Ravenwoods Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 My 95 Legacy with AT has 191,000 miles. In cold weather (15 f or colder) it takes a mile or two for the transmission to shift up to the fourth gear. The colder the weather the longer it takes. This morning at -30 it took nearly 3 miles. Is this a sign of a transmission getting ready to fail? My daughter also has a 95 Legacy with AT. Her car has a AT pan heater. So maybe this is a common problem with the Legacy AT? I've been thinking I should get the heater for my Legacy too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 yup, I have seen this in Wisconsin when it gets that cold and the car gets up in miles. Just warm it up a little longer and go slower at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) perfectly normal. the trans is looking for certain temps internally before shifting. all of the auto trans Subies (3 so far) I have had have done this.. the colder it is, the longer it takes for things to warm up enough. it was so cold one time that it took nearly 5 miles for that final shift - yes, I was a little concerned, but it was just the one time when it was absurdly cold with high winds so wind chill was ridiculous. edit to add: the 90 Legacy had over 200K, the 95 Legacy was up to around 265K when i sold it, and the 02 Forester currently has about 257K - all did/do this when it is really cold out. Edited January 10, 2020 by heartless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenwoods Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Thanks for the information. I think I'll get a transmission pan heater to eliminate this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 No offense, but Why is normal operation a problem? It's working as designed so why add a pan heater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenwoods Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, wtdash said: No offense, but Why is normal operation a problem? It's working as designed so why add a pan heater? My daughter's 95 Legacy has the AT warmer. In the 2-3 miles it take my car's AT to warm up the RPM is up to 3000 if I go faster than 50. I prefer it to shift into 4rth sooner and not waste gasoline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Completely normal. You can waste electricity to warm just the transmission (when everything else will still be cold), you can waste gas to idle the car for a few minutes to warm everything up before you drive, or you can keep it below about 50 to let things warm up while moving (your gas mileage takes a hit much above that anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Interestingly, not a problem we've experienced (yet), though we get the same temperatures. I've never seen these tranny heaters. Are they OEM or aftermarket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenwoods Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 13 hours ago, jonathan909 said: Interestingly, not a problem we've experienced (yet), though we get the same temperatures. I've never seen these tranny heaters. Are they OEM or aftermarket? These oil pan and transmission pan heaters are not designed for any specific vehicle. It’s just a thin sheet of rubberized material with heating elements inside. You put some silicone adhesive on one side, and adhere it to a cleaned area on the metal pan. You can get different wattages depending on how large of an oil pan you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Hello Fairbanks! -35 here at the moment, but we're supposed to be at +10 at the beginning of next week - that's the magic of the Chinook. We have cold spells here, but not like you guys... Yeah, I've seen/used "sheet heaters" like that for non-automotive applications as well. If it helps, great, but it strikes me that damage from rocks and scrapes and stuff would be a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenwoods Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 2 minutes ago, jonathan909 said: Hello Fairbanks! -35 here at the moment, but we're supposed to be at +10 at the beginning of next week - that's the magic of the Chinook. We have cold spells here, but not like you guys... Yeah, I've seen/used "sheet heaters" like that for non-automotive applications as well. If it helps, great, but it strikes me that damage from rocks and scrapes and stuff would be a concern. I’ve only had one case where a branch probably caught and broke the cord. Generally it’s not a problem. If you are out on super rough dirt roads and scrap the bottom of your car all the time you might run into a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fgf Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Be careful about the heater wattage. Oils convect away the heat much more slowly than water or coolant, so a heater intended to heat coolant can overheat the oil and damage it. No more than 4.5 Watts per square inch for oils versus up to 40 watts per square in for water according to www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/hydraulics-at-work/article/21886513/how-to-heat-hydraulic-oil-without-cracking-it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelstomlinson Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 I'm in Delta Junction, a little south of Fairbanks. Yes, use an oil pan heater on your automatic. We all do that up here, because our transmissions last longer that way. I used to do it on my manual gear boxes, too, before the synthetic gear lubes came along. Also consider a synthetic ATF. One morning 30 years ago I was driving in to work in a two-ton Chevy, and I tried to shift the two speed differential. It was about -40, and the stinking thing was too stiff to shift ... I was coasting, couldn't get into gear. I got lucky and it eventually went back into the other position, so I didn't need a tow. I bought silicone heat pads for every gear box that shifts after that. My modern gear boxes from the '80s use synthetic ATF, so the situation is less dire now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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