Hey All,

My wife and I just bought a 96 Legacy L AWD wagon a couple of weeks back. We paid $5000 for 86K miles, I thought it was a pretty good deal for a clean car. We drove it half way across the country and back for our vacation and it drove pretty nice especially through the mountain passes. Halfway into our trip I noticed the "AT OIL TEMP" light on the dash flashes for a few seconds after starting the car. The manual says this is because the transmission control is malfunctioning. I notice nothing wrong with the way the tranny performs. Is this serious or can I fix it or can I ignore it? Another thing I noticed in the manual is that AWD vehicles should not be driven over 70mph but we were averaging 80 across Montana and Saskatchewan, CA. (The scenery still went by pretty slow!) Did we screw something up by driving so fast? As far as AT trannies go, has anybody had any troubles having the Subarus serviced at a typical tranny shop? Thanks for answering all of my questions. I'm hoping for years of dependable use out of this car and I believe that good maintenance is the key.

There is a code stored in the transmission computer. The severity of the problem really can't be determined without checking the code. I'm not sure if standard OBD2 scanners can read the trans computer. If not, you'll need to take it to a dealer to have the code read.

 

 

Where in the manual does it state driving above 70 mph is bad. I've heard no such thing, and know many many people who drive above 70 mph, and much higher with no problems.

 

They might have been referring to towing or some other condition.

I'm trying to figure how many of my 160,000 miles have been over 70 on my 97 Legacy with the 4AT... More than a few...

 

As far as the AT OIL TEMP light. you may have a more serious problem, but I get the flashing light with no other symptoms after I wash the underside of the car with a pressure washer.

Did you wash the car during your trip?

It would last for a few days after I washed it, and never showed any other symptoms. It has happened 3-4 times for me and has always been after I wash the underside with a pressure washer.

The one time it lasted more than a few days because it was raining every day.

I had this problem when my engine ('97 EJ25) severly overheated once due to bad head gaskets. The problem only happened that one time and never since. Course, since then I've also replaced the engine with an EJ22.

 

I connected my ODB2 code reader just to see if anything was listed, but it was clear...

 

Does anyone know if the transmission fluid gets pumped through part of the radiator for cooling? Had a mitsubishi that did this. My thinking is that if the radiator got really hot, this might cause the fluid to run too hot, which could cause the sensor to trip. Just a random guess though...

AT fluid runs into the radiator on most vehicles, including the Subies. It does not run throught the channels tho, it goes thru a small tank on the side or bottom of the radiator to allow for some cooling. This also gets the temp of the AT fluid to a better operating temp when cold.