I just purchased a 1996 Outback with a bad engine. I'm replacing the engine with a jdm engine. The tranny has 150 k on it. I expect this car/engine to last another 150 maybe 200 k. That puts the tranny at 300+ k miles. Now rather than later would be a convenient time for me to replace the tranny both time and money wise. How long do these trannys hold up?

I just purchased a 1996 Outback with a bad engine. I'm replacing the engine with a jdm engine. The tranny has 150 k on it. I expect this car/engine to last another 150 maybe 200 k. That puts the tranny at 300+ k miles. Now rather than later would be a convenient time for me to replace the tranny both time and money wise. How long do these trannys hold up?

 

My '99 OBW required a rebuild at around 100k; started slipping in second gear.

the 99 and 2000 have some sort of internal issues. Before then they last the life of the car as long as you do regular fluid changes. This comes up from time to time, it may come up on a search.

 

The AWD units can be serviced sepretly from the tranny itself.

 

Blu has 226,000 miles on the original tranny.

 

 

nipper

unfortunately there's no way to promise anything and there's too many variables to put a number on something like this.

 

transmission failure is very much related to care....many people change oil every 3k miles and at 150k have never changed the ATF!! also there's mismatching tires, improper towing, towing or hauling heavy weight, and overheated ATF that shorten transmission life as well. there's no way to know if any of those things apply to a ten year old vehicle.

 

i would guess that more auto trans fail prior to 250,000 than make it past that mark. i've replaced two at 150k and one at 120k in my own vehicles.

 

i'd get the mileage out of the existing transmission before scrapping it for another. the 4EAT is a great transmission and very reliable. it's probably fine and may treat you well if you keep up with maintenance - tires and fluid changes. they give fair warning as they age or start to incur problems, so the worries of being stranded shouldn't be a concern.

That '96 outback would have a phase I 4eat; those seem to be capable of good mileages. Like any auto trans though at higher mileages especially it is quite dependant on how it was treated. If the ATF was changed regularly, it wasn't overheated or abused in towing, etc., then it has a much better chance at a long life than if the ATF is still original, it towed a 5th wheel trailer, etc.

 

The early (99, 00, sometimes 01) phase II auto trans sometimes have an issue with a delayed engagement to drive, which appears to be some shrinking seal on one of the drums:

great info and pic porcupine. is that the part that causes the shifting delays? this should be a dedicated thread if there isn't one already existing. i searched and asked about this about a year ago and no one knew exactly what the cause was.

It's the best explanation I could find. That's a pic from some Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association bulletin I found one time. It also shows a possible faulty low clutch timing solenoid? atra-4eat-delayed-forward-engagement-bulletin-844a.pdf

My '97 has 231,000 miles on it and works great...just keep the fluid clean and keep truckin'...

My wife has a 96 outback with 253,000 on her and she's running strong. 2nd engine, but same tranny since day one.

so that means my 95 legacy has the same trans as the 96 outback right?

so that means my 95 legacy has the same trans as the 96 outback right?

YES, THE TRANS ARE THE SAAME BUT THE DIFF HAS A DIFFERENT FINAL drive. the ring gear is different, the 95 legacy has 37 teeth, the 96 outback has 40 teeth on the ring gear. both have a 9 tooth pinion.

It is a "luck of the draw" sort of thing. 307,899 miles on mine ('91 Legacy) with no sign of troubles. Regular oil and filter changes.

It's the best explanation I could find. That's a pic from some Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association bulletin I found one time. It also shows a possible faulty low clutch timing solenoid? atra-4eat-delayed-forward-engagement-bulletin-844a.pdf

my tranny from time to time takes longer to shift (kind of quirky)...my question is, did the above ATRA make any mention that both items in the photos must be replaced together, or is there a way to determine which part needs changing first before getting into the tranny