guyc

Hi guys Long time ago, I wrote that this could be my last message (see below). But - again - I need some good advice. Because my wife is pregnant of our 3rd child and we couldn't fit our 3 (rather big) booster seats in the back of our 2002 Legacy Wagon, we bought a 2009 Outback Lineartronic (built in Japan, not in the US). Now, after driving it for some 3 weeks, you never now what is happening: DELAYED FORWARD ENGAGEMENT :angry: ! So I thought this problem was only with 4EAT, not CVT! I can't find anything on the internet on a delayed forward engagement with Lineartronics, so I wanted to ask you if you could direct me to more information on this problem. The car has 130.000 km and it's only when starting the car the first time of the day. There is no shock involved, but I have to rev the car to 3.000 or more rpm before it starts moving. I know that American Outbacks are made by SoA and not in Japan, but could someone please help me out to clearly diagnose what is the problem? Because I bought the car in Italy (1.100 km from here... we know it was a risk) at a local Subaru dealer, it's not easy to go and see the dealer to get his advice! I want to be informed first, because there is warranty! Thanks and greetings Guy, Belgium

Hello Thanks for your clear answer. Than there's still remaining my first question: Greetings Guy, Belgium

Thanks for your reply. Why is the clutch wearing (faster) in reverse? Why less while driving forward? Remember me writing that the last time, it was a light trailer (in fact: that trailer was empty). How can I check if my clutch needs to be changed or not? Can I check this myself (I'm not a mechanic)? The only check I did, was driving and accelerating to see if the rpm were going up and the speed not. Greetings Guy, Belgium

Hello all Can anyone let me know what is the towing capacity in kg of our legacy wagon 2.0 GL AWD manual shift (2002)? Or, let me put it this way: I towed a trailer (trailer + load together approximately 1900 kg). Maximum speed was 75 km/hour. The trailer load was not evenly distributed; therefore there was more weight on the front wheels of the car. I'm wondering if there could be something broken. I explain myself: I was manoeuvring the car with this heavy load on the trailer into a prairie. I got a phone call, and a friend of mine continued the manoeuvring without me noticing. When I came back, there was an ugly smell (which could be compared to the smell of overheated brakes). I don't know how he did the manoeuvring. Today my wife was driving with a very light trailer. Because she got stuck in a one-way street, she had to drive 500 m in reverse; she asked my brother-in-law to do this. I don't know how he drove, but since he was driving, there was the same ugly smell. It even lasted while driving on the motorway afther this reverse driving, but it decreased. Do you think, according to this info, that I wore out the clutch or something else? When my wife came home just now, I accelerated the car (with empty trailer) as fast as possible, but couldn't notice a problem with the rpm going up without the speed going up too. Could anyone give me some answer and feedback please? Thanks and greetings Guy, Belgium

Don't get me wrong: safety always comes on the first place! Greetz Guy

OK, thanks for your advice. Though I thought it wasn't so important anymore for the transimission of the newer cars. Can't this be solved with a technical solution (which is not present in todays subarus)? Belgian greetings Guy

Hello (Just going to swap winter tyres for summer tyres again.) I remember my old garagist telling me that it is important with AWD (for the differential) to wear the 4 tyres equally by changing from time to time the rear tyres with the front ones and vice versa. Is this still something to do with a 2002 Legacy? Other people write that for best grip it is better to have the best tyres on the rear axle. But on the front axle they wear much faster than on the rear, so this does not go together with my old garagist's story! So what to choose? - Choose for safety and always put the best tyres on the rear axle. When the front tyres are worn-out, I move the rear tyres to the front and buy 2 new tyres for the rear axle. In this scenario the differential will always need to correct the size difference between (worn-out) front and (new) rear tyres. - Or choose for a technical good solution and interchange the tyres from front to rear and vice versa, so that the differential can survive as long as possible. This means that I will drive some time with 4 almost worn-out tyres, just before I buy 4 new ones. I am not a rallye pilot, but sometimes I am in a hurry and then I need to fully rely on my car and the tyres. As I am not world's best driver, safety is something important to me. Who can give me relevant feedback on this issue? Thanks and greetz Guy

Hello Miles Fox Thx for your reply. But I'm wondering how I can compare your situation to mine. - Are you driving an A/T (4- or 5-speed) or a M/T? - Which Subaru do you drive? Which year? - Do you often drive in a remote area? (Here in Belgium "cruising" is almost impossible, unless you drive on highways, because it is so densily inhabited) - What do you mean by mid-rpm? Another thing is comparing fuel consumption figures: in Belgium it is expressed in liter/100 km, in other countries in km/liter, miles/liter or miles/gallon! So comparing this will mean to do research in Google. And then our car runs on LPG (consuming approximately 12,5 liter/100 km), so I don't have any idea how much gasoline our car consumes (maybe some 10 liter/100 km?). I would like to get more specific answers (the only thing we really can compare, are the rpm's). Greetings Guy

Hello We are driving a Legacy Wagon 2.0 GL from 2002 (JF1BH5LJ4, engine # EJ201MJDAA), manual 5 speed. We are living in Belgium (Europe). I was wondering what the best possible ratios are to shift gears as economical as possible. When I looked in the manual that came with the car, I found the following: Gear...........Minimum.....................Maximum ..1........0 km/h........................24 km/h...2600 rpm ..2.......24 km/h...1500 rpm........40 km/h...2800 rpm ..3.......40 km/h...1900 rpm........65 km/h...3200 rpm ..4.......65 km/h...2400 rpm........73 km/h...2700 rpm ..5.......73 km/h...2000 rpm......188 km/h.........? rpm Let's say: I found the speeds in the manual, and I found out the corresponding rpm (approximately) while driving! But this doesn't make any sense to me, knowing that the maximum torque is reached at 3600 rpm. And I thought that the maximum torque is the point where the engine gives the most power for relatively the least fuel consumption. So I would say: shifting when the engine reaches 3600 rpm?! Who can help me: when do I have to shift to drive as economical as possible? Can anyone provide torque curves including rpm and the corresponding gears that could clarify this? For those who find this not interesting or ridiculous: please do not answer. Here in Europe (and I hope also in the rest of the world) driving is not only fun. Ecology becomes more and more important, certainly when you know that 95% of the cars here are manually shifted. (Our previous Legacy was an A/T, though.) I look forward for your response. Thanks Guy, Belgium

Hello guys This probably will be one of my last messages in this thread. Last week on Wednesday, I saw a legacy like ours but 2 years younger and which had only 120.000 km (instead of 240.000 km). It was for sale at a dealer at 5 minutes' from my house. And it was a manual transmission. What a coincidence: the next day, the AT of our car failed again! So I started thinking: Rooster2's comment on my previous posting, all the time I spent on the car, all the problematic driving situations we have had and the fact that the error occurred under warranty. Suddenly I realised that I lost my faith in this car. After some days of deliberation and phoning to my dealer and the vendor, my wife and I decided to sell our legacy with AT back to dealer and to buy the legacy with the manual transmission! Financially, everybody lost: the dealer and, we didn't do any bargain. But at least now our problem is solved. We again have a reliable car and I can spend more time on building our strawbale house, so that my wife can give birth to our second child in a nice home! After all, it is only a car (even if it is a subaru) and life goes on. Now we will install LPG in it and than: no more car problems for several months!!! I wish to thank everyone of you who helped by giving feedback, advice or concrete help. I hope your problems will be solved too, just like ours, one way or another. Greetings from Belgium in the spring Guy

Hello As all of you helped me very well, I promised myself to keep you updated. 1. So, yes, the transmission is still working well. Until now, it has always performed OK. But... Since approximately 2 weeks now, I notice a delay of 2-3 seconds (which was not just after we had our car back) when shifting to "D" after the car has been parked for more than 4 hours or so. And also since we had our car back, the shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear sometimes happens with a short peak of high rpm. I must admit: the transmission fluid has not been drained fully (it has been inside since some 25,000 km or 15,000 miles) and the car stays always in open air, even overnight, and temperatures were very low because the winter here has been extremely long and cold. (Temperatures were always below 0 °C = below 32 °F.) 2. I have visited another garage this weekend for another reason. There I explained that the problem of the transmission has been solved. The man (but I don't know if I can believe him) told me that he had a similar problem with another car, and changing the torque converter solved the problem there. Any suggestions / feedback on 1. and 2.? Thanks and greetz Guy, Belgium

Hello The car is back since several hours. Driving is OK, but it is too soon to tell that everything is OK because it has been always like this the first weeks after they changed the transmission oil! I noticed though that the car drives off faster after having put the lever into "D". There's 1 bottle of Trans-X (1 quart) added to the transmission oil. Keep your fingers crossed, just like ours! Greetz Guy

Brought my car to the dealer yesterday for maintenance and Trans-X cure. I hope it will be OK! Will know more on Monday! Will cross my fingers! Greetz Guy

.

Dear all Please: how much ml is a qt? Do you mean 1/4 of a pint (1 pint = 0,5 l so 1/4 pint = 125 ml) or do you mean 1/4 of the total amount of ATF oil (which is 7,9 l, so I will be needing 3 more cans of Trans-X because 1 can of Trans-X contains 444 ml = 15 fl. oz)? Or do you mean 1 quart = 2 pints = 1 liter, so I will be needing 1 more can of Trans-X? Or something else? Please advise me in metric figures!!! I don't understand your non-metric system! Thanx Guy

TRANS-X HAS ARRIVED! Thanks! Made appointment with dealer. Is only possible after 2 weeks Still some questions remaining: - We drove with the delayed forward engagement problem for almost one year. Do you think / Can you predict if there could be any damage done to the car while we were driving with the delayed forward engagement problem (shocks etc.) and without Trans-X? - So is this correct? Drain ATF oil: if oil looks good, then unlocking the screw will be enough; if oil doesn't look good, a complete drain by "sucking" the oil or by opening the pan (oil has been changed some 20.000 - 25.000 miles ago); then refilling with new oil and Trans-X? That's all? Thanks Guy

Dear Larry and all others Thanks for your answer. This gives more trust in Trans-X as a reliable solution. But perhaps my question wasn't clear enough. I'm still not having the Trans-X, but I keep on driving with my Legacy and its delayed forward engagement problem. This means sometimes revving to 3000 - 4000 rpm and then moving after a shock. Depending on my patience the shock is heavier or not . So I repeat my question: "could anyone tell me or predict if driving this way could harm the car? When Trans-X arrives, it will be in the AT ASAP, that's for sure, but when will it arrive?" Thanks and greetz Guy

Driving with this problem for already one year now: could anyone tell me or predict if this could harm the car? When Trans-X arrives, it will be in the AT ASAP, that's for sure, but when will it arrive? Greetz Guy

Thank you for your reaction, John. Seems to me that it is better to wait for the Trans-X as what you suggest will be very time consuming and because there is not enough knowledge here on AT's, certainly not on Subaru's. Greetz Guy

1. What is the use of doing this: is it to reset the computer? 2. What mess do you mean: software data? 3. Why nose-down? Thanks Guy

Hello bpslegacy Thank you for your reaction. You don't need to be scared. Until now I didn't receive any Trans-X, which could mean: 1. the shipment is coming by boat (what I think and hope - and please don't post any horror-story from Wikipedia with a boat that sank because of illegal shipping of I don't know what ) 2. the Trans-X has already been confiscated by the customs because it is illegal to import this product in Europe as to environmental regulations. I don't want to minimize your comment, but please do not minimize all my posts in this thread for the last year. The problem is not paying 306 $; the problem is paying 306 $ AND being insecure to obtain the Trans-X. Greetz Guy

Hi you all and a merry X-mas I promised to keep you updated, but because of lack of time, I didn't succeed earlier. Our legacy is suffering from the known "disease" since approximately one year now. Since June we tried but never succeeded in getting our hands on Trans-X. I contacted the European main office of the manufacturer of Trans-X, that is situated in Belgium. They state that it is impossible to import Trans-X into Europe, because of environmental regulations (more specific the European Reach program). Then my dealer contacted another dealer who regularly places orders in the United States. He ordered and received Trans-X, but the wrong bottle (a yellow one instead of the clear blue). On a next order, he added the correct Trans-X, but never received it: after several e-mails he received a mail which stated that the company where he had placed several orders, was in the process of closing! I tried to order the Trans-X myself, but it will cost $ 306 to ship one bottle of Trans-X, only costing $ 6! And even then we're not sure that it will make its way trough customs! I found it on Amazon.com and tried to order it via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de, but no go, neither via the American site, nor via the European sites. On this forum I found out that one of you (one of us ) had sent a bottle of Trans-X to another forum member. I contacted this member and posted on this forum, but the only way to do so, is to be smuggling! At last he sent me a bottle, which he labeled as "car wax". At the same time, the other dealer reordered Trans-X via a new American company. I even coincidentally got in contact with a person that has an automatic transmission of an Outback, but it seems that the transmission of our 2.0 Legacy and the transmission of that 2.5 Outback are not interchangeable because of the electronics. I want to check this with you. I tried to add the type plates in attachment. So now I am awaiting two bottles via two different channels. I hope at least one comes through because meanwhile we are still driving in a good car with a bad transmission, which sometimes gives dangerous driving situations. I want to thank all of you for your good advise and help. I still prefer to give one good try with Trans-X than with another product, but, of course, it has to reach me! Will keep you informed, as promised. Please help me out with my question of the interchangeability of the trannies (see attachment). Greetz Guy

Won't go, because Trans-X is prohibited in the European Union Hello bulwnkl, thanks for your reply. Just wondering from what year your Baja is. Are there other people that have experience with this product? Could be a possible trail. Have tried other things; will report on later on. Greetz Guy

... and a happy thanksgiving...

OK, I must admit: with all this misery, you made me laugh :-\ I received a quote from Grainger's that it would cost me... 385$ to ship it to Belgium... And then I have to pick it up myself in the port of Antwerp (which is not the biggest problem), but I have no idea of customs then: what are the chances that they will confiscate it or not? I'm getting tired of searching for solutions... Are there Europeans on this forum? Are there people who come on holiday in Europe and who have a little spare room in their luggage? Is it allowed to put (so not smuggle) this in luggage or is this also impossible? Or is it possible to put it in other bottles? Thanks to all who are willing to help or who did some research for me! Please don't give up and help me get some Trans-X! Greetings Guy