01 Outback (2.5L, auto)) 320k on it and it runs and drives great. Planning on doing a couple of tranny fluid dumps and was wondering about changing that screw on tranny fluid filter. Says lifetime...define lifetime for me. So, change it out? Don't mess with it?
"lifetime" typically means until the original warranty expires then the dealer doesn't need to care any more. I'm of the strong, strong opinion that everything that isn't the body itself is a wear item.
320k miles on a car in Minnesota and you're thinking about making it last even longer? What family member are you punishing with this thing?
My oldest son bought it for a grand. We got it from a former Morries Subaru Master Tech/NF guy who had just completely gone through the motor. It runs terrific. We have had to scrounge a few things like fog light bulbs, rear wiper motor, two mudflaps, auto dimming rear view mirror ($5!), rear cargo liner and cover, motor underneath plastic tray thingy. On the to do list; ball joints, one inner and two outer tie rods, change diff fluids. Figured we would dump the trans fluid a couple of times and change out the filter as well. Oh yeah, we put a new battery in it immediately. So far 2000 trouble free miles. It's his first wagon...he's hooked.
Before I sold my last car with a 4EAT, I had planned on doing a couple fluid changes and changing the filter. (I ended up selling it before changing the tranny fluid) In my research, it seemed to be worth changing the filter. Anecdotally, people also seem to strongly favor the OEM filter for this particular application. I recall vaguely reading that no aftermarket filter satisfied the specs of the OEM filter for the 4EAT.
Yep, most aftermarket listings supercede to an oil filter.....it's a tough pill to swallow when the OE filter is fairly expensive, and aftermarket ones are like $5-10, but I think there's a reason for it. I used a Bosch oil filter on our 2004 briefly (bought with the original filter and radiator damaged, so I intended to swap it out soon anyway). Then I did 2 drain-and-fills with OE HP fuild, and the correct OE ATF filter. I absolutely would recommend doing it at that age. The HP fluid is very nice, full-synthetic. But expensive. Nothing wrong with super generic Dex/Merc
Certain parts, in my mind, are OEM replacement only. Timing components, etc. This would be one in my mind.
We ended the lifetime of the original tranny filter last night. We dumped fluid and installed a new OEM filter. Removing that filter caused a lot more tranny fluid to come out than I had anticipated. The first dump was 5.5 quarts. As it first began to come out, the fluid looked OK, but the longer it drained the nastier the fluid begin to look. Why is that? The car shifted well before the dump and now afterwords shifts are newly imperceptible. What a difference fresh fluid make.
Closer you get to the bottom, the closer you get to the sediment and ish? I would imagine that whenever it had been changed in the past, that it wasn’t fully drained each time to the extent that it was this time?
