Subie_2000

Yes the question is are the 2.5l 4 cyl 00 01 02 03 04 4eat outback transmissions compatible with 00. You are saying 04 is not, so thats good info. On car-part.com if i put in 00 it only shows 00 trans, not 01 02 03. Thus my question here. Its useless to help. Can anyone confirm if 01 02 03 are compatible?

Yes the question is are the 2.5l 4 cyl 00 01 02 03 04 4eat outback transmissions compatible with 00. You are saying 04 is not, so thats good info. On car-part.com if i put in 00 it only shows 00 trans, not 01 02 03. Thus my question here. Its useless to help.

Hi i need to swap out the trans in my 2000 Subaru Outback 2.5l auto 4eat. I need help to make sure what i buy is compatible. Can any 00 01 02 03 04 outback used 4eat trans plug and play fit and electrically connect in my 00 outback? Ive read that the gear ratios are the same across these years, but i dont know anything about the rest or electrical connections, harnesses, etc. Please help. I need to buy the right one. I can be sure to get one only out of an outback so final drive would be the same. Thx Paul

Hi guys, so its been a couple months since posting here and I wanted to share my experience after problems using the TransX. My 2000 outback is behaving very differently NOW than it did before. I did NOTHING more to it except added about 1500 miles over 2 months. I had added the whole quart of TransX at once with one fluid change, then had bad choppy vibrations like wheel hop but it wasn't, when first getting moving in either forward or reverse. The gear delay engagement was fixed after that but the new problem was terrible. I had asked here if adding the whole quart at once was a bad thing and should I drain and start over. I was suspecting that the TransX was causing a clutch issue when first engaging, as the trans fluid 1/3rd change doesn't mix much or fast with the other 2/3rd of trans fluid and that's too much TransX, too little trans fluid, for that clutch to work right. No one answered me or agreed. Well after 1500 miles, now all of that TransX HAS mixed well with the other 2/3rds trans oil and NOW the initial chop chop chop engagement in either 1st or reverse has GONE AWAY. This is a key finding for this thread and using TransX in general, which is why I'm sharing. The shift delays are now gone and so is the choppyness. TransX is GREAT BUT do NOT ever put in the whole quart at once!!!!!!!!!! Do no more than 1/3rd quart with a trans fluid change. Drive 400 miles, do another 1/3rd quart fluid change. Drive 400 miles, do last 1/3rd quart fluid change. This allows all the torque converter oil to drain to pan and mix. It mixes really really slowly. For me it got very slowly better over weeks of driving a bit each day or two and very inconsistent until then. One day terrible choppiness, two days later, not much, two more terrible choppiness, etc. I can't emphasize the above enough as best practice. Now having said all that, my trans has some wear issues in it I'm thinking. I have one problem left. It has bad wheel, steering wheel vibrations starting right at 60 mph and gets worse from there. Driving 70 all but impossible. Driving at 55 is like a nearly new car. I'm suspecting this is gearbox stuff from wear but don't know for sure. The car has had new wheel bearings, halfshafts just 30k miles back and it fixed a similar but more severe vibration problem at high speed then but with wheel bearing noise too. And it had the VERY SAME wheel bearings and halfshaft change at 30kmiles before that. So two complete sets replaced on the car now. Also had one main shaft from front to rear axle replaced once to be sure. That didn't change anything. Thoughts on this would be appreciated. Is it the trans gearbox? New trans needed to fix it? For now. i'm driving it local around town only at 55 mph or less only. At 205k miles now, 4eat, 2000 2.5l engine outback. What years 4eat trans can go in the 2000 4eat as perfect swap? Thanks much, Paul

Park will always hold the car in park, on a hill or otherwise. That's not been an issue. However, while in Drive, on a hill, the car will drift backwards if foot off brake the last 6 months or so. Never used to do that. I've been tied up a few days, but today drove the car a little. I noticed now in 2WD mode, whether reverse or drive gear, the first 5 seconds are that jittery vibrations to engage fully in gear, fore/aft choppiness. Then it gets better and goes away. Today though noticed in 1st drive getting started, same really as reverse getting started. All in 2WD mode. It is driveable in 2wd mode, for now at least. Paul

Thanks guys you are a great helpful resource. So I have some more news to share, but not able to do everything suggested easily as I'm not a mechanic really and don't have any help. So first thing I did is got the real tire back on the car after screw patch. And with the fluid levels now right at max 4th hole when trans hot after 10 min driving, or 2nd hole max cold when cold, there are some notable changes in behavior. First off, in 2wd mode with fuse in, all the forward gears now engage without delay and the rat a tat tat tat is diminished in level to the point its just a slight vibration = not bad at all. Going around a corner slow in 1st or 2nd gear, there is a bit of tat tat tat tat but not bad (which I've noticed for about a year driving the car and sometimes a bit of engine surge through that corner), driving straight just that slight vibration when first in the next gear, no real noise. Now reverse works again in 2WD mode, sort of, no more SLAM, but some initial resistance to go backwards, needing 1250 rpm to budge, but then not really rat a tat tat tat, but several vibrational surges fore and aft for the first 10 feet backwards, then smooth. The noises are coming from under the car at the transmission. So transfer case, differential stuff likely. Now, in 4WD mode, with the fuse out, this all gets worse. Forward gears and reverse are worse. Forward gears have more magnitude of the vibrational chatter when just getting into each gear, then smooth. There is no delay though. That is gone. Reverse still works just badly, no SLAM or RAT A TAT TAT TAT but the initial resistance to move is slightly more and the vibrations moving the first 10 feet are stronger, almost feels like slight wheel hopping but not severe any more. Now all 4 tires are same wear and same pressure so that is covered. So knowing 4WD mode makes both forward and reverse gears worse should tell us something useful I hope. And that 2WD mode still has reverse problems and slight forward gear vibrations after shifting as well. What can this tell us? So I have a few more questions. First off again, never had any reverse noise or vibrations before doing these trans x fluid changes. So whatever effect the one occasional lower tire pressure had due to slow leak, it wasn't noticeable in any way like it is now (except had some slight tat tat tat noise in lower gears turning a corner for some time). So very likely there is some damage to the gearing, but the fluid change made it much much much worse. So the more slippery fluid from the trans X seems to have had a big effect. Could this effect on the clutch there matter? What could this slippery fluid do to cause this? I'd like to avoid a transmission swap if I can or as long as I can, as I don't have much money right now. I do plan to keep this car another 100k miles one way or the other as I need to. I'm thinking I can drive the car some time in 2WD mode without much issue and just pull the fuse in the winter when its a bad snowy icy day and put it back. Should I try draining all the fluid 3 times, putting in all new (tell me which trans fluid may be best if not MaxLife synthetic)? Getting some of the transX OUT seems to me worth trying. If the vibrations all got better, especially in reverse, then that tells me something. Perhaps I could add back just a few ounces of the transX again then but not the whole quart like I did. Or i'd be taking about about a third of what I put in each new pan fluid change and could test it each time. Please give me your thoughts on the above. When I drained the fluid, the first 5 seconds WAS darker brown color, then it went back to the normal pinkish. So there was something in there. I had the diff fluid and all trans fluid changed about 30k miles ago and no noticeable issues or the mechanic would have told me (he was really good). So any problems there are since that time. I could change the diff fluid if we think that would maybe help things and check that magnet then if i did. I did maybe locate a swap trans for $400 with 130k miles on it from a junk yard, but it is a 2002 4EAT and mine is a 2000. I don't know if that would be compatible or not. How to check and verify that? I don't know what labor would be to swap it in if I did get it. What is reasonable for that for labor? thx - Paul

Thanks, one thing your helpful post brought to my attention I didn't think about. I did have a low rear tire after driving that night with a small screw in it. Found it the next day. So the reverse finding was with one tire a bit low. It has a donut spare on it now till I get the other patched. I did not have the 2wd fuse in and did drive just around the block with it that way but just once. It definitely was doing some hopping of the wheels yesterday when moving. Today I put the fuse in and drove a block around the house again. Today it was slightly better, with less hopping except reverse on a low slope, but all gears still "choppy" with rat tat tat tat tat tat tat moving through the gears, reverse the worst by far, with a SLAM..bang bang bang rat at tat tat tat tat tat. The car never had a trans or diff swap. Had the main drive from front to rear replaced, both half shafts replaced. Head gasket and major maintenance back at 175k miles, trans fluid, diff fluid changed then. It has driven some time with one tire a bit low on pressure due to a slow leak I had (all same type and size though). I didn't know that would cause problems with an AWD car. I've read up on it now. I'm wondering now if this trans x stuff caused problems in the awd clutch or parts in the transmission, which already had some wear from the above, creating these new problems. The actual hesitation though the gears is better than before, so that seems better, just the horrible problems above with noise, rat tat tat tat surging/stalling into the gears. This noise was never present before now. It isn't driveable far this way. Reverse is a disaster, worse on any slope than flat but still bad flat. Needs 1750-2000 rpm to budge into reverse then SLAM and some movement. So anyone who can, comment on some of this for me. Would draining everything 4 times and starting fresh help? Or is this permanent damage now? Total driving time with the donut spare tire in AWD mode is about 6 minutes up to 30mph briefly. Not much. I'll have a helper check on the noise when I can get one... - Paul

Thanks for help so far. So today I got it fully level, idled, ran through gears, checked level, it was low. I added about 1/2 qt and got it up to full cold level or 2nd hole. ran through gears again. Put in reverse, same severe bucking/jerking, moving a few feet each time in reverse then it stops. High rpm needed to get it to budge at all. Put in drive, same thing but moving forward. It's not so much hesitation now as resistance to move at all within a gear, bucking/jerking/staggering either forward or back. I also reset battery just in case that could matter. front cv axle could be broken but how could that happen parked in the driveway overnight and not touched after running great that night a few hours? I've had both half shafts replaced years back, but no issues for a long time there. Its also had a main drive shaft replacement a few years back too, and differential fluid replacements. It is like something inside the trans is now not freely allowing car motion in any gear after the fluid change sat awhile. Could low or high fluid do that? It is set right now. I think it wasn't really high before but I was fooled by it. I think it never was much low or high. Paul

Hi there, first time posting in this thread. I have a 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon, 4eat, 2.5L, 203,000 miles. I've had the delayed forward engagement problem for about a year, gradually getting worse. I just tried the recommended drain, replace filter, added the trans X and 3ish quarts of maxlife synthetic ATF. I thought things were great as I drove around a couple hours in town after this change and the delayed shift was much much better, not completely gone but like 90 percent gone. But here is the problem. I let the car sit overnight, today started it up and it would not shift into reverse, like AT ALL, after 10 seconds. Reved alot, finally got it to shudder badly, loud clanks, and it would go into reverse like a second then stop, then a second into reverse, then stop. Loud clanks and shudders. Terrible. I had no reverse problems before, this is all new. I finally got it out of my low slope driveway and drove it around the block a couple times. Now the delayed shift was back and much worse than ever before, and in chunks like reverse. Shuddering badly. I got home, and checked the fluid level. It did seem a little high, a little higher than the Hot high band. So I thought maybe a little too much ATF. Drained off some at the trans pan, rechecked levels. I targeted the lower side this time. Reverse again, still very bad, but it did stay in reverse this time after a loud delayed thunk to get there. Drove around the block, came back. Other shifting also not good still. Only slightly different than the last time, very bad delay and shudders shifting. I'm going to check fluid level again tomorrow and see if it changed. I need some good advice here. I did not reset the battery, I can try that if it matters. What is bizarre to me is how the fix worked and then overnight it completely failed and worse with reverse problems now. Help! Also, I did not drain all trans fluid, just what I could get from the pan, but it was all changed about 30k miles ago and wasn't bad looking or smelling and was synthetic. It had no delayed shift issues then. Oh I did use the full 1 qt size of trans x if that matters. Thx - Paul

Got it! The down arrow threw me off! - Subie_2000

Ok, it looks like there are only two. I'm assuming B is on the left in the picture? (Not really a great letter ID in the picture). I should be able to find it. Thanks again! Subie_2000:banana:

Hey Porcupine, thanks a bunch. I would NOT have thought to look there! That's a long way from the door controls on the driver door! A question: Can I see it if I stick my head under the glovebox and look up? I'm not sure which unit it might be. Do I have to take out any part of the dash/glovebox to get to it? Many thanks - subie_2000

Hi, need help for a 2000 subaru outback wagon. Where is the keyless entry module located? I've seen some references to some subarus with the rectangluar module in the dash to the left of the steering column and above the fuse box. But that isn't where it is on the 2000, I checked. I've also seen some references to this or a security module located by the radio in the dash. But I swapped radios and didn't see anything there either. Can anyone tell me where the module is located for a 2000? Many thanks! - Subie_2000