Forester transmission problems?

[Roy N]

A little history: in Aug 2008 at 171,000 miles, I had this same problem, and my mechanic changed the trans fluid and filter. The problem seemed to disappear for a month or so, and then would occasionally crop up, but not that frequently.

About two weeks ago my wife said the Drive delay was now occurring every day, and one day it took her ten minutes to get the car to go forward. The car now has 205,000 miles, and the AT fluid level was full and not burnt/discolored. That's when I brought the car to my mechanic, who said the problem could get to a point that I could be at a stop sign, or waiting in the middle of an intersection to make a left turn, and the bleed-down would occur and I wouldn't be able to get the car moving forward without gunning the engine. That's when he gave me the $2100 transmission quote.

After reading reviews on the internet, I opted to try a $7 bottle of Trans-X AT Slip-Stop & Leak Fix - which I got at Auto-Zone. I also bought a $13 liquid transfer hand pump. Since the AT fluid and filter was relatively new I opted not to change these.

I stuck the pumps long hose down the AT filler tube and pumped out about 16 oz of AT fluid. I used an empty Snapple ice tea bottle as a guide to how much AT fluid I was taking out. I then poured in the Trans-X and took the car for a drive, and the trans works fine. It has only been a week and about 500 miles, but neither my wife or I have experienced the former transmission problem.

I know this is anecdotal, but so far the only difference is the Trans-X.

[hobo26]

We bought a 1999 Subaru Forester, w/ auto trans, last year, and shortly after getting home with it, noticed sluggish shifting problems, wasn't happy about it, but oh well, that's life, especially when buying from private party.
Car had 158,000 when we got it last year, so the first thing I did was get a bottle of trans.seal ~leak fix.
This fixed the problem for the short term, [as I'd planned to do a full service later anyway]..but now the problem is back, [car now has 165,000 ] I've also noted that our Subaru had poorly been maintained.. so I doubt if the tranney filters have ever been changed..So am doing my own full service on it now..
I've owned several Subaru's over the years, and they've always been good cars with good gas mileage, and have also learned over the years how to tear em' down and do my own fixing on em'. from rebuilding the motors, trans. and minor stuff too.. In my opinion, the Reliability is equal to the care of Maintenance..there's a lot of Subaru's out there with over 300,000 and still trucking on.
The above post, by Mechanic44023 just above this one, with excellent tips on how to prolong the life of the tranny with the manner of holding foot on break, shifting to N. then to D... We have done this with every Subaru we've ever owned.. especially in the winter time, and we let the car warm up while the tranny is in N. [ otherwise you warm the motor but the tranny doesn't get circulated / warmed.]
The above post about the Trans.X with synthetic trans. fluid & filter change is another post on here to take a heads up about doing... With the exception of what products to use... Personally, I believe in putting the ultimate worlds best into it... so if anyone feels their tranny is worth using the ultimate products in, then do the trans. fluid change with Vololine Mercon V ATF leaving room to put a 8 oz. bottle of Motor Silk CLS Bond Transmission Treatment and a bottle of Trans. seal ~ leak fix....
Changing your own tranny filters and fluids is a NO Brain-er as easy as doing your own oil change..
The problem with going into gear, especially if tranny is cold, comes from the small rubber - tapered looking - o-ring on the plunger that drives the forward clutch when you put the car in the Drive position.. The Trans.seal-leak fix and Motor Silk CLS Bond Transmission Treatment has high tech. chemicals within it that will take care of these problems if you haven't ignored the problem for so long that more serious damage has been created to parts.
Here's a link for more info. on this trans. treatment ~
http://www.altboron.com/store/index.php/cPath/24
The polymers within synthetic ATF, like the Mercon V also helps smooth operation that does not break down when heated from normal operation.
Note: the trans. fluid that is called for in your Forester is most likely the Mercon III, the Mercon V is a superior synthetic blend replacement to the III,
Hope this helps!

[rewbie]

I have a 2004 Forester with 125k miles, original owner and I am so BUMMED to be experiencing transmission problems. I also believed to be buying a rock solid car, but alas I didn't.

I had transmission slippage, which was fixed just fine with my local Subaru shop (about $2k) - BUT the repair was supposed to also address the problem of the auto-trans not shifting into 3rd. The rpms would keep increasing until I would ceased to accelerate and the rpm dial would spike. I have to pull over and start driving again. This only happens in the morning when first driving, or after a long day at work and it is cold. The original shop fix actually fixed this problem, but it is back (about a week now).

Can I avoid massive trans costs by just waiting 10 minutes to warm up my car every morning? Is that safe for the car? Why is it doing this in the first place?

I love my Forester, but I can't afford all these repairs!

[catskilljohn]

Just wanted to add my 2cts to this thread...

I am a mechanic for 35 years. I got my Subaru from a customer who severely overheated his 99 Forester about 3 years ago. He declined the repairs, left it at the shop and I am now the proud owner of this little gem. Currently 205,900 on the ticker [I got it at 184K] and since the initial head gasket replacement it has been a pleasure. No snow is too deep and no hill too steep for this car, it gets great mileage, well, you guys know this already.

Last year, the trans started doing the lazy engagement in drive thing, and I called my trans buddy up, he told me its a fairly common problem with Sub's. I asked him what's the fix, and he told me 2K. There is a lip seal going bad that bleeds off pump pressure, and that is why revving the motor helps it move. He also told me it will someday just not move at all [isn't that true for every car?]

Not wanting to put that kind of cash into a car that has the miles it does, I serviced the trans and filters, and it didn't help the cause at all. It got to where I just dealt with it, and figured someday I would bite the bullet and pick up a crashed similar model and change it out.

Lately it has gotten so bad, I wondered if and when it would just stop moving. If I let it idle and dropped it in gear, I dont think it would have ever moved. I would buzz the motor up and wait to feel the bite, then feather it and hope it didn't break a halfshaft. Last week I picked up a bottle of that Trans-X "repair in a can", poured it in and crossed my fingers.

Much to my disbelief, the problem is gone! I literally poured it in, drove it home and its like I paid for the trans job. I never believe in repairing cars with bottles of wonder fluid, but I have to say this stuff is miraculous. Its been about 300 miles, and so far so good, even if its not permanent [what is?] at least it buys me some time. I'm still keeping my eye out for a used trans, but right now its a happy situation sitting in the driveway. John

[h hearn]

The synthetic ATF fixed my hesitation problem, 4 quarts about once a year. I haven't tried the additives. good luck.

[lmfmind]

hello, i'm working on a 1998 subaru forester awd 2.5... the original complaint was transmission wouldn't move in reverse but all forward gears worked fine.... i jumped it at owners parking lot it had been parked for about 3 months prior to having me work on it. it started up and drove fine i even had reverse with no issues .. the owner had me drive it for about 2 weeks. then i was driving it i came to a red light and the car stalled out at the intersection. it started right back up but stalled each time i took it out of park and put it in gear. i replaced the torque converter( thinking it was locked up ) i removed the pan replaced the filter and fluid there was no metal or shaving in the pan. i reinstalled the transmission and same problem exists. i pulled it back out removed the rear transfer case cover and found the spring on the parking pawl miss installed. i turned all the shafts by hand found nothing binding no clanging or broken drums. i reassembled rear of transmission and reinstalled in the car.with the car still in the air. i start the car its fine in park and neutral. i put in gear with my foot on the brake and it stalls out. i put it in gear with my foot off the brake and it goes in reverse and drive.it clangs and vibrates and makes all kinds of noise... i give it just a little throttle and it smooths out and the vibration and clanging goes away ... i put my foot on the brake and it stalls out .... i'm at a total loss and i can't find any other posts anywhere on the web. t