Originally Posted By: 4wheeldog
In the case of my Subaru's "Sealed for life" CVT, the OEM fluid is only available in 5 gallon buckets. A drain and fill is about 6 quarts.
Subaru has since backed off on their insistance that the fluid never be changed. (Originally, dealers were refusing to service the trannies........Then, in light of experience, including failures, Subaru changed the story).
I changed mine at 60k, 75k, and I will do it one more time early at 90k, then revert to 30k drain and fills....Which is what I would do if I could do it over, starting at 30k. Subaru was so insistent that it NOT be changed that originally, I thought I would start at 100k.
Repeat after me.......There is no such thing as "Lifetime fluid" or "Sealed units"!
Yeah, that Subaru fluid only available in a bucket is a waste unless you're servicing multiple cars. You don't need that much for one car 'cause then you have all that remaining opened fluid sitting around for the next 3, 4, 5+ years? It still may be good but I'd rather fluids from a sealed container.
I had my Subaru CVTF changed at 10K at the dealership and you wouldn't believe how much metal shavings were in the strainer and on the magnet. I changed it myself about 5K miles ago using about 18 quarts of Valvoline Full Synthetic CVTF. I didn't remove the pan though.