Driving that 4EAT
 

4EAT is immensely expensive to repair in Norway. How can I drive in order to minimize wear ?

Where I live it's a lot of 60-70 km/h zones, bends, up- and downhill. After only a few days with automatic, I find myself engine breaking a lot in 1st and 2nd gear. Does this means extra wear or is it of no concern?

During urban driving, is D the better option or maybe 2 or 3?

Is it better to actively use manual mode in fluctuating situations or let it run itself?

Edit: On eurocars, apparently the water pump runs a channel to the transmission, probably for oil-to-water cooling and it's well under 15 degrees celcius here most of the year, I don't think an additional cooler will help.. but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

I think best way to keep the tranny in good shape is to change oil and filter
regularly. And also when you stop the car for redlight etc you sould put in in N.
And not let the transmission go when you are staning on the brake over time.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

thanks. Exactly what do you mean with this sentence?

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

3. The final drive gearing on the VTD 4EATs is different from the USDM ones, but here the problem is 4th gear, at low RPMs results in too low of line pressure to hold it in gear properly. So, there is a constant slip, grab, slip, grab, which you can't even notice. So even though it will shift into 4th at really low speeds, like 35mph, it's not good for it. Keep it in 3 until like 50mph, then shift to D. Because your trans is 3.7:1 final drive instead of 3.54, the speeds might be a bit different, but that's the idea. Also, the torque converter will lock up (in 4th) at anything above 50 mph if you're maintaining a pretty steady speed. This is good for reducing wear/operating temps.

Don't bother messing with manual mode, it's almost entirely useless. The only use I've heard of is when there's snow/ice, you can use 2nd or 3rd to avoid spinning the tires. The switched power mode mod is worth doing.

I thought the extra water pump line on the Euro cars was for an oil cooler for the engine? If it's for the trans, that's good, but I'd double check that.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Another easy thing to do is to switch to synthetic ATF like Redline or Motul. Do a drain and refill, not a flush, about every 12k miles or 20k km.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Yes, I'll try 3 in speeds under 45 mph, the drivetrain feels a bit unsetteled under that. I'm not sure whether this is a real phenomenon or if I can actually just hear the engine due to low tyre noise (I'm on spikes now).

I'll stay away from manual mode. Just recently I went slightly uphill on pure ice that was slightly melted (in D and maybe 12-15 mph), not even a hint of spinning. Impressed my friend.

So engine breaking is all cool. Use Neutral when at stand still. I'll use synthetic next time I change fluids.

And city driving?

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Well, brake pads are a lot cheaper than a transmission.......

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Can't argue with that!

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

I keep mine in 3 when driving around town, and only put it in D when I get on the highway.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Hmmmm.... why do you guys shift into neutral while standing still?

None of the clutches are applied - the input shaft still turns... I remember an issue with the 4speed ZFs in Range Rovers, Volvos and lots of other vehichles. A seal passed a little bit of flow to the A clutch apply piston and the relief drilling was too small causing burning of the said clutch while in neutral.

If you are standing still in first gear all rotating components are still - no slip. The only thing is the converter is producing a little bit of more heat compare to being in neutral.

Any comments?

Tapani

PS I think only the JDM VTD has the 3,7 gearing.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

I was wondering the rationale of this as well. I would skip the "neutral while stopped" thing. I guess the thinking is that the toque converter is producing heat while the car is sitting still.

I think all the VTD trans have 3.7 gearing. I'm only about 90% sure, I will wait for someone else to weight in.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

I read somewhere that sitting in D is better than N for gas consumption. Something something Injectors sending less something something.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

How come we don't have a japanese resource at Fuji to answer all these questions for us? We should contact he japanese SVX guys and hear if they have a contact.

The outside Japan Subarus are sales and service people, there's no information threre.

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Is engine braking that bad for our cars? booooo

Re: Driving that 4EAT
 

Nope... ......