Tranny Care for maximum longevity
 

I do not really know a whole lot about auto trannys. I've never owned one before. And with my research on this site, it seems like the svx tranny is even more prone to go bad early. So, do you have any tips on how it should be driven? I kind of know the obvious stuff, but for instance at stoplights, should I leave it in D for an extended period of time 1+ minute? Or can I save some stress on it and slip it into N? And is it bad to do the manual shifting?

Thanks for any input.

take care of all your fluids and dont' drive with a lead foot!

Kelli :D

I agree with Kelli, and I also recommend installing an aftermarket tranny cooler. You're going to get all sorts of suggestions concerning where to put it and how to hook one up. I recommend disconnecting the stock cooler and replacing it with a B&M-brand cooler and placing it in front of the AC condenser.

Others will tell you to put it behind the condenser, in the fender, etc. And they'll tell you that I'm nuts replacing the stock cooler (or heater, as I call it) and that the cooler should be used in conjunction with the stock one. Then you'll get the people arguing whether the cooler should be placed in a series with the stock one, or parallel.

Of course, none of us have really conducted a test to see which method is the best. I intended to, but haven't yet. At any rate, I recommend the aftermarket cooler. Having one installed has got to be better than the mistake that came with the car.

Having said that, my original tranny lasted 133k miles without an aftermarket cooler.

B&M tranny cooler
 

Ehh, i think the lead foot really affects your gas mileage. I have 199K on my tranny and it shift as sharp as the day i bought it. I put a Temp guage on my tranny and it ran about 200, getting up to 220 in stop and go traffiic.....I put the B&M on it and now it rarely gets above 175. It typically runs a little below 165. In the winter it takes about 5 minutes before it warms up enough to shift into fourth but thats not bad all things considered. Thats just my $.02

I see you already have the tranny cooler installed, i still have'nt gotten mine on yet (shame on me) but i have one on my cherokee and mine was placed in series before the the stock cooler. The theory behind this is on extremely cold days the stock cooler will help keep the fluid from being overcooled which from what i understand is a bad thing though not nearly as bad as the fluid overheating(can anyone confirm the fact that overcoolings a bad idea?)but i also know people ( i'm sure many ppl on here) who have bypassed the stock cooler with no sign of problems with the exception one whos fluid has recently gotten dark but does not smell burnt so until he actually figures out what causes it i can't blame it on the cooler. Just somthing to think about.

I have 2 solutions to make your auto tranny life a little longer.

1. Do not drive your car. Just park it. Your tranny will live a long life.
2. Swap it with a 5 speed. Your auto tranny will live a long time.

L

heres what i did:

bypassed stock cooler, tranny cooler between rad and AC condensor. why? because it it was easier to install that way.

changed to Mobil1 synthetic tranny fluid (and Mobil1 synth gear oil in the differentials, too.)

put in aftermarket external filter

remove plastic belly pan in summer, replace in winter (big effect on tranny temps)

installed a tranny temp gauge (important! - if things DO get hot, you can react to bring the temps down (avoid going up steep hills, for example.)

the lead foot stuff i'm not too sure about - these transmissions are STRONG, they just get hot if the proper precautions arent taken. the breaking down of the transmission fluid from heat is what kills them. the 4EAT in the WRX can take up to 400hp(?) stock - much more than the 5-speed.

with all the mods i've made, my temps are usually between 170-185 in the summer. they may BRIEFLY exceed 200 by a few degrees on a VERY hot day and going up a BIG hill.

I heard that royal purble auto trannie fluid is very good, it breaks down at a pretty high temps when compared to normal fluids. Put a trannie cooler on your car, and if it dosent have it put on the external filter subaru offers, or replace the old filter. You never know how long its been in there.

i'd say screw that little Subaru external filter and get a big honkin' Permacool filter. it also has the receptacle to make adding a temp gauge easy.

Here's my two cents:

I have two SVX's, a 94 and a 95. Both have 139,000 miles. Both have original trannys, no aftermarket coolers. The 94 tranny just died rececently. That seems like a long life to me. The biggest problem was with the early (read 1992) SVX's. They went through tranny's like Chryslers do. Yes, there are exceptions, but not many.


Dave

Re: Tranny Care for maximum longevity
 

Good suggestions. Yes, I already have the cooler, just installed it yesterday. But I guess my main questions were these:

How bad is it for the tranny to sit at a stoplight in drive, but you have the brakes on? Seems to me like it is stressing while you are doing that? Or is that what the tourqe converter is for? Bad Idea to sit at a stoplight in neutral?

i've read that if you lower your transmission fluid temp by 20 degrees, you double the life of the transmission. seems reasonable. if your '94 tranny had an aftermarket cooler, maybe it would have lived even longer?

if you don't have a transmission fluid temp gauge, i'd highly recommend it. you'll learn how your transmission 'behaves' and you can adjust your driving style accordingly.