2012 Outback 3.6 R, 138,800 kms.

Bought the car used in Sept. 2015 with 70,000 kms. Noticed in early 2016 that after first thing in the am after backing out of my lane way and then when shifting into drive there is a hesitation followed by a loud clunk which sounds like it is coming from the rear diff.. It only happens once, first trip of the day and never does it again that day. Also it doesn't do it every day only intermittently. Took it back to the dealer and they gave me a loaner, kept it overnight and of course it didn't do it the next morning. Took it home and of course a few days later the clunk was back. Took it back and once again it failed to produce the clunk.

Ran fine for the rest of the summer and then in Nov. 2016 when the weather was colder the clunk returned. Took it back and my service adviser noticed the car now had 110,000 km's on it and was over due for the transmission service. This was performed, new tran fluid, front and rear diff fluid and relearn the tran module.

The clunk was gone for 9 months until the end of July this year. Took the car back again. Got a loaner and they kept it for 2 days trying to reproduce the symptom. No luck. they did have a service bulletin about an software update for the trans module and installed that. They also checked the tranny for leaks and checked tranny level and all was fine.

 Took the car home and two days later the clunk is back, like I said only in the am and for the first trip of the day, then it runs fine and might not do it for a few days. I am bringing it in again next week and was wondering if anyone here has any ideas as to what night be going on.

I have an extended warranty on the car that runs out at 152,000 km's so want to get this resolved.

I know the diff oil is thicker in the am when it is cooler and the rpms are also higher creating more pressure and I have tried letting it warm up for 5 minutes before leaving and it still clunks but only intermittently. 

Thanks

Alan

 

I know many with the 4EAT have had success using TransX ATF additive but I don't know if that will work for your AT.