Sorry to start a separate thread about this, but I thought it might be helpful to have a specified title & tags for any other n00bs like me... I recently picked up my stock '00 Legacy, and so far it runs and drives fine. Found out the previous owner had been told by 'his mechanic' to "wait until the water pump goes, then replace the timing belt." :eek4: The car is currently at 141k and some change, and I'm doing the belt, tensioner, idlers, water pump and oil pump o-ring and seal tomorrow. However, this makes me wonder when the last time the transmission oil was changed. As I mentioned, it drives fine. I've bonered a shift or three since I got the car, getting used to a manual again. Nothing major, just little grinds here and there, but now that I'm more familiar with it I'd like to change it out. I really like this thing, and I want to do what I can to make it last as long as I can. That said... Judging from what I'm reading, not sure I want to mix up Scotty's Cocktail. Too much controversy over that, not sure it's the proper fit for my situation anyway. I'm thinking I'll stick to straight 75w90. (that is correct, ...correct?) The question is standard or synthetic? What brands do you guys use? Results? Does age/condition of the gearbox change your opinion? And on an unrelated sidenote, are there any other things on the SOHC 2.5 or driveline I should check being that the car's history is a big ? to me? Thanks in advance for advice and opinions. This forum is a friggin awesome resource.
I would suggest regular dino oil for the transmission. I've had the best luck with valvoline non-synthetic, either 80w90 or you can get it in 75w90 from Napa. I'm running it in both my wrx and obs right now, the obs has 140k and works great with that oil. I agree that the cocktail isn't worth it, for me it worked good for a month or so, then it degraded quite a bit.
Use normal 75w90 gear oil. Non-synthetic. Most synthetics are too slippery. I have Redline 75w90ns in my tranny right now and I'm convinced it wasn't necessary. Nothing bad, but I didn't notice much difference. I'm going back to regular next time I change it. I don't think it's worth the extra expense. Kind of like your engine oil. There is nothing wrong with dino oil at all, regardless of what some people say. How often you change it is more important. Same with the tranny. Don't forget to do the rear diff at the same time.
Likely to do this job during this week, anybody know approximately how much oil the tranny and diff take?
Your owner's manual states the capacity for the tranny. Use that as a rough guide, but USE THE DIPSTICK. Don't just dump in the capacity listed in the manual or you'll be overfull. The rear diff, however, is impossible to overfill. Just drain, replace lower plug, and squirt oil into the upper plug hole until it drips out, then put the upper plug back in.
MAKE SURE you take the top plug out first. If you get that bottom one out and the top one is stuck you are SOL with no fluid.
Here's the embarrassing part: Not entirely sure I've got the owners manual... Better hit the Google I guess. Thanks though!
^^ correct. You won't be able to drain all of the old fluid, so it won't take the full capacity to fill it. For me it seems I have somewhere around 1/4 quart of the old fluid left after letting it drain. Because of this, you also might want to consider flushing the transmission once since it's bound to have some pretty nasty oil in there. Change the fluid and run it for a day or two, then change it again. If you want you can use something cheaper for the first change and the good stuff for the second change.
