nosajh9

i have been having the torque bind problen and read on the boards that this may help.

i am planning on doing the drain and refill method 3 times, but have some simple questions:

1) is it better to drain and refill, or powerflush transmission fluid?
ive heard good and bad about both.

2) with this "torque binding" problem, have i been killing my transmission? in other
words, what are the side-effects from torque binding, besides the
slight shudder on sharp turns?

3) what brand/weight etc.. of ATF fluid should i get, and are there
any additives i should add to help? would you recommend using synthetic ATF? would i be able to do the 2
drains with cheap stuff, and the last fill with synthetic? i have read
that people on the board recommend either castrol synthetic ATF, and
mobil 1 synthetic ATF. the car has 102,000 mile on it.

4) ATF capacity. how much ATF does a 95 impreza 1.8 4Eat hold? when i do the drain and refill , i realize that all fluid doesnt drain out , how much is left in, and how much do i need to fill after the drain so i dont overfill?

any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! jason
hundog@gmail.com

1reguL8NSTi

I've heard that Synchromesh works wonders on WRX transmissions but I personally use all Motul fluids. You might want to think about looking into a RA tranny rebuild. Its hard to beat the cash trade-off. A much better transmission performance wise and something that is in working order and not sucking up maintenance money. If you do get it get it cryoed first.

slvrsubywgn

iTrader: (7)

Uhhh....do they offer RA gears for automatic transmissions? I've never heard of such a thing.

2004Wagon

I prefer the drain/refill 3 times than the power flush. It is more gentle to the transmission internals. Honda/Acura recommend the drain/fill exclusively and against the power flush. So my take is the power flush may work, but why risk it when you can achieve the same thing by draining/refilling mutiple times.

As for which ATF to use, just use what the owner's manual recommend. But if you do the first 2 drain/refill with the cheap stuff, and use synthetic in the final refill, not all of your fluid will be synthetic, because not all ATF drains out. ie some of the fluid inside will still be the cheap stuff.

Also, there's a Subaru brand ATF. It's available at subaruparts.com and I'm sure also in your dealership. Probably some re-badged bottle from the same stuff you can get in Walmart though. But if the price difference is low, it may still be a good alternative too.

Not sure whether it is that great an idea to switch a 100k mile AT to synthetic though. Really depends on what shape and what previous maintenace it got. Personally I'd just use traditional ATF in an AT in that age and just change more often...

RussB

iTrader: (2)

a couple of things...

1. synchromesh is not an ATF, don't put it in an automatic.

2. don't powerflush an automatic with that many miles on it. odds are that there are particles that have settled in the bottom of the transmission, and you want those to stay there instead of being stirred up and mixed back into the fluid.

3. power flushing anything that's been in service for that many miles is a bad idea because the seals may have degraded and flushing it out may cause the seals to go bye-bye... it happened to me on a brake master cylinder a few years back.

nosajh9

ok, thanks for the advice. ill just do the drain and refill method using just the plain ATF.

1reguL8NSTi

I apoligize, I didn't notice it was for an auto. Sorry.

RussB

iTrader: (2)

you can use synthetic... i used redline hi-temp in my wrx with very good results. make sure the ratings and certifications on the bottle match up with what the manual states though.

Roo Tech

Do 3 drain & refills on the trans. Hot about 10 miles per drain & refill.
Drain plug located left side of AT oil pan.
Each drain & refill will require 5 qu. of ATF fluid. Dextron 3 or 4

There are no TSB’s for this year issue.

Good luck!

Let me know if you need more info?

Robert