Woodpecker Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 :-\ I went to change my oil for only the second time (and 6+ months after the first time) and mistakenly drained the automatic transmision fluid instead! Doiyee! (This after changing oil in cars for over 30 years!) Car is 2006 Subaru Outback with 7500 miles on it. Questions: Over 3 quarts came out before I stopped it. It holds something like 9.8 quarts. Should I try to drain more out, then replace it all so that I'm not mixing brands or ages? (I'll go with one of the ones recommended in the manual.) The manual shows the dipstick location and talks about adding new fluid when needed, but amazingly doesn't say where! I'm told in a 2000 Outback it's added where the dipstick is. Sound right? The compression ring for the drain plug looks like that used for the oil filter--yes? Anything else I need to be aware or careful of? Woodpecker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 check out your owners manual. you can't get all the fluid out anyway by draining a trans like you can an engine anyway, so the "mixing" fluids concern isn't one. you could find out from Subaru exactly what fluid they use and it comes with and add that. fill through the dipstick, a funnel is handy for this. check it a couple times, the ATF doesn't read as consistently as engine oil and follow the owners manual instructions...when warm, shift through the gears..etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzam Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Don't beat yourself up about the mistake. There are some horror stories on this board of the Quick oil change places (I call them "Iffy-Lube") that drain the wrong oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lots of people have done this. Check and be sure that you didn't drain the front differential! The dipstick for the front diff is on the passenger side on a North American car, and the dipstick for the automatic transmission is on the driver's side below the brake master cylinder. If it was transmission fluid that you drained, replace it with Mobil 1 ATF. In fact, do this every time you change your engine oil and you'll never have a transmission problem. You should get just about 4 quarts of ATF out of the transmission pan when draining, so it makes a good partial change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Check and be sure that you didn't drain the front differential! i was thinking that too but if he got 3.5 quarts out it couldn't have been the front diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballitch Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 was the oil red, did it have a weird grease smell to it, if it was slightly red or any other color but motor oil color it was atf. grab 4-6 qts. of mobil 1 syn. atf, and refill. dont worry, the mobil 1 syn atf is compatible with ALL atf's. and dont forget to change your oil...the motor oil that is. ~Josh~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggywerewolf Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 You don't say in the original post, but is this the 4EAT or the 5EAT? The 5 speed AT calls for ATF-HP (Idemitsu), not Dexron III. Not sure if it's OK to mix the two; although it seems prudent to follow whatever the factory specs call for, at least while the tranny's under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I like the idea of putting in the Mobil synthetic, but that's not on the list of recommended fluids in the owner's manual, so it seems I could be voiding the warranty by doing so. Ones listed are: Genuine Subaru ATF Type-HP, IDEMITSU ATF HP, Castrol Transmax J, and Pennzoil ATF-J. They don't have separate lists for 4-speed and 5-speed transmissions. Woodpecker go for the genuine subaru stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 You don't say in the original post, but is this the 4EAT or the 5EAT? The 5 speed AT calls for ATF-HP (Idemitsu), not Dexron III. Not sure if it's OK to mix the two; although it seems prudent to follow whatever the factory specs call for, at least while the tranny's under warranty. I like the idea of putting in the Mobil synthetic, but that's not on the list of recommended fluids in the owner's manual, so it seems I could be voiding the warranty by doing so. Ones listed are: Genuine Subaru ATF Type-HP, IDEMITSU ATF HP, Castrol Transmax J, and Pennzoil ATF-J. They don't have separate lists for 4-speed and 5-speed transmissions. Woodpecker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 :-\ I went to change my oil for only the second time (and 6+ months after the first time) and mistakenly drained the automatic transmision fluid instead! Doiyee! i did that once at the garage i worked at. i felt like a moron. however, the oil and tranny drain plugs look VERY similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 I got the ATF and drained the rest that I could. Total drained = almost 5 quarts. (I have it in a full gallon milk jug and almost full quart oil container.) After putting in 4 quarts, there was some on the dipstick, even after a couple of wipings. I ran the engine and moved the shift from P to R to N to D and back a few times. I didn't move the car. It was getting dark, so I left it overnight to settle more. This morning I pulled the dipstick and it shows (cold) at about the lower hot level, i.e. above the upper cold level. Question: How is it that I drained 5 quarts but it will only take 4? Is there something else I need to do? Thanks for all the great advice so far! Woodpecker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Could have been overfilled a bit. Just drive it a few days and check it warm a couple times, no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG McAnick Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Woodpecker, I'm glad to you made it over here from that other generic car site. I told you THESE GUYS KNOW THEIR SOOBS. Pretty good huh? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 Someone suggested that "I forgot about the ATF in the converter." Can someone here tell me more? How do I get fluid to there? MG: yes, thanks for pointing me to here. These guys are great! Woodpecker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 [...]This morning I pulled the dipstick and it shows (cold) at about the lower hot level, i.e. above the upper cold level. Question: How is it that I drained 5 quarts but it will only take 4? Is there something else I need to do?[...] You didn't say whether you had the engine running, put the shift lever through the gears, etc., when doing the "cold" check. If not, you need to do that; "cold" means just that the fluid is cold, but otherwise the same procedure is followed as when checking "hot". It's best to use the procedure in the manual and check the hot fluid level. Be sure to allow the dipstick to remain in the tube for a minute after wiping it, before withdrawing it again; removing the stick tends to pull fluid up the tube, giving a falsely high reading. Also, look at both sides of the dipstick, and assume that if one reads lower, it's the correct one. In some cases, if the fluid is exceptionally low, it will get aerated (air bubbles will be formed), giving an apparently higher reading than the actual level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 You didn't say whether you had the engine running, put the shift lever through the gears, etc., when doing the "cold" check. If not, you need to do that; "cold" means just that the fluid is cold, but otherwise the same procedure is followed as when checking "hot". It's best to use the procedure in the manual and check the hot fluid level. Be sure to allow the dipstick to remain in the tube for a minute after wiping it, before withdrawing it again; removing the stick tends to pull fluid up the tube, giving a falsely high reading. Also, look at both sides of the dipstick, and assume that if one reads lower, it's the correct one. In some cases, if the fluid is exceptionally low, it will get aerated (air bubbles will be formed), giving an apparently higher reading than the actual level. Yes, I ran the engine and put it through the different gears a few times last night after adding the new fluid BUT did not move the car. Knowing that fluid can go up the tube and make for false readings, I then let the car sit overnight and pulled out the dipstick this morning without running the engine. It read a bit too high for cold, but below the lower hot level. I double-checked that reading. And, again, this is after replacing only 4 quarts when I drained almost 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodpecker Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 I talked with Subaru dealer mechanic and he says I need to drive the car to fill up the converter (torque?), then check it hot. Thanks for everybody's help on this board! You guys rock!! Woodpecker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 [...]I then let the car sit overnight and pulled out the dipstick this morning without running the engine. It read a bit too high for cold, but below the lower hot level. I double-checked that reading. And, again, this is after replacing only 4 quarts when I drained almost 5.It seems I didn't make my point clearly enough. Checking auto trans fluid level isn't like checking engine oil. You have to run the engine and put the trans through the gears, even when checking cold fluid; if the torque converter has drained down, that will usually refill it and provide a more-accurate level. I talked with Subaru dealer mechanic and he says I need to drive the car to fill up the converter (torque?), then check it hot.Yes, as I previously suggested, checking hot is better than doing so cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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