Got a weird thing with the wife's '05 Legacy 4EAT transmission. It's got 50,000 miles on it, and was getting a bit sluggish with the shifts. A few months ago, I changed the ATF (twice) after finding out the dealer got cheap and didn't change the ATF during the 30,000 mile service they offered. The fluid seemed a little brown, but didn't smell burnt. Last weekend I installed an ATF cooler for towing our pop-up camper, and took that opportunity to change the ATF again, along with the filter. Now my wife says it made a world of difference in shifting. I wouldn't have expected there to be that much change, but should I be concerned? She says it got better the first time I changed the fluid, but supposedly the filter made a huge difference. So much for a lifetime filter I guess.

 

Secondly, can anyone recommend an aftermarket seat cover? The seam stitching seems to be wearing a little thin on the driver's side, and she wanted to cover the seat to protect it. Her concern was finding one that won't interfere with the side airbags.

I'm doing incremental transmission fluid changes on the '00 Outbacks. Every 10,000 miles I drain the 3.8 quarts out of the pan and replace it with new Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. This seems to keep the transmissions happy and the fluid looking and smelling good. This coincides with the 10,000 mile interval Mobil 1 oil and filter changes, and the air filter changes. Seems to be working, the cars have 145,000 and 182,000 miles respectively.

 

I really should install external transmission coolers, though - that's a good idea.

SUbarus respond extreemly well to regular tranny fluid changes.

 

nipper

SUbarus respond extreemly well to regular tranny fluid changes.

 

nipper

 

They seem to like the Royal Purple quite a bit as well.

Thanks, the transmission seems to be much happier now. Any ideas on a seat cover?