RacerX

Thanks, John! That's a relief. I appreciate your knowledge. I'm going to pick up the tranny and pumpkin today and I'll update y'all when the swap is complete. Y'all ROCK!

Thanks, Rooster! Yes, I read quite a few old posts regarding the Trans-X and neglected to put all my details in. I changed the external filter and "3x flushed" the tranny, then added the Trans-X, again on the last fill. It worked fairly well and I thought that had done the trick with just a little consistent hesitation, but it lasted about a week, this time. Then the long hesitation returned. That's the missing data between my initial Trans-X attempt and my search for a transplant. Both of the donor Foresters in the salvage yard are casualties of front-end collisions, so I've got a pretty solid chance that they were working well, when they met their fate. Haha! They both have their rear diff available, as well. I've had no luck finding any way to decode the trans I.D. numbers to know the difference in mine and the two Foresters'. Everything that I've found, so far seems consistent that the "first 7" of the trans I.D. and the harness plugs should match for a direct swap. However, my bad trans has a "4" in the 5th spot, where the Foresters' have a "3". Other than that, they appear identical, on visual inspection and appear to be a direct bolt-in swap. Anyone know what this 5th spot on the trans I.D. indicates? Any knowledge or experience with this issue is welcome. Thanks, again!

I've recently purchased a 2000 Outback Limited with "transmission problems". It has the typical hesitation going into Drive from any other position. Sometimes, I'll need to get the revs up in order to get it to engage, but even then, it's sketchy. However, once it slams into Drive, it shifts well, with no other issues (until the next time I need to put it into Drive, again.) Scouring the forums, I've found this to be a very common issue with 99-01 Outbacks. Apparently, the new "phase II" trans was manufactured with bad seals that cause this issue. I tried the Trans-X suggestion first. It worked like a charm! ... for about 4 days. Then the issue returned. A 30-year veteran at a respectable trans shop in town tells me that Trans-X (like brake fluid) swells the seals and will work, temporarily, but isn't advisable, since it doesn't discriminate and swells ALL seals in the trans. It also makes it more difficult to rebuild, due to swollen seals being more difficult to remove. Still worth a shot IMHO. ($8 bottle vs $1k for a rebuild.) My question is: what years and models will interchange with mine (TZ1A4ZCABA-WL on bellhousing.)?? I have found a salvage yard with a '00 Forester Auto (TZ1A3ZC2AA-P8) and an '02 Forester Auto (TZ1A3ZC3AA-PM). The '00 has fewer miles, but I'm cautious due to being the same year model as mine, might have similar issues. The harness plugs appear to be the same and all have the spin-on external trans filter on the side. Any help would be appreciated. I apologize for being verbose, but I'm trying to give as much pertinent info as I can. Thanks!