Chessie92

My DFE showed up in the fall of 09. I added the TransX in November, and the problem went away. May 10, it's back. We drained and replaced the AT fluid, new filter, and again added the TransX, and again, it fixed the problem. This weekend (4 months now...seems like the time is growning shorter) problem has reappeared in the last couple of weeks, and yesterday we couldn't even get it to go into D, at all. Went and picked up another bottle of TransX, and after some reving and giving it a night to sit, it's going into gear again. Although, it's not as quick now....there is a second or so before it goes. So, I've made the decision to move on to another vehicle. I put an engine into this car 2 years ago, a new speedometer just after that, and a radiator last month. I can't spend another $1000 or 2 on a transmission repair...not on this car. I'm done. Gonna trade it in for whatever I can get, on something else. I hate leaving this car...but I hate more not knowing if I'm going to be stranded each day.

I read about this test, but the site states "Perform this test, at your own risk, and do not do the test, unless you are experienced and are wearing clothing and equipment to protect you from burns, or injury." I am far from experienced, and I think I'd be inviting disaster to do this test. Couldn't the dealer do this? Wouldn't they have checked that?

They didn't say I lost them....but that they were leaking. And he said they were also called "core" plugs...so I guess different people call them different things. They ordered 2 new ones...and replaced them. And they are on there...I saw them myself. This is frustrating. How do I get a dealer to test this stuff? I have to rely on them to do what is needed. :-(

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm not sure how a new Subaru cap would make a difference in the hose since the cap on it now is brand new, but if it doesn't cost much, I might try it. Still...if the car is not overheating, do I need to be concerned about the hose? Or is this a problem waiting to happen? Also, no one addressed my question on the dealer repair. Any thoughts on that?

I have a 1999 Outback, and I am the original owner. I recently noticed a strong antifreeze smell, and I really only noticed it after a long (an hour or so) drive. I took the car to the dealer, who diagnosed the problem as leaking core/freeze plugs. Since the engine is still under warranty ( a Jasper rebuilt was installed in 7/08), the plugs were replaced at no cost to me. The very next weekend (this past weekend) I noticed the smell again, although fainter. The next morning, we looked under the car and noticed a radiator hose that was pretty much flattened. We looked online, and found that this seems to be indicative of a faulty radiator cap. We removed the cap, and found there was a ton of nasty-looking greenish slimy crud all over it. Also seemed to be a tiny amount at the top of the radiator, around the inside - and we also noticed that the fluid level, inside the radiator itself, seemed to be low. So we went down to NAPA and bought a new cap, and replaced the old one, and wiped out the inside top of the radiator as well. When we did, we also added water to the radiator until it was full. The little plastic overflow container already appeared to be at the "full" level. After we drove the car, the hose was fully round again, as I would have expected it to normally appear. When I drove back home last night, I didn't notice any smell, but it was at night, and much cooler of course, so that may have been a factor. However, this morning, I looked under the car before starting it, and the hose was collapsed…though not completely flat as it appeared when we first noticed it. So…is the collapsed hose normal? If not, since I already replaced the cap, what else could cause this? Is it a problem if the car is not overheating? Also, wouldn't the dealer mechanic have needed to drain (and completely refill) the cooling system to replace those plugs? And doing so, would it not be a reasonable expectation that he would have noticed both the collapsed hose, and the cruddy cap? :-\ I'm starting to think I am taking my car to the wrong place for service.