3.6 ATF Flush

I have around 55k miles, driven farily hard. I know people recommend drain and fill, but I want to get as much out as possible in one shot.

I am following this DIY to flush my 5EAT - https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/diy-5eat-atf-flush-197248.html

I am trying to figure out which is the ATF cooler return hose?

Just pull one of the lines, have a friend start the car and then turn it off after 2 seconds. The end that it comes out of tells you the direction of flow. It's not going to spray all over, it will just flow slowly.

That being said, when I had the Fozz with 4EAT, I just did consecutive drain and fills, approx 3 quarts each time, every 10k miles starting at 70k miles, so by the time I got to 100k miles essentially all the fluid was new. It was easy, took very little time while I was doing an oil change, and the transmission was a completely different experience after the first drain and fill.

If you had 150k miles on the car and it was your first trans fluid change, I'd say get the all the old out, like I did with my GX, but realistically with only 55k miles a drain and fill every 10k from here on out will suffice. I only use Motul MultiATF now, but my initial drain and fill on the Fozz was Idemitsu HP.

beats trans, never change fluid according to severe service... now trans acting funny.

change fluid, drive a few miles, repeat 2x more.

beats trans, never change fluid according to severe service... now trans acting funny.

 

change fluid, drive a few miles, repeat 2x more.

Wish there was a way to block you, so helpful. Did I say I beat in the trans? I was commuting over mountains roads 45 miles 1 way, not exactly the easiest on a car. Odd shifting can also be chalked up to it being a 5eat and change in driving habits. The fact the car is only driven on surface streets less than 20 miles a day now could also have something g to do with it. I see people on here baby their cars and they still act up.

You might try a different fluid. Amsoil or motul will probably help with the funky shifting more than fresh oem.

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You might try a different fluid. Amsoil or motul will probably help with the funky shifting more than fresh oem.

 

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Wish there was a way to block you, so helpful. Did I say I beat in the trans? I was commuting over mountains roads 45 miles 1 way, not exactly the easiest on a car. Odd shifting can also be chalked up to it being a 5eat and change in driving habits. The fact the car is only driven on surface streets less than 20 miles a day now could also have something g to do with it. I see people on here baby their cars and they still act up.

by all means go a head I couldn't care less. I will remind you of what you said in your very first post

I have around 55k miles, driven farily hard.

So....by your own admission you are hard on your car, please take a moment to read your owner's manual and see what it says about severe service. I'll give you a hint for Subaru it is halved IE 60K becomes 30K for trans service. what is severe service? Frequent quick acceleration, stop go traffic, extreme temps, dusty environments, etc. so at 55K you are nearly double the severe service change point.

and I gave you the solution to your problem:

change fluid, drive a few miles, repeat 2x more.

Just a friendly public service message. You can put users on ignore. In your User CP, just click on 'edit ignore list' and put in the user name you want to ignore.

I have a few users on that list. If that person posts, you will see a note

"This message is hidden because XXX is on your ignore list."

You can click on the note to see the message if your really want to read it. I also found out that users on your ignore list will also not be able to send you private messages.

by all means go a head I couldn't care less. I will remind you of what you said in your very first post

 

 

 

So....by your own admission you are hard on your car, please take a moment to read your owner's manual and see what it says about severe service. I'll give you a hint for Subaru it is halved IE 60K becomes 30K for trans service. what is severe service? Frequent quick acceleration, stop go traffic, extreme temps, dusty environments, etc. so at 55K you are nearly double the severe service change point.

 

and I gave you the solution to your problem:

This is now the second of my threads that you have added nothing to the conversation. Did you answer my original question? Nope. You might as well just pop in to post #YNANSB.

This is now the second of my threads that you have added nothing to the conversation. Did you answer my original question? Nope. You might as well just pop in to post #YNANSB.

learn to read, I told you twice what to do, maybe in your haste you missed that?

1. Drain and fill, drive a few miles, repeat 2x

what in the world is wrong with people that wonder why their stuff breaks when they are hard on it...you better hope that fluid change solves it otherwise you are in for a nice fat repair bill.

learn to read, I told you twice

For fock sake! Your presentation is akin to an itchy asshole....annoying, bothersome and grating. You're skirting the edge of ban hammer my friend.

learn to read, I told you twice what to do, maybe in your haste you missed that?

 

1. Drain and fill, drive a few miles, repeat 2x

 

what in the world is wrong with people that wonder why their stuff breaks when they are hard on it...you better hope that fluid change solves it otherwise you are in for a nice fat repair bill.

You are right what is wrong with people as you keep responding. I dont get what the issue is.

I know about drain and fill, that wasn't what I was asking. All I wanted was to find ATF cooler return hose. That was all. Stupid me for not thinking hard enough if commuting to work was considered severe driving, right!?

Put both hoses that attach into seperate buckets

get in car

press accelerator to the floor and crank car for 2 seconds

get out

see what bucklet has fluid in it, this is the discarge hose.

fill the other clean bucket with ATF and submerge the end of the suction hose in it get it to the bottom of the bucket

start car

let it run until clean fluid comes out of discharge hose. the other bucket will slowly empty, make sure the end of the hose does not get exposed to air so add fluid as needed.

turn car off

reconnect hoses to cooler

check fluid per Subaru procedure add as needed.

*might have to put extensions on hoses.

Put both hoses that attach into seperate buckets

get in car

press accelerator to the floor and crank car for 2 seconds

get out

see what bucklet has fluid in it, this is the discarge hose.

 

fill the other clean bucket with ATF and submerge the end of the suction hose in it get it to the bottom of the bucket

start car

let it run until clean fluid comes out of discharge hose. the other bucket will slowly empty, make sure the end of the hose does not get exposed to air so add fluid as needed.

turn car off

reconnect hoses to cooler

check fluid per Subaru procedure add as needed.

 

*might have to put extensions on hoses.

This is so wrong! Your understanding of a basic transmission pump system is greatly lacking. It's an open circuit, not a closed system. The pump pulls from a reservoir, which is the transmission pan, which is not directly connected to the return line. Your 2 bucket method of disconnecting the pressure line from the pump to empty the trans, and expecting there to be suction on the other side of an open system to then suck new fluid from another bucket is wrong. The transmission will not "suck" fluid in because the other end of the return line simply drops the fluid into the transmission pan, into an open unsealed air cavity, there's nothing sucking on it, in fact there's even a fresh air vent to that cavity so no pressure, either positive or negative, is present at that point in the system. Fluid needs to be replaced through the filler hole or pumped into the return line with an external pump.

But whatever, thanks for your highly inaccurate input Mr. Know-it-all!

FWIW, the trans on my Lexus GX470 doesn't have a dipstick or a filler, so doing a full fluid exchange is challenging and time consuming for a shade tree mechanic like me. This is the method I used to pump fluid back into the trans via the return line and it worked like a charm although it was slow. I pumped out and replace 2 quarts at a time for a total of 12 quarts replaced, running it through the gears with each 2 quarts pumped.

Pressurized jug method at 2:30

This is so wrong! Your understanding of a basic transmission pump system is greatly lacking. It's an open circuit, not a closed system. The pump pulls from a reservoir, which is the transmission pan, which is not directly connected to the return line. Your 2 bucket method of disconnecting the pressure line from the pump to empty the trans, and expecting there to be suction on the other side of an open system to then suck new fluid from another bucket is wrong. The transmission will not "suck" fluid in because the other end of the return line simply drops the fluid into the transmission pan, into an open unsealed air cavity, there's nothing sucking on it, in fact there's even a fresh air vent to that cavity so no pressure, either positive or negative, is present at that point in the system. Fluid needs to be replaced through the filler hole or pumped into the return line with an external pump.

 

But whatever, thanks for your highly inaccurate input Mr. Know-it-all!

lol

does the trans suck the fluid through the external cooler?

YES IT DOES

so you can disconnect the cooler lines and effectively flush the trans that way using the internal pump

Thanks for playing

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=subaru+transmission+fluid+flush

you ranted and raved about me being an ass and look ma, you did the same thing.

you go to any shop that does a fluid exchange and that is exactly were they connect their lines, right to the cooler ports, trans pushes out old fluid and new fluid goes in

lol

 

does the trans suck the fluid through the external cooler?

 

YES IT DOES

 

so you can disconnect the cooler lines and effectively flush the trans that way using the internal pump

 

Thanks for playing

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=subaru+transmission+fluid+flush

The 1st three videos in the link that you posted don't do that.

1st one is using the pump to push the fluid out and they are refilling the through the dipstick into the pan.

2nd video is just a pan drain and dipstick fill.

3rd video uses a pump

I didn't continue viewing the random videos. You are not adding any value to this thread. Sometime you just need to let it go.

....Sometime you just need to let it go.

 

Perfect!

In all seriousness, the question of whether the car sucks the fluid in through the cooler is a valid one. In some cars — I don’t think this one, though — the pump pulls the fluid from the pan and *pushes* it through the system and through the cooler, eventually depositing it in the pan. There’d be no suction created on the line going from the cooler back to the pan, or at least not enough to draw fluid in from a bucket, since transmissions are generally not airtight. Many have a vent on top of them, in fact. You’d blow all the old fluid out into your dirty bucket and then run it dry.

You could get around this by putting the pressurized line into an empty bucket and feeding fluid in through the dipstick at the same rate it comes out, but that seems fraught with peril.

I feel like I’ve seen a device for exchanging fluid that’s a sealed container with fresh fluid in it that has an empty bladder submerged in it. The pressurized line is connected to the bladder. The fluid is pumped into it, making the bladder expand and push on the clean fluid around it, which gets pushed into the line running to the pan.

Personally, I use a fluid extractor to suck the fluid out through the dipstick and then fill it back up two or three times. Before I got the extractor, I would drain the pan and then fill it back up. So far, so good.

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I found which line and go everything drained/filled. Good to go. Thanks everyone.

Mods we can lock or burn this thread now.

I found which line and go everything drained/filled. Good to go. Thanks everyone.

 

Mods we can lock or burn this thread now.

Which line is which? You know....for future reference to help other members.

You know...that would have been the smart thing to do. Photos and all that.

Remembering looking up I tried the drivers side line first, but ended up being the passenger side I believe. It would be line 45520D*B in the image.

I also found my old post asking about the ATF filter in this car. I did drain/fill the ATF between 15k - 20k and changed the diff fluids. So not as long as I thought and just about the right interval.