robo4130 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) just got it literaly 3 hours ago for 1500$ i have no idea what maint has been done but i am gonna flush and replace the tranny fluid and filter and gasket soon i also heard to try trans x who makes it and were can i get some also it it shifts at 32-3500 in first if i step on the gas but if i do it slow is just jumpy intead or jerky1 and shutters a lil at idle with no foot on brake 197xxx miles awd oil is brownish looks good drips a lil from front right side engine somewhere new blue head gaskets and tm looks to be changed also some were? real clean Rh t belt cover is broken and needs a new one but is on there just the plastic is crack so u cant put a bolt through it and at stopp it feels like its is shaking but i am sure its the boxxer but not sure no cel's what so ever but once its out of first it is real smooth and on every other car i have owned i can shift from p to d and it stopps this car stops at 3rd you know after drive?is that normal? light gas pedal press actualy almost felt smooth and normal, when I gun it , it'll jerk into 1st gear any help would be appreciated Edited February 19, 2011 by robo4130 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Have you checked the trans fluid condition? Engine warm, running, in park, after shifting through all gears, is the level between the marks on the dipstick? What color is it? Does it smell like burnt toast? Don't bother to drop the pan, the "filter" inside is just a coarse screen. Drain and refill the fluid 3 times with short drives in between. Some of these have an external canister filter between the transmission and the heat exchanger in the radiator. That would be worth changing if yours has it, and is worth adding if it doesn't. Shaky engine might mean low compression or misfiring on one or more cylinders, or the cam timing could be off a tooth. Are the spark plugs new? What about the plug wires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 i have no idea on plugs and such i have only had the car for 4 hours and have done nothing to it but put wiper blades and headlights in it!i just bought a kit with filter gasket and such and trans x and tomorrow i am gonna have it flushed and refilled at jiffy lube and see how it goes i dont have lots of money atm so draining and refilling 3 times or more to me atm is a waste of money i stuck sea foam in the tank and will be taking it to emissions on monday and by heat exchanger you mean tranny cooler?lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 What is a flush and refill at jiffy lube going to cost? If you do it yourself 3 drain-and-fills is not a waste of money--and may be a lot safer than letting jiffy lube anywhere near your car! Sorry if I sound cynical. I wish you good luck whichever way you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch de la Brat Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 The drain and refill 3 times is only because the transmission cycles in 3 stages (more like 2 1/2, but I'll leave that alone for now) There are essentially "pockets" that fill with fluid and get pushed through, so you only can fill/empty one pocket at a time. When you drain it, you only drain the "bottom" pocket and when you put fluid in, you only fill the "top" pocket. You still have a "middle" pocket to deal with. You have to drain the bottom pocket, fill the top pocket, then drive the car, therefore cycling the fluid and moving the bottom pocket up to the top, top to middle, and middle to bottom. Then as you do it again, it cycles them one step, and then when you do it again it cycles it completely through. But there is an easier and safer way than trusting Jifi Lube. You can take the output line to the tranny cooler off at the radiator side and pour it into a bucket while running the engine and transmission in park. As the fluid drains, pour in new fluid through the dipstick hole. Continue this until the fluid coming out of the hose is the same color as the new stuff. Turn the engine off, reconnect the hose and drive it for a few miles with some extra tranny fluid in the car, as it will probably need some. Expect to use 2.6 gallons of fluid, as this is what the transmission capacity is. It is suggested to elevate the wheels off the ground and run it through the gears while it is draining/filling. A helper is very helpful when performing this. I would not recommend using the TransX as it is only for a specific problem in Subaru's and the tranny you have (the 4EAT) is very particular about it's fluid. Twitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 my problem is i live in an apt have no so much money till tax time is here and forget jiffy lube.... aamco will flush and fill and inspect it for 50 bucks and i have the filter and \gaskets and i am new to phoenix and have like one friend and out apts wont let me work on cars here or i will get fined if i am cought doing it so yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 you don't want to do a ''flush'' unless you absolutely have to. there is a chance the ''flushing'' will move some dirt around and get it stuck in places it should not be. a ''drain and fill'' 3 times will not run that risk. and i wouldn't take my car to aamco if it was broken down on the street in front of the shop. IMO they offer that 50$ deal because they know they will get some rebuilds out of it. part of the process is to remove the pan and show it to you. ''look at all that dirt and metal in there, you better fix this now.'' i would take it to a local shop with the trans fluid and tell them what you want. a drain and fill, three times. after each fill start the car and shift it through all of the gears. you don'y have to drive it. then shut it off and drain and fill again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allpar Mod Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Actually, Jiffy Lube doubtfully will do it anyway with the amount of miles that car has on it. I was going to have a flush done on a non Soob that had well over 100,000 miles on it and they said they wouldn't do flushes on vehicles with that many miles on it as a rule. I'm not sure on what any of the other company's policies are in regard to mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 STAY AWAY FROM JIFFY LUBE and AAMCO unless you want to pay for a transmission rebuild. Drain and till 3x is the best bet. Find a rent-a-garage for an hour or so, will be much cheaper than either of the two places mentioned above! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 +1 on doing a drain and refill of ATF three times, with short drives between changes. It takes some time, and uses a lot of ATF, but still less costly then a power flush. Don't recommend using Trans-X. The product is only recommended for trany problems on 99/00 models, that have a unique problem to those two years. Don't recommend dropping the pan under any circumstances. The coarse screen inside doesn't get dirty, and doesn't need replacing. Resealing the pan with a new gasket is a nasty job..... Nasty getting off remnants of the old gasket. Even then, with new gasket there is a chance of a pan leak. I dropped a pan on a Subie just one time to learn my lesson, that it is a bad idea. I will never do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 ok so take back the trans x and filter set and just flush it 3 times?what fluid do u guys recommend to use?sorry never owned a auto subie and now i know why!@ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 ok so take back the trans x and filter set and just flush it 3 times?what fluid do u guys recommend to use?sorry never owned a auto subie and now i know why!@ Subies with auto trannies use Dextron type ATF. To me any ATF fluid that is marked on the container as being Dextron type, or Dextron quality is acceptable. I use the Walmart brand Dextron type ATF with no issues after 5 years of use. What is nice about Subarus, is that they are made with a drain plug bolt on the bottom of the AT pan. The bolt is the same type as used on the oil pan. So, draining out ATF is really easy. You will need a plastic funnel with a long stem to insert into the ATF fill tube. It's the same tube contains the AT dip stick. Be aware that the short AT dip stick marking only requires a pint of ATF to go from low mark to high mark on the stick. If you can't find the ATF dip stick, let us know, and we will tell you where to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 ok thanks i will try this and see how it goes!lol wish me luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 nope still shifts the same way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 nope still shifts the same way! Did you change the ATF 3 times?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 nope still shifts the same way! If it seems to shift rough it may be due to an engine problem. The transmission control unit uses throttle position to determine when and how hard the trans should shift. If the engine is ow on power due to a misfire or issue, you will be using more throttle to get the same power as you would if the engine were running normally. This means the TCU will see more throttle input and higher engine RPM, which tells it shift harder. and by heat exchanger you mean tranny cooler?lol Yes, heat exchanger. It's inside the radiator, so heat can go either way. Engine coolant will move heat into the trans fluid which will help warm up the trans faster. It will also draw heat away from the trans fluid if it just so happens to be warmer than the engine coolant. Thus the "exchange". Usually trans fluid will be the same or slightly cooler temp than engine coolant, unless you're towing or doing a lot of stop and go city driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 rooster yes i did and put it into fwd mode and it worked fine shifted at 4 grand with no jerk and its leaking a lil bit of oil and i have a pic and i noticed it has 3 tires same and one skinny one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 You need to replace that smaller tire. All wheel drive Subies absolutely need 4 tires of the same size. Otherwise, it is very hard on power transmission components, am thinking you already know this, because you went to FWD. Suggest leaving in FWD until you replace the tire. All Subies over 10 years old were made to leak oil. They all do,........ unless valve cover gaskets and other seals are replaced. Your car may run and shift better after a spark plug and wire replacement. Do the plug replacement first to see if that improves driveability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 already planned on it oil,filter,spark plug change) and yes this is my 15th subie that is why i put it in fwd mode...and thank all u guys for your help were do i get the star socket for the valve cover bolts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch de la Brat Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Ummm, valve covers should only be a 10 or 12mm bolt. They're the one's in the middle of your valve cover. The 12 point 14mm bolts are your head bolts. They're the one's around the valve covers. Don't fiddle with those unless replacing head gaskets or rebuilding the engine. Twitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 ohhh thanks for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robo4130 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 thanks for all your help but i sold the car for 2400!many thanks!now i am off to but an impreza wagion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I am betting the new owner will join USMB asking the same questions. Any takers?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 thanks for all your help but i sold the car for 2400!many thanks!now i am off to but an impreza wagion good deal, 900$ profit in a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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