2.5 auto box in 1998 outback 120k.
first drive in morning box will engage drive straight away. drive for 2 mins put in neutral or turn off and restart, drive won't select. gentle revving required to get drive to engage. once moving everything is absolutely fine. have changed fluid with no change. any ideas??

 

sounds like the common problem they get, according to the techs at i.m the seals flip inside out until you rev it and build the pressure behind them to flip them back, until they flip back it wont drive. dealers are unable to strip them down so it's either a recon box or give it to an auto specialist to do

 

thanks for the info,
when i changed the fkuid i overfilled and it worked fine until the level settled then it was back to playing up

 

i did read somehwre that disonnecting negative from battery for half an hour may reset everything, worth a shot or do you think it's goosed?

 

never had any success with that as it would seem to be a mechanical fault inside the box.

 

thought not!
any recommendations for a recon or repair?
cheers

 

You get transmission specialists all over the country. I suggest you call one to see what they suggest

 

I think these are GM gearboxes, basically the same type as in the omega etc (very reliable) but when you refilled your gearbox, what was the stated ammount of oil needed? (like 8.8ltrs?) and did you run the car whilst filling up the gearbox?

Tony

 

Outbacker, also which part of the country are you in? i know a gearbox speciallist but dont know if they are close to you or not?

Tony

 

tonyburns, thanks for the reply.
I'm in central scotland, was just being lazy when i asked about specialsits! i'll rummage internet.
No didn't run engine, howvere the book stated 9 litres i think but i was lucky to get maybe six - seven max in before it was pouring out the overflow on the side of the box, at least i hope it was an over flow. drained couple of litres out and it sits above hot max now. strange thing is, when it was completely overfilled it engaged everytime - shame about the spray of fluid coming out tho!!

 

other thing is , i looked up the box on subarus' american site and there is an exploded picture of honey comb layers and hydraulic valves. which ever way i looked at it all i could see was £ signs. i bought a pup as i've only just recovered from a brand new short motor bill fitted by subaru after a lengthy battle with the garage i bought it from

 

Sorry for the delay in replying.
Right, you NEED to run the car when filling up the last part of the gearbox oil as it pumps the oil around the parts of the gearbox it cannot get too.
I found this out from an Auto gearbox speciallist who told me about it, he got all 8.8ltrs in there
Chances are your going to need a ramp to do it though

Tony

 

you refill them through the dipstick tube just put in near enough the right amount run it up and move the lever through the gears a couple of times then with it either in park or neutral and with the engine running just dip it.

 

Surely the 8.8 ltr fluid is including the torque converter, and unless that is drained there is no way you can just do a box drain and refill it with the full 8.8 ltr, without looking the info up I think box drain and refill is something more like 4 ltrs. If you managed to add the 8.8 without draining the converter you will damage the internals (pumps/valves etc).

To do a converter drain you need to remove it from the car, or have engine running and the oil cooler top pipe disconnected and pumping into a measuring pot, while at the same time have someone adding new fluid through dipstick filler at the same rate. Doing it this way, work on using at least 10 ltrs to ensure you have a full fluid change.

 

Yes it will include the torque converter, then also the manufacturers include the torque converter into the equasion in the handbook when filling up the fluid, so 8.8ltrs is for the gearbox inc torque converter.

Tony

 

shooter and tony, thanks for the advice
excuse my ignorance but when you say a ramp do you mean a ramp or rollers?
thanks