Hi... dealing with an automatic transmission for a 1999 Outback SUS.

 

SYMPTOMS: When put in gear, from park to drive, the transmisssion does not engage for some period. In this period, when I apply the gas: no go. It takes from 2-3 to 10 seconds for it to engage. This is also true for reverse. Like a long delay for it to engage into gear. However, no problem shifting to other gears once engaged.

 

The problem is worse when car is cold or hasn't been driven.

 

Aside from a good tranny fluid flushing and refill (which has been done already with no help), what do the USMB experts think might be the problem? Could this be electronics? What steps should I take before buying a new/rebuilt transmission?

You may have a seal leak in the tranny itself. The first few seconds after starting the tranny is building up pressure to engage. Try putting the car in neutral after starting and see if that sppeds up the process. I have a 93 with similar problems and have just lived with it so far. When it gets worse, I'll have the seal repaired. There was a notice in one of the fsm's circa mid 90's about this problem. The part to fix it is relatively inexpensive - the labor, not so.

I've read others on this board with the exact same problem that got their transmissions replaced under warranty. Something to consider if you are still covered.

it dropped.

Yup, my tranny (00 Legacy GT 36K) was replaced under warranty. It was slow going from R to D and attributed to some sort of solenoid as I recall and the dealer even gave me a loaner while they swapped out the tranny.

yeah if it's still under warranty, go get it fixed!!! but if not, have you checked the filter?? That might be the external filter (They are kinda spendy, but I do NOT buy the 100,000 mile filter change interval AT ALL...)

How about trying a bottle of Lubegard ATF supplement ?

 

 

 

http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/index_trans.html

 

 

 

It can't hurt !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Howard

 

 

 

 

 

I've also got a 1999 with similar situation but a very knowledgeable person told me it is a specific situation with 1999's (not a problem) - there's a special governor inside the transmission that prevents engagement immediately as a protection against towing damage. It was installed in response to a great deal of destroyed transmissions (especially in tow-heavy cities like NYC) but discontinued by 2000 because it freaked owners out.

 

I had my transmission checked and told it was fine.

 

Any other 1999 OBW owners corroborate this story?

check out another post where i explained about getting a full tranny flush.....

Hi all, I'm a new member and a fairly recent first time SUbaru owner. I'm having a similar symptom with a 00 Legacy GT wagon. Auto trans doesn't engage in drive( it does engage in reverse right away) for about 3 - 4 seconds or so. It seems to kick in however if you give it a little gas. The idle also seems too low by about 100-200 rpms - reads about 500 on the dash tach. Any thoughts?

This is a warranty issue and hope you are still covered. There was a recent post about head gasket complaints and one of the respondents pooh poohed HGs as a continuing problem instead "We seem to have more early '00-'02 Legacy's in for delayed engagement of the auto tranny's then headgaskets. (Due to an O-ring not holding pressure, it's been corrected)" You can read and contact by PM or ?email Dr. Outback the author of this quote found at the following link:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23282&page=2&pp=10&highlight=head+gasket

So, lucky you, you don't have head gasket problems but you do have the delayed engagement of AT. I had mine changed out under warranty and the mechanic pretty much ordered the replacement transmission by my description as he had obviously seen it before! Hope this helps.

Here's what I did, and it seems to have corrected the problem as I originally described it. Just did this about a month ago...

 

1) completely drained transmission fluid

 

2) replaced with brandy-new transmission fluid

 

works like it did when new now. i figured that before go invasive to try this. glad i did.

This is a warranty issue and hope you are still covered.

Alas no, this is a used vehicle with 70,000 miles. Do you know if tranny failure is soon to be my predicament, or will the delayed engagement simply persist as an annoyance without getting worse?

60,000 miles was the drive train warranty. Did you just become aware of it? How long have you owned the car? If there is a history of a complaint, you might be able to get SOA to step up to the plate.

Was this purchased from a dealer? Even if it was purchased from an individual, try to access their service record to see if they had ever complained to their dealer. If you can, try to get the service history by Vin# if you have to locate where the car came from.

As far as the ultimate impact, try and get the Tech Service Bulletin regarding this issue and see what a transmission shop would charge for repair. SOA might be able to tell you what their repair cost would be. As I said in my case, they simply installed a remanufactured tranny straight from Subaru as they don't want their shops being responsible for breaking one down and repairing it on site.

hey i have a 1999 legacy outback that had the same problem, mine had to be replaced with a reman transmission. It was still under factory warranty. internal seal failure was the problem, on the other hand mine would race up when i would come off a hill and the the tach would be at the other side then it would lurch hard into gear. this even did it on the driveway i have an incline also.

 

good luck!

I just checked the work order on the replacement of my transmission and the following was noted "Cut seal in low clutch assembly causing delay" .

Go get 'em.

My Mazda did the same thing, and it was the "transmission modulator valve"

wich can be aquired at the dealer and possibly an auto store. Cost wil be anywhere from 30 to 50 dollars for the part. the valve usally screws into the side of the tranny and has a vacume line attached to it. If you can find it on your subbe, inpect the vacume lines running to it for cracks or looseness.

 

hope that helps.