Legacy 3.6R guys, what fluid do you use in your AT?

So fellas,

 

what fluid do you use in your E5AT?

 

Subaru OEM or something else?

Yup my flavors. 100K and no problems, knock on wood.

Amsoil Signature Series ATF

I used the Idemitsu stuff. The car was immediately happier after having changed it. If it weren’t so damned expensive I might have used the Amsoil stuff. I got some serious sticker shock when I found out what 10qt of it would set me back.

 

If it’s really that much better, maybe it is worth it. I hear tell that it helps some with the infamously slow 2-3 shift owing to it’s better viscosity characteristics.

 

 

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Amsoil signature series works well in our Tribeca. Took care of the chatter between 2-3 shift, and I'm pretty sure the thunk when downshifting to 2nd.

 

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If I recall correctly it was $120 for a 12qt case and that was with shipping. Reach out to a local dealer, that's what I did.

 

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They have a preferred customer plan that I join for 6 months when I'm ready to stock up. Love their motor oil too.

For my 5EAT (behind a turbo 4 though, not the 3.6), I did my first drain/fill with Idemitsu HP.

 

Just did 2 drain/fills with Redline D4.

 

In case you were wondering how much old ATF you have left after your drain and fills, the formula is:

 

((number of quarts drained and replaced) / (system capacity)) ^ (number of replacements made)

 

(4 quarts / 11 quarts) ^ 3 changes = 4.8% old factory fill ATF in my tranny.

Edited December 21, 2019 by Scubaboo

Is anyone noticing a momentary skip while driving? I don't drive the legacy most of the time but did twice recently and felt this slip.

 

The trans fluid is not burnt and is full. Is is the factory stuff. I've got 72k on the car now.

You cannot get the 3.6r with the 5 speed auto anymore so I am not looking to replace. The woman said that it has been happening for a little while, just never thought to tell me.

Is anyone noticing a momentary skip while driving? I don't drive the legacy most of the time but did twice recently and felt this slip.

 

The trans fluid is not burnt and is full. Is is the factory stuff. I've got 72k on the car now.

You cannot get the 3.6r with the 5 speed auto anymore so I am not looking to replace. The woman said that it has been happening for a little while, just never thought to tell me.

You need to be more specific as to what you mean by skip. When does it happen? Does the temperature matter, hot or cold? Does it happen if you shift manually? Is it during a gear change?

 

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We never manual shift. The first time I felt it was taking a highway offramp and then the corresponding onramp so I thought maybe the g force which wasn't high, could mean low fluid. The fluid id full. Then just going down the highway and it happened again. It is not every day, actually maybe twice a week. The vehicle is at full operating temperature.

It is not during a gear change AFAIK.

 

It does get me thinking that if the torque converter locks up in normal driving then maybe it is disengaging for a couple of seconds.

It feels like a gear tooth is broken so you get a momentary loss of power.

So I would take it on the freeway again and instead of allowing the trans to shift, put it in manual and take it all the way up to speed where it would normally occur and see what happens in manual mode. If it doesn't happen in manual mode but does in drive it could be something as simple as needing a fluid change, or a relearn. The latter is a trip to the dealer, although if you have them do the fluid change they may do the relearn at no charge. In any case the 5eat doesn't have a high failure rate and usually is just quirky, in the sense it will hunt for gears on downshifts or has a rough upshift or downshift when coasting.

ended up using Valvoline Max life and a tube of Dr. Tranny shudder fix. now at 143k..transmission does not have as much torque converter shudder under light throttle...fluid was pretty dark the first time I changed it. it was much better after the second change...still might have to put a new one in...tq converter that is... doing one more drain and fill.

I have had success getting rid of a torque converter shudder (GM vehicle) with a bottle of lube guard.

Dr Tranny is made by Lubeguard it is just super concentrated into 2 oz bottle

I used the stock Idemitsu stuff in mine. It did help some of the issues I was having in regards to the periodic violent downshifts into first while coming to a stop.

 

I wonder if your “skip” might just be the torque converter unlocking at an odd time. I noticed mine will do this thing when I accelerate a certain way after taking a particular right turn on the way home with work. I noticed it’ll shift normally up to fourth, then accelerate either when converter locked up until about 42mph, then unlock the converter causing the tach to pop up a few hundred RPM — and causing a quick interruption in power I might characterize as a skip — and then accelerating up to about 48 before shifting into 5th and locking the converter again. I’ve heard other people describe this phenomenon and most people seem to think it’s just an idiosyncrasy of this transmission.

 

 

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