Outback auto trans problem? AUS

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- iain.henry
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Oct 12, 2006 9:06 AM

I have received this description from a mechanic who conducted an inspection on a car I was/am thinking of buying.

It is 99 Outback Limited (MY00). 112000 klms, price $AUS15000ish.

There is an intermittent delay problem with the transmission. When it was put into drive, sometimes the car would start to pull immediately, but other times there would be a delay of 3-5 seconds before the car started to drive.

I called several transmission repair places and they informed me that this is a fairly common problem across Australian subarus, and requires the dismantling of the transmission to fix. Total cost approx AUS$3000. Now the car I was hoping to purchase at a bargain price doesn't seem so cheap!

Any thoughts? And yes, I am waiting to see if the seller will drop the price $3000!

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- Carl 1 Lucky Texan
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Oct 12, 2006 11:26 AM

Some folks have had luck doing fluid changes/power flushes in multiple sequential patterns, with some driving in between, and the 'gumminess'/deposits on the control valves and other components is washed off and the tranny begins working better. If you can do that labor yourself and it works - keep the 2-3K in your pocket. If it doesn't, get a rebuilt tranny from a shop with a warranty or have yours rebuilt I guess.

Carl

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- nobody >
  
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posted
17 years ago

Thu, Oct 12, 2006 9:00 PM

My '00 OBW started doing the same "intermittent delay" in forward (D or 3) but *after* a power flush (??). It's fairly consistent, a 5-15 sec delay after sitting over 4 hours and less for a 2 hour sit. It's only in forward gears, reverse is just fine. I had the flush done just because the car was new to me (not knowing the prior history, not because of problems.

Tranny shop (who I trust) has me trying an additive called LubeGuard to see if it loosens up whatever is causing the delay. (leakdown?). I'll post back on the results in about 2 weeks or so.

One other goofy problem with the tranny was erratic upshifts and downshifts. (also after the flush). Part of them went away after "enthusiastically" manually shifting for a few days.My guess is the added fluid movement flushed out some gum.

The rest cleared up as a result of new plugs. I'd guess something with the ECU was confused. The plugs were *severely* worn, that shop said they looked like they had never been changed since new. The car felt like it had grown another cylinder or two as well.