave them the Trans-X "fix in a can" I picked up. It's at the dealer now. I'll report back how it goes. I really hope this is the same issue as everyone else. At 120K miles, I'll have a hard time justifying spending too much money on this car.

 

Thanks!

 

 

There is an external automatic transmission filter on your car that I recommend you change, but don't drop the trany pan to replace the mesh screen filter. I don't think they ever need changing. In my experience, the Trans-X fix will be noticeable after driving the car about 10 minutes. Trans-X seems to fix the problem of delayed trany engagement, when moving the shift lever from R to D. Your problem of "slipping out of gear," may indicate a different kind of problem. Let us know if Trans-X is working for you.

[paulbram]

Well, I picked it up and drove it to work this morning. I guess it's too early to tell if anything is improved. Like I said before, it's rare that it falls out of gear, and has only caused me to get stuck once. It was about a 20 minute drive to work so I'm hoping that it shifts smoothly into D on my way home instead of the usual delay and hard shift.

[guyc]

Hello guys

 

This probably will be one of my last messages in this thread. Last week on Wednesday, I saw a legacy like ours but 2 years younger and which had only 120.000 km (instead of 240.000 km). It was for sale at a dealer at 5 minutes' from my house. And it was a manual transmission.

 

What a coincidence: the next day, the AT of our car failed again! So I started thinking: Rooster2's comment on my previous posting, all the time I spent on the car, all the problematic driving situations we have had and the fact that the error occurred under warranty. Suddenly I realised that I lost my faith in this car. After some days of deliberation and phoning to my dealer and the vendor, my wife and I decided to sell our legacy with AT back to dealer and to buy the legacy with the manual transmission!

 

Financially, everybody lost: the dealer and, we didn't do any bargain. But at least now our problem is solved. We again have a reliable car and I can spend more time on building our strawbale house, so that my wife can give birth to our second child in a nice home! After all, it is only a car (even if it is a subaru) and life goes on. Now we will install LPG in it and than: no more car problems for several months!!!

 

I wish to thank everyone of you who helped by giving feedback, advice or concrete help. I hope your problems will be solved too, just like ours, one way or another.

 

Greetings from Belgium in the spring

 

Guy

[brus brother]

Hello guys

 

This probably will be one of my last messages in this thread. Last week on Wednesday, I saw a legacy like ours but 2 years younger and which had only 120.000 km (instead of 240.000 km). It was for sale at a dealer at 5 minutes' from my house. And it was a manual transmission.

 

What a coincidence: the next day, the AT of our car failed again! So I started thinking: Rooster2's comment on my previous posting, all the time I spent on the car, all the problematic driving situations we have had and the fact that the error occurred under warranty. Suddenly I realised that I lost my faith in this car. After some days of deliberation and phoning to my dealer and the vendor, my wife and I decided to sell our legacy with AT back to dealer and to buy the legacy with the manual transmission!

 

Financially, everybody lost: the dealer and, we didn't do any bargain. But at least now our problem is solved. We again have a reliable car and I can spend more time on building our strawbale house, so that my wife can give birth to our second child in a nice home! After all, it is only a car (even if it is a subaru) and life goes on. Now we will install LPG in it and than: no more car problems for several months!!!

 

I wish to thank everyone of you who helped by giving feedback, advice or concrete help. I hope your problems will be solved too, just like ours, one way or another.

 

Greetings from Belgium in the spring

 

Guy

This really wasn't about the Subaru anyway.

Life is not solely about the journey. It's mostly about the people you meet along the way. Good luck with your adventures.

ps damn shame the trans x didn't work:-\

[Rooster2]

This really wasn't about the Subaru anyway.

Life is not solely about the journey. It's mostly about the people you meet along the way. Good luck with your adventures.

ps damn shame the trans x didn't work:-\

 

Good luck, Guy, I hope your newest Subaru gives you great service....Larry

[timstu1]

Just another follow up endorsement on the benefits of the Trans-x: I posted in mid 2009 that my 2000 Outback had a delay of 30+ seconds that I had been dealing with for over a year. I've now put 25,000 miles on it since adding trans-x and it continues to work fine.

 

I have changed the fluid about every 8-10,000 miles though - the delay slowly grows over time but with a drain, fresh fluid and the trans-x it improves again. Even at its worst point with the trans-x it was only a very small delay versus the 30+ second delay in the past. In fact I just drained and added it last weekend and the small delay has completely disappeared.

Thanks again to Rooster

[Rooster2]

Just another follow up endorsement on the benefits of the Trans-x: I posted in mid 2009 that my 2000 Outback had a delay of 30+ seconds that I had been dealing with for over a year. I've now put 25,000 miles on it since adding trans-x and it continues to work fine.

 

I have changed the fluid about every 8-10,000 miles though - the delay slowly grows over time but with a drain, fresh fluid and the trans-x it improves again. Even at its worst point with the trans-x it was only a very small delay versus the 30+ second delay in the past. In fact I just drained and added it last weekend and the small delay has completely disappeared.

Thanks again to Rooster

 

Glad to hear that a second treatment of Trans-X is solving the delay problem again. I prolly need to do the same thing. After two years on Trans-X, my trany is starting to get just a little bit lazy again in shifting from R to D. Best regards, Larry (Rooster2)

[dptyrob]

I picked up a nice clean 95 Legacy from a friend & co-worker. It is having the delayed engagement and shifting a little bit oddly, which is why it has been parked a couple of years now. I'm thinking about changing the filter, flushing the fluid, replacing it with a synthetic and adding the trans-x before going the transmission replacement route with a used transmission. I've seen an external filter mentioned several times throughout the thread, but don't see one listed for it on the advance auto parts web site, though I do see what appears to be an internal filter and pan gasket set. I'm guessing this means that they didn't have an external filter on the 95 model, but wanted to double check.

[Mike104]

I don't recall when they added the spin on filter to the 4EAT transmission but on my 99 OBW its on the side of the transmission and I can see it by looking under the car by the drivers door. I seem to recall there being another location (in engine compt under battery?) for other models.

 

If you have a spin on filter read this thread before you install one from the parts store:

 

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/23762-subaru-transmission-filter-different.html

 

My thought would be if it doesn't have a spin on filter you may be better off to just do the fluid drain & refill and leave the filter alone. (MHO)

[forscheezee]

WOW, after nearly buying a $800 used trans for my 2000 Legacy I came across this 'fix-in-a-can'. This car has left us stranded in random parking lots for up to 10 minutes!! Well up until today!

 

Drained about a gallon, replaced the filter and fluid and added 15oz of Trans-X and almost INSTANTLY the delay was GONE!

 

This has saved me lots of time and money and has made some people very happy! I highly recommend this as a fist option to anyone with a dely in forward engagement!

 

Thanks again.

[brus brother]

WOW, after nearly buying a $800 used trans for my 2000 Legacy I came across this 'fix-in-a-can'. This car has left us stranded in random parking lots for up to 10 minutes!! Well up until today!

 

Drained about a gallon, replaced the filter and fluid and added 15oz of Trans-X and almost INSTANTLY the delay was GONE!

 

This has saved me lots of time and money and has made some people very happy! I highly recommend this as a fist option to anyone with a dely in forward engagement!

 

Thanks again.

My 2000 Legacy GT (now sold) had the tranny replaced at 35k for delayed engagement under warranty. I'm not sure that even with a used tranny you may just be buying another problem waiting to happen... again. The replacement which came from Subaru may have had a redesign as it never recurred. Glad you saved some $.

[scotte6]

OK, anybody have any advice for when this doesn't work? I have a 99 obw that is slipping very bad. How difficult is it to replace a tranny? I have done head gaskets on another car so I know my way around a bit. Any advice will be appreciated.

[Markus56]

pull motor. remove front cv's. remove driveshaft. pull tranny

[brus brother]

Scotte6 asked: "How difficult is it to replace a tranny?"

 

pull motor. remove front cv's. remove driveshaft. pull tranny

 

Translation: Drive to Mount Vernon, WA (where Markus lives), leave keys in ignition with nice thank you note and Markus will have it done in just a few words...

Edited July 13, 2010 by brus brother

[scotte6]

If Markus was on this coast that would be a deal! All joking aside, is that the best method (pull motor)?

[aa8jzdial]

yup.

It is not as bad as it looks.

After doing it a few times, 2 guys in an hour and a half is not difficult.

(If everything goes right.)

r