HI,

 

I HAVE A '99 FORESTER. UPON PURCHASE NOTICED THERE WAS LAG TIME SHIFTING FROM NEUTRAL TO DRIVE. SUBARU SERVICE ADVISED THIS WAS NORMAL. JUST AFTER MY 60K WARRANTY WAS UP TRANY STARTED TO SHIFT HARD/BANG INTO FORWARD GEARS. NOW THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL LAG TIME BEFORE IT WILL SHIFT THAN BANGS INTO GEAR. AT 65K IT'S SO BAD I CAN'T EVEN DRIVE IT. I'VE BEEN VISITING VARIOUS FORUMS AND NOW SEE THAT OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. SOUNDS LIKE A DEFECT TO ME. DOES ANYONE HAVE MORE DETAILS ON LAGGING TRANSMISSIONS? I'VE ALSO SEEN MESSAGES WHERE PEOPLE HAVE REPLACED THE TRANY SEVERAL TIMES AND STILL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. PRETTY SCARY.

 

V-LO

Then ask him if it's 'normal'. You took it in for service when it was under warranty and they shined you on. The complaint was registered (you CAN document this visit, non?), they are still on the hook. If you get any flak demand a Zone Rep meeting.

Please refrain from posting in all caps. It gives the impression you're yelling.....which maybe you want to be after the problems....but in the future please don't post in all caps.

Fight it till the bitter end... and when they finally bury you in paper work and legal actions that take more time away from your life then you can afford; it's time for a 5speed swap

 

Now you know why I will never buy another automatic transmission

Classic symptoms that a clogged filter exhibits at higher mileage. Something more serious may be wrong with yours. Have you ever changed the filter?

Thanks to all for your emails.

 

The transmission was serviced at 35K which included draining & changing the filter. I took the car into the Subaru dealership with a stack of complaints I have found on other forums regarding Forester's & Outback's with the same problem. They confirmed I need a new transmission and have offered to split the cost of a rebuilt trany....$4700. I'm going to plead my case with the service mgr. tommorow & ask to meet with the Regional rep. I think they should cover the entire cost and figure I have nothing to lose at this point.

I noticed the same thing on my 2000GT legacy at about 36K miles. The service rep. drove the car around the block, came back and nodded to the service manager. They ordered a rebuilt tranny and gave me a loaner on the day they did the install... no charge. The familiarity with which the dealer's representatives approached this problem certainly leads me to believe that this is a known problem if not publicly acknowledged. Anyway... the car has run fine since the rebuild was installed.

G'Luck

Without driving the car I can't say if this info pertains to your problem. But I'll post it anyway.

 

http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/summer2003/INSIDERI.PDF

 

Go to 4EAT speed sensors.