2011 Subaru Outback Differential oil change question

2011 subaru outback 3.6R Why does subaru require front and rear differential oil change every 15,000 miles? I just called dealer to schedule service and they told me this is required by subaru. I have never heard of changing diff oil every 15,000 in any vehicle I've ever owned. and $68.00 x2 every 15K seems very high price to pay. They told me that if I have problem with differential and oil has not been changed as required that subaru would void warranty....I am thinking to either have it done somewhere else or disregard altogether.
Reply to
gaffer
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If you put synthetic in you might be able to disregard the front diff but I would do the rear at least every 40k miles or so.

GL-5 in the rear I'd guess the front probably could stomach GL-5 as well since 3.6R never got a stick shift, not in the states anyway any anyone outside the us of a is likely driving a turbo anyhow

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Subaru makes cars bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier but the differentials seem to stay the same, at least oil capacity wise. My 2000 Impreza L Coupe's curb weight is

2,730 pounds, while the 2013 3.6R Legacy's number is 3,496, the behemoth Outback Wagon 3.6R's is 3,647.

That is a 34% weight increase from 2000 Impreza to the

2013 Outback, but if I am correct the same 0.8L oil capacity in rear differential. The front may or may not be different than 1.3L in my Impreza. Check your manual for capacities.

No wonder they require severe service intervals at 15,000 miles. Even with synthetic gear lube, if it is not already required, like synthetic engine oil in all new Subarus, I would not stretch it too much especially if there is any mountain, or high speed driving.

The new 2014 Forester too is supposed to be bigger and heavier.

Basia

Reply to
Basia

I wonder how well dry sumping would work with marginally heavier GL-4/5 oils. me thinks beefing up the capacity of differentials would further increase the weight and will, possibly, cut into the ground clearance

strange as it seems running the undercarriage through the wind tunnel and optimizing the cooling of the case might be cheaper than increasing complexity or case capacity, a computer simulation of that would be cheaper yet as I don't expect the same kind of diligence from FHI as from europeans

having fins on top of the case where it won't be smashed by debris seems like one way to go as long as you can pump some air there at

0.000000001 through 75 mph speeds that a typical car sees most the time
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Sort-of on the subject of oils ...

If corn oil is made from corn, vegetable oil is made from vegetables, fish oil is made from fish, olive oil is made from olives, peanut oil is made from peanuts, coconut oil is made from coconuts, and cod liver oil is made from cod livers, then what is baby oil made from?

;-)

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Your Name

out of real girl scouts :^)

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I just paid $388.64 for Frint synthetic differential service, rear syntheti c diff service, fuel induction and labor on my 2011 Outback with 40,000 mil es. My husband was on the highway going 65 mph when the cruise control stop ped working and the brake, traction control and check engine light came on. Is this a common problem?

Reply to
easr60

It's not common, unless you have a Volkswagon. Every VW that I've ever had would do this. In your case, the problem is probably with the electronic control systems. You should not spend your money with random attempts to fix this problem.

Reply to
dsi1

First things first. Check the operation of the brake lights. A blown brake lamp bulb or a bad brake light switch WILL cause the cruise and traction control to shut down. Haven't seen it turn on the CEL, but then again I have not worked on many late model Soobs.

Reply to
clare

tic diff service, fuel induction and labor on my 2011 Outback with 40,000 m iles. My husband was on the highway going 65 mph when the cruise control st opped working and the brake, traction control and check engine light came o n. Is this a common problem?

Illumination of the MIL (check engine light) on most modern cars will disab le cruise as well as traction control or other systems if so equipped.

You need to have the system scanned for DTCs (trouble codes, often in the f orm of PXXX) most parts stores will scan at no charge, but do not assume an y part they claim the code points to is bad. Sometimes codes can be set whe n batteries are going bad or bad fuel was purchased or there is a vacuum le ak etc. Often the best thing to do is, make a note of any codes, have the c odes cleared/reset, then momitor how quickly and which codes return. If the CEL is FLASHING, the car should not be driven except in a dire emergency.

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1 Lucky Texan

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