[Trevor]

Joe,

ÒNobody gave me an empirical answerÓ

There is a lot of here say in many of the recommendations I am sure and very little before and after proper testing hence my interest in the possibility of temp. readings from Bill.

You say that you are about to rebuild your transmission for the second time in a year and this amazes me. What components have failed or are failing.? The guys I go to are unable to understand what I tell them I read on this network and say they would be out of business if their overhauled units gave trouble within the time and mileage span so many report.

They always fit a cooler to cars which do a lot of city running ( Taxis have this done as a matter of routine ) as well as any that do any towing. Their approach to the external filter takes the following experience into account which comes down to two different types of owner.

Number one the conscientious type has his transmission serviced regularly so that a filter is not a necessity with the internal strainer doing all that is required. i.e. picking up any large debris which could damage bearings etc. Regular fluid changes takes care of fine residue. If in fact there is any immediate investigation is called for. In the case of overheating this should be fixed with a cooler, not a filter fitted to pick up friction material being deposited as a result of the problem.

If the car falls into the hands of the second class of owner trouble is in the offing more particularly if an external fine filter is flitted. Owner number two abuses his car as a driver and neglects servicing and fluid changes with the result that fine contaminate builds up. In these cases of neglect they find that fine debris blocks an external filter before any problem would have occurred with the cooler blocking, so that the filter becomes the cause rather than a preventer. In the case of later model subarus they remove the external filter after doing an overhaul to prevent this happening a second time.

They could have made more money from the job they did for me by fitting a filter but strongly advised against it on the basis of their experience and I agreed with the logic they presented. At the same time they were emphatic in their advice to use 3rd when driving at less than 80 KPH which I had already decided made good sense in view of the cars tall final drive ratio. Constant hunting up and down in traffic must give the transmission hell and I would not be surprised if this is not a basic problem. Drive should have been labeled O/D and 3rd. D.

I will await your comments and observations with interest.

Trevor.