Hi-

New here, thanks in advance for input. Do the mid to late 90s automatic transmissions all suck, or primarily the Outbacks? Its hard finding a manual, and the Legacys are so much cheaper. Anyone have input on the reliability of an automatic tranny with under 100K miles?

Cheers, Alex

depends on what you mean by "suck". The 4EAT sucks only by comparison to the rest of the car, which is stellar. Yes, the 5MT is more robust than any of the 4EAT trannies. but that is just the nature of any automatic transmission. Compared to other automatic transmissions it is a very good unit. What exactly are you asking for in the way of information?

It's a good transmission, jointly developed in 1980s by Fuji, Nissan and Mazda through a joint venture called JATCO and used by all three in various models.

Of course automatic transmissions suck, by nature.

 

But if you're asking about mechanical durability, not personal preference, from what I've heard, the new subaru automatics are very good, and some people have even recommended them over the manuals for longevity (since the subaru clutch isn't quite up to serious off roading without dual range). If it hasn't been abused, it seems like 100k is pretty young for either a manual or auto tranny. If you don't mind driving an automatic, I wouldn't avoid it just because of maintenance concerns.

 

If you want to find a manual, try looking in a big city for a good deal. Often easy to pick up a manual tranny car for cheap there, because everyone wants an automatic for idling in traffic and yappin on their cell phones.

Hi-

New here, thanks in advance for input. Do the mid to late 90s automatic transmissions all suck, or primarily the Outbacks? Its hard finding a manual, and the Legacys are so much cheaper. Anyone have input on the reliability of an automatic tranny with under 100K miles?

Cheers, Alex

 

my 98 leagcy had 180 k on the origanal tranny before the car got totaled

my OBW 97 has 182 K on the original tranny and its fine.

Its not too often there is a post here about a bad tranny.

 

Where do you get your information?

 

nipper

Frankly the numbers I have seen on subie automatics make me think they are pretty good. The GM automatics I have had incude a few turbo 400s, arugueably one of the world's toughest. I usually got between 150,000 and 200,000 before a rebuild except in trucks and cutaway busses. My last Mercedes did about 200,000 before needing a $4,000 or so factory rebuild.

I hear folks like Nipper tell me all the time that they are getting 150-200,000 miles out of these things.

They don't get a lot better than that on something with wearing gears, clutches, and all those little parts.

These things are fairly heavy four wheel drive cars too that often are used for difficult work.

subaru auto trans do fine. install an aftermarket transmission cooler, put new fluid in it and run matching sets of tires and it should be fine.

 

i needed a new auto trans at 160,000, but i abused that one bad. drove with mismatched tires, never changed the fluid, worked that thing over off-road...didn't know much about transmissions back then. installed a used trans with unknown mileage and it's still in that car at 220,000 miles....installed new fluid, new filter and an aftermarket cooler and it works great.

Do the mid to late 90s automatic transmissions all suck, or primarily the Outbacks?

 

What a way to start out your first post! Where did you get the idea that ANY of them "suck", let alone ALL of them?

 

The AT in my 1996 Outback was a great transmission; better than my newer Outbacks. It always had positive shifts and there never seemed to be any "lag" on the downshifts. The car was totalled at 127,000 miles so I don't know how long it would have lasted, but I wish my newer Outbacks had a tranmission like it.

First car with an automatic transmission I have owned in about 30 years...

 

I own two...

99 OBW with 86k

96 OBW with 158k

works for me.

Later,

Peter

My 99 Forester S Manual sucks in the winter. It bucks in 1st and 2nd, and sometimes 3rd, when cold. Usually the first 30-45 minutes of driving.

 

The first 30-45 minutes suck of each day. After that Winter's a blast.

Hell I have a 160K on my 97 outback and the tran works just fine....

I also have a 99 Forester and other than idleing high when cold it is quite smooth when driving. I would be tempted to try to fix that if it were mine as it kind of sounds like a pain.

I've posted the complaint about my '03 OBW's tranny. 99.9% of the time it's flawless. But, high speed (over 70, and the higher the worse) downshifting displays a horrible over rev/bang into gear problem. I will likely complain again ina few days when I take it in for some service (I hear a weird noise when the A/C compressor is on - like a low refrigerant condition) to a different dealership.

 

 

fyi

I also have a 99 Forester and other than idleing high when cold it is quite smooth when driving. I would be tempted to try to fix that if it were mine as it kind of sounds like a pain.

 

Hey Cookie,

 

I started another posting about this. Had the problem since day one and the dealer could not duplicate, so no fix. There use to be a Subaru posting page where I found others with the same problem and they could not get Subaru to fix.

 

MTBE

if you were around here I would say come on over and I'll look at it. The only person I have seen who felt his car was bucking had a broken motor mount.

Do any of you other guys live near MTBE?

150K on a 96 Legacy, no tranny problems. Just changed the fluid, and it is good to go. My wife beats on that thing pretty seriously, so I am pretty happy we have gotten this far with it.

Agree with what everyone said, my 96 L shifts the same as it did when new. To me, the tranny shifts even smoother than the one in my 03. (and with no lag.)

 

I've noticed that trannies on many newer cars (toyotas especially) have terrible problems with lag. Not sure why.

97 OutBack Wagon with 269 000 kms and a great transmission when traded on a 02 OBW, that now has 118 000 kms and a tranny that is as nice as the day I bought the car. The tranny would not be a weak point in this car, in my opinion.

2000 Legacy Automatic Transmission with 233,000 miles. Still shifts perfectly. Most transmissions are fine as long as you don't drive like a moron, and do the proper matinence.

I suspect, too, that part of the great longevity of the old AT units (like in the gen-1 and gen-2 legacies) has to do with the fact that the 2.2l engines weren't very powerful.

 

Contrast this with the SVX. There are probably very few SVX's left with their original transmissions intact.

 

You routinely see cars today with 300+hp and similar gobs of torque, i can't help but wonder how long those AT's are going to hold up.

I have an '03 outback w/ 4EAT , 39,000 hard on/offroad miles!!! It's bomber! shifts flawless. I have serviced it twice with redline synthetic atf. Thinking about an aftermarket cooler though. For offroad it's great as it has a lower gear ratio in 1st vs the 5mt trans.

Hocrest has a 98 or 97 legacy that has over 200k on the tranny and he doesn't even bother to service it, drives it hard, and all that crap and it is great he says. My folks just bought a 99 legacy and it shifts great...it only has 61k on it but for someone who hates atuomatics (me) to say that is quite an accomplishment.

 

The auto tranny I do hate is the automatic in the 90-94 legacy. They suck in my opinion. :-p

 

If you take care of it and don't drive like a moron it will last....oh and the correct tires on the car with a good rotation history is a big plus too.

While I would prefer a 5 speed, the auto in my 91 LS works perfectly. The original owner said he never had any problems with it either (or anything else except the air suspension).

 

I love the way it snaps off perfect shifts exactly at the 6500 rpm redline everytime you floor it.