Subaru Legacy 4EAT driven in first gear for a hour

[gogozy]

i have some concern about the car we recently purchased and i am looking for advises or suggestions here... it's a Subaru Legacy 18k miles with 4EAT (4 speed automatic transmission), concern is the previous owner told us that car was driven in first gear for a hour in a cool summer night last year by mistake (around 15k miles), he also mentioned there was smoke comming out under the hood, and oil was almost not visible on dipstick (maybe not)the car pull into the driveway on that night. he got an oil change next morning but never do other fluid change. i just did a drain and fill with MaxLife ATF and repeat again this weekend with filter change. shall i change differential fluids as well?

thanks in advance

 

[astraelraen]

Well you could drive in 1st gear for as long as you wanted if you drove 5mph the whole time.

I'm not quite sure someone wouldn't realize the car wasn't shifting for an hour, but to each their own.

Sounds like you probably shouldn't have bought the car given the information here, unless you got a steal on it.

 

[BuickGN]

I don't see how driving in first would affect the diffs at all. I would be more worried about the motor.

 

[gogozy]

yes, it was a good price. it's an 2005 model with 15k miles on it. i was planning to use the car as a "bridge" to the next car. i "mostly likely" will keep it for 1 or 2 years. yes, the story was the driver said "that night" there was a major shock wave on steering whenever car passing 30-40km/h, so she limp home and it was okay after. i guess "sportshift" is not always a good idea, and fuel cutoff may save the engine!!

 

[gogozy]

thanks. that make sense, because it's not turning at crazy speed. how about tranny?

 

[unDummy]

Tranny took a beating.

Staying in 1st will load/unload frequently constantly shocking the entire drivetrain.

Flush the transmission. Change its filter. Cut open ATF filter for inspection.

Change the gear oils in the front/rear/xcase.

I thought that most sportshifts were programmed to override ignorance.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Reminds me of a story my mom told me once:

My mom had a brand new VW Beetle back in the 70's, just had it painted and everything. She let my her brother (my uncle) drive it home, and he drove it the entire way in first gear. He thought that was the way it was supposed to sound... blew the engine.

 

[porcupine73]

Hi. Sounds like a good buy. Yes I'd just change all the fluids and not worry about it. Note that on the Subaru 4eat phase II (which your soob has), the trans pan drain plug only gets out about half the fluid. On my soobs I usually do the yank a trans cooler line and pump out the remaining old fluid while pouring in new fluid.

Also if you replace the external trans spin on filter, I'd suggest getting the OEM filter as it is a little different than a normal engine oil filter (has screening over the bypass valve etc).

You mentioned something about shuddering. On Subaru's (and many AWD vehicles) tire circumference matching is imporant. Soob's spec is all tires must match within 1/4" circumference. Otherwise over time excessive AWD transfer clutch wear and possibly binding can occur, which can then cause shuddering in turns. If the vehicle ever had a flat and had only one tire replaced while the rest were worn, had new tires put on the front or rear only, towed with any wheels on the ground etc., can cause this issue as well.

For more Subaru specific info you might check out http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/ and http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/ and http://www.endwrench.com

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Reminds me of a story my mom told me once:

My mom had a brand new VW Beetle back in the 70's, just had it painted and everything. She let my her brother (my uncle) drive it home, and he drove it the entire way in first gear. He thought that was the way it was supposed to sound... blew the engine.

Man that`s a hillarious story Third! Talking about tranny abuse,I had a friend in high school who had a mid 70`s Caprice station wagon. That thing was HUGE! Well,he was so obsessed with standard transmission cars,that everywhere he`d drive,he`d be like,"Man,wanna hear me make it chirp?",and he`d floor it from a standstill until probably redline,then shift it into neutral,then back into drive to break the tires loose. We`d all be totally cracking up! And to make a perfect ending to the story,the car NEVER had tranny failure. Gotta love those 70`s American cars! Those things were indestructable.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Reminds me of a story my mom told me once:

My mom had a brand new VW Beetle back in the 70's, just had it painted and everything. She let my her brother (my uncle) drive it home, and he drove it the entire way in first gear. He thought that was the way it was supposed to sound... blew the engine.

Man that`s a hillarious story Third! Talking about tranny abuse,I had a friend in high school who had a mid 70`s Caprice station wagon. That thing was HUGE! Well,he was so obsessed with standard transmission cars,that everywhere he`d drive,he`d be like,"Man,wanna hear me make it chirp?",and he`d floor it from a standstill until probably redline,then shift it into neutral,then back into drive to break the tires loose. We`d all be totally cracking up! And to make a perfect ending to the story,the car NEVER had tranny failure. Gotta love those 70`s American cars! Those things were indestructable.


LOL that brings back memories. I had an 84 GranPrix when I was 16 which used to be the family car. I thoroughly destroyed it and one of my favorite things was to floor it in neutral (no revlimiter) and slam it into drive and lay about 2" of rubber. Always got a laugh out of my friends. Never broke the fragile 200C transmission.

 

[bulwnkl]

Originally Posted By: unDummy
Change the gear oils in the front/rear/xcase.

I thought that most sportshifts were programmed to override ignorance.


There's no separate xcase; just change the ATF.

Subaru SportShift A/Ts will automatically shift down to a lower gear when you go slow enough, but they'll hold an upshift and let the engine bounce off the rev limiter. That's the way they ought to work; just wish they wouldn't downshift automatically...

 

[gogozy]

thanks to everyone's help!! the car drives fine when i got it. i will change the ATF and filter. i may cut the filter if i have the tool and time!!
yes, i think the sportshift does not upshift so she drove 1 hour in 1st gear and probably hit redline 20 to 30 times at day.

 

[gogozy]

Originally Posted By: porcupine73
Hi. Sounds like a good buy. Yes I'd just change all the fluids and not worry about it. Note that on the Subaru 4eat phase II (which your soob has), the trans pan drain plug only gets out about half the fluid. On my soobs I usually do the yank a trans cooler line and pump out the remaining old fluid while pouring in new fluid.

Also if you replace the external trans spin on filter, I'd suggest getting the OEM filter as it is a little different than a normal engine oil filter (has screening over the bypass valve etc).

You mentioned something about shuddering. On Subaru's (and many AWD vehicles) tire circumference matching is imporant. Soob's spec is all tires must match within 1/4" circumference. Otherwise over time excessive AWD transfer clutch wear and possibly binding can occur, which can then cause shuddering in turns. If the vehicle ever had a flat and had only one tire replaced while the rest were worn, had new tires put on the front or rear only, towed with any wheels on the ground etc., can cause this issue as well.

For more Subaru specific info you might check out http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/ and http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/ and http://www.endwrench.com


thanks, i did a drain and fill with MaxLife, i got to say the AT fluid change on this Subaru is super easy compare to Acura TSX. i will need to do another drain and fill and filter change. do you know where can i find more detail about the oEM filter?
thanks!!

 

[porcupine73]

hehe yes an autotransmission pan drain plug and external spin on filter are not very common on passenger vehicles anymore! The OEM filter is part # 38325AA032 . It's usually cheaper to find a Subaru dealer who sells parts online than walking into a local dealership. Not sure what your options are for Canada. A good US price on that filter is $20-25.