Hello All,

I have never had a Subaru. I got my 2001 Subaru a couple of years ago. I have loved this car from the day I got it. Yesterday I was driving 75mph when I saw a crap load of smoke pouring out the back of my car. I started to notice the tranny slipping as I pulled over. I got under the car and saw tranny fluid pouring out of the bell-housing. I refilled the tranny but now it doesn't engage in any gear. It has 233,000 miles on it. I wanted to know if anyone has had similar issues with their tranny. Can it be saved? I didn't smell anything burnt in the tranny oil. Any suggestions on where I can find a good tranny?

I am new here to this site. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Humbly

Ed

Could just be one of the trans cooler lines leaking somewhere that looks like through the bell housing.

Could be a seal between the trans and the front diff filling the diff with ATF- check the diff level with the diff dipstick.

 

Could of course be the seal around the torque converter- that would require trans removal.

 

Transmissions can be found www.car-part.com

You probably should stick to a trans from a 6 cyl.

Must be a non-VDC trans.

Yoiu can use up to 2003 trans with no mods, up to a 2004 if you sweap a small part over in the tailshaft housing (extension housing)

The torque converter probably failed. It is the only real weak point on these transmissions.  In fact, when people are putting in one of our engines and they have an automatic trans., we recommend they replace the torque converter with a rebuilt just like we would recommend replacing a clutch at the same time.  It would definitely be spilling ATF from the bell housing and would not engage.

 

Good news: a rebuilt (don't even think of a used one!) torque converter isn't expensive.  It most likely did not harm the transmission.

 

Bad news: you have to remove the transmission to get to it.  Most shops charge about 6 hours labor to R&R a transmission.

 

Emily

The TCs are a bit weak on the H6s?

 

Glad I've started to treat mine a bit more gently...

 

Of course if there's a service reason to pull the engine and he could kill 2 birds with one stone, they could do it by pulling the engine.

Emily - that's some helpful notes - how and where do the TC's fail?

 

1.  verify the source of the leak

2.  are you positive the transmission is now full of oil and still not working properly?

Thinking about it, it actually could be just the torque converter seal, but getting to it is the same as doing the TC itself, which is what I would do if it was my car.  Actually this has been the weakest point since Subarus went to the 4.44 avg. gear ratio.

 

Here's some good information:

 

http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/all-about-transmission-torque-converter-problems-sensor-seal

 

http://etereman.com/blog/transmission-care/diagnosing-torque-converter-problems-procedures-for-all-vehicles

 

Emily