legacycentral bbs

A few months ago I noticed a whine coming from my car. It would get
louder the faster I went and higher in pitch. I figured it was the
auto transmission. I was kind of upset because I had just had it
installed back in november of '01. It was used, and the garage only
did the installation. Shortly afterward though, my crank started
wobbling really bad, and the car didn't want to go anywhere, fast
anyways, so it sat for a few months. I had a spare engine, so I got
it installed by my cousin who works at Force Fed Industries here in
Columbus. After the installation, he checked all the fluids. When
he checked the diff, FWD if you are wondering, he noticed a red
substance on the dipstick. He drained the fluid to find his
suspections were correct, atf in the differential. I'm not sure
what I should do now. I don't know my legal rights, and I don't
know how to prove that this is the reason for the whine. I thought
about taking to a subaru dealer, but I don't have the money, if they
want it up front, for them to figure out if that is the reason. If
anyone has had to deal with something similar to this can help me,
I'd appreciate it. Also, how should I go about getting it fixed,
new tranny, new diff, rebuild? Any help would be great. Thanks.

This is surprising. The exact same thing happened to me minus any failure.

I checked the fluid within 10 miles and found it this way. I quicly replaced
it with mobil 75w-90 synth.

Why didnt you ever check the fluid, although the shop screwed up big time
its also your fault for not checking it. I would even go as far to say that
you should check the fluid level and condition 100 and 500 miles after a
"new" tranny is installed.

Anyways that isnt helping you. Id suggest getting a low mileage japanese
tranny. Find a reputable place that wont trick you and sell a 100k tranny
but say its 30k. Personally I used a 1995 impreza tranny in my 90 legacy.
You may notice slightly different speeds depending on which model you grab
it from.

Just be careful on the rear differential ratio. I have a list of all the
transmission ID numbers so if you find one mail me and I can tell you what
year and model its out of. This came in very handy because the shop I went
to almost sold me a 98 outback tranny that would have had the 3.9 rear diff.