hankosolder2 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Bought an '07 Forester (4EAT, I guess. No 5 speed auto in the Foresters at this point, yes?) 1 owner, dealer maintained from new, 47K miles. In cold weather, drive is slow to engage. It will also sometimes do an extremely harsh shift on the roll. (I'm not the primary driver of this vehicle, so I haven't been able to pinpoint just when it happens. It did it once when I was driving and it was downright dramatic.) Anyway, I decided to check the trans fluid. The color looks very close to regular Dexron. Isn't this vehicle supposed to have the HP fluid? Can anyone help me ID what color the fluid should be? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) Hi, The 4EAT and Manual - 5-speed were avl., too. Per CARS101.com. Fluid looks like this: And Dexron is fine., too. What was the level like? These can be a pain to check. Awful low miles to have a trans issue (47k?)....but it's due for ATF drain/refill. I'm not a fan of the chemical/power flushes, but @ 47K it should be OK. GL, Td Edited December 8, 2014 by wtdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) Thanks! Is that photo pouring out some HP ATF for my homies? :-) To me, the HP fluid doesn't look as different from Dexron as I was lead to believe. Ordered the HP fluid, and an OE trans filter. I'll probably drain, fill and change the filter for now. Repeat when the weather improves and just keep an eye on things. I wouldn't be surprised if this was normal(ish) ... it's just a 2 sec or so delay to engage Drive in very cold weather and an occasional harsh shift. Nathan Edited December 8, 2014 by hankosolder2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thanks! Is that photo pouring out some HP ATF for my homies? :-) To me, the HP fluid doesn't look as different from Dexron as I was lead to believe. Ordered the HP fluid, and an OE trans filter. I'll probably drain, fill and change the filter for now. Repeat when the weather improves and just keep an eye on things. I wouldn't be surprised if this was normal(ish) ... it's just a 2 sec or so delay to engage Drive in very cold weather and an occasional harsh shift. Nathan Be aware that a drain of the ATF, only drains half the ATF out of the system, the other half remains in the torque converter, and won't drain out. Best to drain and fill 3 times, with short drives between fills to mix old ATF with new ATF. This wastes a lot of fluid, but gives a good drain and fill with new fluid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 The 07 will need ATF HP. You can get Valvoline fluid that meets HP spec for cheaper than the dealer stuff. Color isn't an indicator of fluid type. It's just what a particular manufacturer decides to add to the fluid as an identifier in case of a leak. Some Mercon V looks the same as Dexron II, but you certainly can't mix those up and expect a transmission to work. On the other hand, I've seen Dexron type fluids in red, blue/green, and clear colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) Fairtax, I did not know that. So, in general, other than actually taking a sample of the fluid and sending it off for analysis, there's really no way of knowing if someone has filled with the incorrect fluid. In this specific case the car was dealer only serviced since new, so presumably the only fluids they could have added would have been Subaru's version of Dexron or Subaru's HP fluid so I just wanted to verify that the dealer added the correct version of fluid. Presumably Subaru has consistent color coding specs for each type of their fluid. Edited December 11, 2014 by hankosolder2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Generally if someone fills with the wrong fluid the trans will have major issues. Slipping or rough shifting are common, and that generally won't last long and the trans will bite the dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Changed the fluid and filter today. Old fluid is looking pretty bad. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52174895@N02/16013268182/ I swear it has a slight odor of gear oil as well, but the level on the diff side is up to the mark. Comments, questions, suggestions? I'm definitely going to do some extra fluid changes ASAP. Is my trans borked? I've always had 5MT vehicles, and this experience is a good example of why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Gross! That's pretty nasty looking to have only 47k on the car. Old/burned ATF can smell like all kinds of rancid stuff. Drain and fill at least two more times and see how it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Will do. Any thoughts about whether I should do multiple filter changes as well? I was thinking maybe two more drain / fill cycles, keep the filter (which I just changed), then do one more drain / fill and a 2nd filter swap in the spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I think you have a good plan. Filter efficiency increases as the filter traps particulate, so leaving the current filter on there will actually catch more stuff out of the fluid over the course of the next few fluid changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 OK, I've now changed the fluid multiple times, added and drained around 12qts of ATF, I've also been driving the car a bit more so I can note the issues. Temps below around 40 degrees: -somewhat delayed engagement of Drive in cold weather. Not really much of an issue, but a potential point of concern. -"flare" on the 1-2 shift, flare on 2-3 shift, drastic slip/flare followed by a violent slam when the torque converter locks up (I think.) It's a little hard to tell exactly what what's happening... After about 2 blocks, it drives and shifts fine, all symptoms disappear. When warm it will click off nice shifts even at WOT without a trace of flare or other issues. The symptoms are reduced or eliminated in warmer weather. Does anyone know what part(s) could be bad? Any thoughts about whether it can last like this? I think I can work around it by just leaving the car in 2nd for the first couple of blocks (need to experiment) but I need to make a decision about what to do (or not do) about this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 It doesn't sound good. My GFs 06 is a little funny about going into drive when its cold. But it has 180k on it. I know the 4eat likes to shift a little hard when cold, but only the 1-2 and 2-3 shift. It will hold the gear longer than normal then shift quickly. Flare between gears (engine RPM climbs abruptly before dropping down when the next gear engages) is not normal for any trans. Flare usually indicates excessive clearance between the clutch plates, which could mean excessive wear. Did you change the filter inside the pan? Is the pan dented? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Well, that's not what I wanted to hear, but it's probably the truth. This has the spin-on external filter, which I replaced with the correct OEM part at the first fluid change. Is there an internal filter as well? I did not see any dents on the pan. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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