qwksilver

So there is the obvious EJ25 on the bottoms and tops. is there a map to where all the markings are/should be, and what they tell me? also is there a "decoder" for the engine serial number. ie Year, and car it was originally in..

My Dash Thermostat is reporting as high as the needle can possibly go, it gets there before the computer reads running temp (190-200). My ODBII is reporting running temp after a proper warm up time. The sensor is a 3 wire, combined sensor/switch. Why would one read impossibly high, and the other work in parameter. I've replaced the sender. All this is after a rebuild so ground? or other ideas please....

fluid is just a touch under the center mark cold and the top mark hot. keep in mind i've had it doing this to me for about 9 months. thought it was just going bad, and would fail any day. but then it kept not failing, so why would a transmission not shift until warmed up? and what would make the car want to stall out in gear suddenly (torque converter? + bad fluid?)

Update, I appear to be back to the original issue, perhaps with a different new issue i didn't realize I had. 1: Motor/AT Cold: 1st gear only doesn't shift until about 5 min after motor warm, I assume this is when the AT is up to running temp. 2: All the time(but sparatic): Motor acts like it wants to stall out, shifting to neutral or park causes it to idle normal. Shifting back to Drive or Reverse brings it down to 250ish RPM. Have to goose the gas to go. I've changed out most of the fluid, but I didn't crack the pan to change/check the filter/screen thing. The fluid is most definitely a lighter color.

@bstone: why 3, shouldn't i see a performace change with just 1?

any advice on trying to locate a replacement (transmission) if i need one?

ok cool on the tech glitch. @john. this is a specific service, i'm doing this because i can't drive the car the way it is. It slips, it moves some, but each day it won't shift, till the tranmission (i think) is warmed up. now it won't hardly go at all. i got it moving and then it just slipps like crazy. park wait, go, park wait go. finally got home. so doing the fluid change is a bit of a hail mary anyway since i think the whole thing is done in anyway, so is it totally useless the filter, gasket kit. if so i will gladdly skip that step. is doing anything at all worthwhile.

did you mean to repeat yourself?

@john. actually i was more concerned with the filter. is it not worth while to change the filter, the transmission had 249,739 miles at the last fill up, i have no clue what maintenance was on it before me. i bought it at 146,000ish. i haven't done anything with the transmission in my service time.

not sure if this matters at all, but, TZ102Z2CBA-DT is the series number of the Transmission i've gotten about 2 gallons out of the transmission so far, by both cracking the bolt underneath, and by "pumping" it out using the return line. the whole of it is black as pitch. i'm definately going to drop the pan, when i stop being lazy. as for gaskets and such, that's never been that big a deal on any other component. should i invest in a tube of black, blue, or w/e or just use the rubber one straight out the box?

not flashing, don't know how to pull tcu codes, the transmission fluid is nearly black, but at normal level

1997, Automatic Transmission, 2.5L, Legacy, Outback, Wagon starting about 9 months ago, the car had to be driven around in "1st" gear for about 15 min, enough for the motor to be warm for 5 min or so. Then it would perform more or less normal. More or less because uphill, in "climing gear", while on cruise control you could feel a slight slip. As of today it's a full slip, as in put car in gear and it doesn't go. stop car wait a while, car will do semi ok, limping it's way home, but had to stop car wait, turn on, go again some more. This information is true in all Shifted Positions. (pRnD321) help.