Hi, my son is the new owner of a 2001 Forester with about 150k miles and has just noticed the AT OIL TEMP light is coming on and the trans (auto) is not shifting quite right.  

He has added Dextron III and the problem goes away but it seems to be reoccuring especially when he drives 30 min to an hour.   He doesn't see any signs of fluid loss but continues to add fluid which seems to fix the problem for a while and then comes on again. 

Anyone have any thoughts on what may be happening? He and the car are in Denver I am in PA trying to help.  I have asked and he sees no leakage under the car or anywhere else.  The other fluids are fine (oil, antifreeze). 

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Mike

A couple of possibilities. 

 

Make sure he is reading the auto dip stick properly. If he is then where is the fluid going? It can be a leak to the automatic transmission cooler in the radiator, or it can be the cooler itself. Look at the radiator coolant, is there oil in it.

 

The flashing ATF light, let me guess, it flashes just on startup? This means that during the previous drive something electrical is wrong in the transmission.

 

Can you describe the shifting issue better?

if it's disappearing it must be leaking somewhere. He can clean off the bottom of engine and tranny pan as best he can, then park over clean cardboard and trace back to the leak.

Definitely have him check the small hoses from the cooler.

 

O/

Thanks for the responses. 

I am pretty familiar with cars, and can't understand why it needs more fluid if there are no leaks. 

 He has looked under the car where it is parked and says there are no signs of leaks. 

I am trying to walk him through what and how to check things. He also says the other fluids are fine. 

I will ask him to check the antifreeze to see what color it is and if it is red.  If so that could point to a trans cooler leak?? are the Subaru's coolers separate or integrated with the radiator like ond GM cars? 

He is taking it to the dealer on Monday as he needs to get this resolved pretty quickly (needs to drive to LA from Denver end of month) but I thought I would try a forum to see what I can expect from the dealer and what to question (since I don't really trust dealers). 

I will also ask him lore on how the trans is shifting.  He said it kind of clunks going into reverse, but the car is still driving basically OK. 

Thanks again

Mike

Cooler is built into the radiator on Subarus. And the coolant will look typical oil/water mix if it is leaking. 

 

Clunking going into reverse can be so many things, from annoying to expensive. 

 

Can he come on the forum so we can grill him

He dropped the car off at the dealer in Denver this morning.  We will see what they $ay lol.  This dealer did all of the maintenance on this particular car for the previous owners so I am hoping they are going to be reasonable.

Thanks I will keep you posted.

Ok Dealer replaced fuiid and filter and flushed trans said it was a little overfilled but working properly. Told him they thought the car would make it to LA and back no problem. 

Friday night the light came on again, flashing. car is shifting OK from my discussion with my son so he was calling the dealer again to try and get it back in.  I don't think he had driven very far at all when the light was flashing, probably not enough to get the trans fluid too hot. 

Any thoughts? 

Could it simply be a sensor?

Thanks

Flashing light, if it flashes 14 times on startup is showing an electrical fault in the previous run cycle. Go out to a parking lot and rive in a tight circle. The car should do this with very little gas and very little input into the steering wheel. If it kicks back or needs more gas then the source of the flashing light is a Dutcy C solenoid, IE torque bind.

 

If it does not do this, have the dealer scan the TCU for codes, then proceded from there, which is what he should have done to start with.

Thanks I sent this to him.

 

I would think that the dealer would have scanned for codes.

 

He was going to speak with the service guy today and see what he says.

 

Thanks

my 00 lego L had a similar problem.

flashing AT Temp light while driving.

i could find nothing about it in the owners manual.

flashing at start up, yes,

flashing while driving, no.

 

mine ended up being a bad ground connection on top of the intake manifold.

apparently i failed to tighten the bolt when i did the head gaskets months before.

but it ran fine until i replaced an axle and bumped it.

it then started having this intermittent problem,

which got worse over time.

my shifting problem, it down shifted into 3 regardless of speed.

 

has there been any work done on the engine just prior to this problem?

have him look for loose wires, or disconnected , broken wires.

or have the dealer do it.

 

good luck.