Outback auto trans problem? AUS

[iain.henry]

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!

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

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!

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

 

[nobody >]

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.

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.