91 Legacy Transmission Problem

Its bad to have the fluid level overfilled.

PA = Pennsylvania... and I agree... it's a 13 year old car... it should have been checked extensively before purchase. John

William, your car is 13 years old, you should have done an extensive mechanical check of the vehicle before spending your cash.

I have no idea were PA is, this is an > Hi All,

Thanks for the lecture, of course you are right, lesson learned... Unfortunately, I was under the gun to get a set of wheels quickly to replace my truck which is in the body shop for a month. However, I was more hoping for some advice about the transmission, not my lack of purchasing skills. PA is Pennsylvania USA.

Regards

Bill

Come on guys, is this all you do is read posts looking to give people shit. Does that make you feel better. I concided my error on not getting the car checked out, but honestly that's a pretty obvious observation at this point.

Is there anyone out there that knows something about transmissions, other than have it checked by a mechanic before buying it... Does it sound like a dead tranny or one that needs adjustment? What kind of dough (US Dollars) are we talking for a new tranny should it come to that?

It helps readers to understand which model version Legacy you have as Subaru have different versions in different markets.

In my country if you buy a second hand car from a dealer there is a 90 day warranty period for issues just like you have. You haven't told us how you purchased you car.

My suggestion is that if your not covered by a warranty you take it either to a Subaru dealer or an Auto Transmission specialist who'll be able to give you an accurate diagnosis and you can move forward from there..

William Huds> Thanks for the lecture, of course you are right, lesson learned...

It's a four door sedan.

Yes, I suppose a trip back to the dealer first, to see if they will do anything, followed by a trip to the local tranny shop is in order.

Oh, well guess I should have had it chec.....

Thanks,

Bill

If I remember correctly, 91 is the model that Subaru decided to install a remote filter for the transmission. If yours has been modified, there should be a fllter, like an oil filter with 2 small hoses to it on the left side of the car, kind of below the battery. It gets replaced every

30k instead of dropping the pan and screen on the transmission. I have a 92 legacy and have this filter. My friend had his 91 recalled for this mod. Get a repair manual. There is a way to adjust the band tension on transmission for the shifting. You probably just need an adjustment. My 92 has 160k on it and has pulled a heavy trailer in the past with no problems. Should you have the "power" switch engaged on the shifter then you will start out in 2nd gear---this is to prevent wheel spin in icy-snowy-muddy conditions. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip, I will look for the filter.

Best Regards

Thanks Ed, will probably just take it to a trans shop and see what they think at this pt. Getting cold here and I don't have a garage....

Best Regards

Hi William, i had a bunch of problems with my 90 liberty auto trans, eventually i had it partially rebuilt (Aus$1600). Prior to that though one of the local Subaru dealers put me onto a different auto trans fluid...Im not sure if you can get it in the US, here in Aus its Castrol TQ 95. This helped a lot of the problems. The dealers are recomending it on the older Scubidoos :-)

As mentioned by Edward, a flush can work wonders, depending what the problem is. I've used Lucas trans additive with success as well, it's worth a try before spending money. Also, a used transmission would probably be cheaper than a rebuild, but try to determine the mileage on the used unit. Most used parts have at least a 30 day guarantee, but the labour would not be include in the guarantee, only the tranny itself. Ed B.