Trans question. . .
 

At nearly 163,000 miles, the only hint of transmission problems has been a reluctance to shift to fourth until the transmission warms up in cold weather. Since I've been having that problem for a little while, I went to get a backflush and filter change. The shop I went to said that a local parts house had the filter and gasket, but when they received them, the bolt pattern was all wrong. They've ordered another, with what they believe is the right bolt pattern (20 holes, rather than 13?), hoping that the filter will be the right one. Anyone else run into this? The filter they've ordered is from like an '89 1.8L three-speed, or something like that. (My car definately has the original four-speed.) What's up?

The tranny filter is special to the SVX i think. The pan pattern should not be any different than anyother 4EAT tranny. I got my origional one from Napa.
Make sure they get it right or you will need a new tranny sooner than you want.

Steve

I've had nothing but problems with aftermarket replacement transmission filters. In the past, I've had to do exactly what your shop did - compare pictures and ordr one that looked right. Even then I've had to make some sort of minor alteration to the filter. In the case of my wife's Legacy, I had to overfill the tranny a little because the pickup in the replacement screen wasn't as long as the original part. Nice.

Oh, and when I tried to find one at my local dealer, they said they didn't stock them because they literally never replaced them. That was their policy - to never replace an internal screen. I didn't really get the reasons why. My guess is that they're just as mystified by Subaru automatics as most owners, so they prefer not to crack them open.

Are you sure a backflush is a good idea? If I was to flush a tranny, especially one that old, I'd flush it forwards. Backflushing just seems like begging for blockage somewhere. On a tranny that old, there is undoubtably debris floating around in there.

Hey pockets why would they be mystified by suby automatics? Are they different from any other car?

I was talking to a person(a rebuiler shop person) at one of my jobs not to long ago and she said the do everything BUT Sube and Volvo

Tranny
 

Hi Steve, This has been posted before. The SVX transmission will not shift into fourth untill the transmission reaches 50 drgrees F. It will also not "lock up" till the transmission reaches 150 degrees F. So, it sounds like your transmission is operating as it should. Draining and putting new ATF in would not hurt anything. Take care, BOBB

Thanks for the replies, all.

Bobb, I think I had heard that before, but I've actually never encountered any difficulties with shifting to fourth when cold - even when we visited Colorado/Idaho/Utah, where we encountered many sub-zero mornings. That being said, the only time I notice it now is when I'm leaving work, where I leave the parking lot into a 55 mph zone. Most times, it's a short drive through town to get to a highway. Maybe that's the difference. I'm so confused!

Nick, I'll admit that I don't know much about the process, so while I might have heard someone say backflush somewhere, I really don't know if the shop plans to back or forward flush, nor do I really understand why that might make a difference. So, might you guys just recommend changing the fluid, without back or forward flushing? Or should I just leave well enough alone?

The car's going to the Subaru mechanic next week for a new axle and it's first plug change. :o Maybe I'll see what they recommend.

Re: Tranny
 

Thanks Bobb
I just changed my tranny fluid tonight and it is running better. Also I have noticed that it will lock up after it warms up. Darn Minnesota cold weather. :mad:

Steve

Thanks Bobb
I will change my tranny fluid and assume it will run better. Also it should then lock up after it warms up. Darn Illinois cold weather. ;)

Steve (the other :D )

Re: Tranny
 

Bobb, you're right. I forgot that it won't shift into 4th until it reaches operating temp. For some reason I was thinking that it wouldn't lock up, but would go through all the gears. Thanks.

Steve, there are flushing machines that hook up to the cooler lines. As the tranny pumps old fluid to the cooler, the machine takes that fluid and pumps the same volume of fresh fluid back to the tranny.

As far as I'm concerned, this shouldn't hurt anything or place any more strain on the tranny than normal operation. You're just replacing dirty (or burned) fluid with new fluid, much the same way the tranny replaces its own hot fluid with (supposedly) cooler fluid.

But, and this is a big one, there have been a slightly worrying number of tranny failures right after a flush. My theory is that these trannies were on their way out anyway and owners thought they'd try a flush as a band-aid.

My 133k mile tranny failed a week after its flush, but that was after the flush made it work again by clearing a blockage somewhere. My tranny was an example of one that was on its way out anyway - the flush did not harm my car, I am covinced.

Who would have thought that two Steve's would have similar problem on the same thread.:confused:

Darn small cold world:cool:

Steve (SVX-FF)

Best bet is to go to your local parts store and if they offer up two different internal filters buy both of them and use the one that matches the one already in your trans - Subaru has changed the way the mounting bolts are arranged over the years in the 4HEAT. Then just return the one you don't use.
:cool:

On what year models was the external canister ("campaign") filter installed? Did it become standard equipment after the early cooler-screen-clogging transmission ills?

I've wondered if there's any need to bother with replacing the internal screen if one has a regularly-changed external filter in place. Thoughts, anyone...?

dcb

Steve-

Like Bobb said, it is actually normal behavior to not shift into 4th in cold conditions. I've owned a number of SVX's, including a 95 L awd (heck, the transmission in my current svx is from a 95 L awd) and they've all done this. It always takes about 5-10 minutes of driving 'til mine goes into 4th.

Best of luck to you.

Mike