Ready for Subaru front & rear differential change

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Package from Amazon arrived. I'm itching for my weekend project on my wife's Subaru.

12 quarts of Subaru ATF-HP on the bench top already....good for a couple D&F's on the tranny and power steering. Her Subaru is gonna be one happy girl by Saturday night.

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Originally Posted By: Phishin
Package from Amazon arrived. I'm itching for my weekend project on my wife's Subaru.

12 quarts of Subaru ATF-HP on the bench top already....good for a couple D&F's on the tranny and power steering. Her Subaru is gonna be one happy girl by Saturday night.


The million dollar question is will you be a happy man Sunday morning after your front differential gets a treatment? Sorry I couldn't help myself.. LMAO.

Regards, JC.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
What's your plan for the rear diff?



I'm hoping it's one of those rare nights where the rear diff is easy to access....
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
What's your plan for the rear diff?



I'm hoping it's one of those rare nights where the rear diff is easy to access....


Like, one of those nights where you park the car head first into a sink hole?
 
Did you order some extra gear oil? I bought three quarts and had some leftover when I did the front and rear diff's on my Legacy.

Can't be much fun trying to exchange that power steering fluid...the reservoir is tiny.
 
Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Did you order some extra gear oil? I bought three quarts and had some leftover when I did the front and rear diff's on my Legacy.

Can't be much fun trying to exchange that power steering fluid...the reservoir is tiny.


Yep....I bought enough for 2 services.

And yeah...the PS reservoir is ridiculously small. Should only take me 40 or so turkey baster drains to get out half the fluid.....

Originally Posted By: R80RS
That funnel is made with "High Grade Steel". Sweet.


It's nice. Got a nice screen filter in it too. Only $10 from Amazon.
 
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Originally Posted By: Phishin

Originally Posted By: R80RS
That funnel is made with "High Grade Steel". Sweet.


It's nice. Got a nice screen filter in it too. Only $10 from Amazon.



Yup. Behrens products are good stuff.
 
What are you planning on using for fluid on the PS? My Outback calls for Dexron V. I didn't see any in your pic, so I was curios.

As far as a method for the PS, someone on the SubaruOutback website mentioned a method where they used the turkey baster to drain the reservoir. Then the removed the drive belt from the ps pump, removed the return line from the bottom of the reservoir, and ran the return line into a waste container. Then turn the ps pump by hand until the fluid is all drained. Put the return line back on, fill the reservoir and turn the ps pump by hand until the system appears to be full. But the belt back on, take the car for a drive and make a few stop to stop turns, then top off the reservoir.

It seems that this method would be much more effective, and less expensive material wise, than the typical method of only draining the reservoir, driving for a few days, and repeating a couple times.
 
I am not sure about the Gen4 OB but older Subarus used ATF.

I "switch" between Supertech D/M AFT (red), Prestone PS fluid (yellow) and Supertech PS Fluid (green).

Use a vacuum pump with a large reservoir (I use a modified 1qt jar) and I drain the reservoir, refill with different color fluid, and, start/turn the wheel... and then repeat till the fluid is the color I want.
 
The Forester specification are: Forester Specs

· SUBARU ATF
· IDEMITSU ATF HP
·0.7 US qt (0.7 liters, 0.6 Imp qt)

My Outback Specs are:
· SUBARU ATF
· IDEMITSU ATF HP
· “Dexron III” Type Automatic Transmission Fluid
0.7 US qt (0.7 liters, 0.6 Imp qt)
 
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Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
What's your plan for the rear diff?



I'm hoping it's one of those rare nights where the rear diff is easy to access....


I had a very hard time adding gear lube to my Subies, even using the bottle that come with the extending neck (Motul.) I used a Wilmar W1145 pump purchased on Amazon, which worked very well. I also use a small syringe that I find at Wal-Mart for PSF exchanges. I know "turkey blaster" is the method , but for those who don't know, using an actual turkey blaster is messy and inefficient. A small syringe that comes with a small length of tygon tubing is ideal.
 
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For the rear differential, a plastic hose from the pax rear wheel should do it. The funnel should work fine for the front differential.
 
Originally Posted By: i812
The Forester specification are: Forester Specs

· SUBARU ATF
· IDEMITSU ATF HP
·0.7 US qt (0.7 liters, 0.6 Imp qt)

My Outback Specs are:
· SUBARU ATF
· IDEMITSU ATF HP
· “Dexron III” Type Automatic Transmission Fluid
0.7 US qt (0.7 liters, 0.6 Imp qt)


I'm referring to the powersteering fluid in this post. Sorry about the confusion.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I had a very hard time adding gear lube to my Subies, even using the bottle that come with the extending neck (Motul.)


I really want to drop the pan on the tranny and clean it out. I can't do this right now because of the weather.

I have an appointment at a very well respected indy tranny shop in a nearby town on Tuesday. I went ahead and scheduled them to drop the pan, clean it out, and reinstall.

Is there any special sealant they should use on these Subbie pans? There is no gasket, right?

While they are doing this, I'll have them do the differentials for me as well.

I'll be supplying the tranny and diff fluids....should be too expensive.
 
Originally Posted By: Tanama
For the rear differential, a plastic hose from the pax rear wheel should do it. The funnel should work fine for the front differential.


I haven't tried it on a Subaru, but that's what I've done for hard to access transfer cases that took gear oil.

Get a good 6ft of tubing to route through a wheel-well, under the car and into the fill hole. Attach the tubing to a funnel. Support/hang the funnel on something up high so the gear oil will gravity feed into the diff.
 
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Originally Posted By: JTK

I haven't tried it on a Subaru, but that's what I've done for hard to access transfer cases that took gear oil.

Get a good 6ft of tubing to route through a wheel-well, under the car and into the fill hole. Attach the tubing to a funnel. Support/hang the funnel on something up high so the gear oil will gravity feed into the diff.


That is the same exact procedure I was trying to bring forth for a Subaru differential oil. I certainly failed to elaborate on the process.
Also, always release the fill bolt/plug first, then you can proceed to the drain plug. Overfilling does not help at all.
 
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