4EAT lifespan: mileage or is age an issue

[hiremichaelreid]

Hi all.

My 1999 4EAT w/ 100,000 miles needs replacement. I understand they all go around that mileage. I'm looking to use a 1999 from a wreck that has 40,000 miles.

Should I expect it will last another 4-5 years or 50,000-60,000 miles? Or is the age of the tranny significant such that it might only last 1-2 years or 12,000-25,000 miles?

Car is 1999 Legacy L w/ 4EAT, 2.2 L engine and 100,000 miles.


Symptom is reverse works fine but all forward gears take 2-20 seconds to kick in. Wife claims it twice wouldn't go after 10 minutes. Tried new GL3 fluid and Lucas tranny gunk. Seemed to work for 3 days but problem returned.

As far as I understand, underlying problem is low clutch seal lets go and leaks internal and takes a while to build up oil pressure to move foward. And only fix is new/used or reman'd tranny.


Also, while the tranny is off, are there any engine seals or whatever that should be replaced ? Been told there is an oil separator plate on the engine and if its the plastic type it should be replaced with a metal one to prevent leaking.

Thanks much for any help!
Mike.

[Subaru for Life]

My 4EAT on my '93 L FWD has over 200k miles on it, and still going strong. That aside, you might want to change the rear main seal on the motor as well.

Good luck,
Subaru_for_Life

[DLC]

If the price is reasonable, go ahead and swap it out instead of having it pulled apart to be repaired.

It's more a matter of mileage than age, among other factors.

[206er]

biggest factors would be abuse and maintenance.

[hiremichaelreid]

Thanks for the replies.

Re price: yes, I think it's reasonable. 4EAT from the wreck w/ 40,000 miles is priced at about $800 US (I'm converting from Canadian $ here.) Getting the tranny swapped for a reman from Subie dealer is about $2600.

Including labor and taxes I'm looking at $ 3500 for a reman swap from dealer with a 24 (?) month warranty versus $ 1200 for the used tranny installed by good local ex-dealer tech with a 1 month full and 3 month parts only warranty. I'll take the risk for the $ 2300 savings!


re other work: yeah I thought I'd heard about changing rear main seal; thought I'd heard about some camshaft seals too ? I asked local ex-dealer tech and he only mentioned upgrading seperator plate to metal if it's plastic.

re abuse and maintenance: AFAIK the official Subaru service schedule was followed on the car and it does NOT include changing tranny fluid or filter; I think the dealer was supposed to inspect the fluid but that's all. We used dealer for most/all major service to 96K and none of the invoices mention changing fluid.

Car WAS a daily rental (gasp! with a tow hitch (oh, oh! for the first year of it's life, but it looked and drove in pristine condition when bought in 2000. Could be a factor.

I don't think we abused it, but the wife drove around with parking brake on for at least 20 minutes once. And I've been known to play in the snow just a bit and, from a rolling start enjoy the "exhiliration" (sarcarsm) of a full throttle 20 mph - 70 mph run from time to time.

Mike.
Other car: 94 Dodge/Mitsu Stealth TT/AWD

[ericem]

Wheere abouts are you?? if your in ontario call up japanautoparts, i remember last time i called them, they quoted me $1200 installed for a motor and tranny with 40,000km or less, and give you a 3 month warrenty ulimited mileage. I'm sure you could get just a tranny though. With my car i did a rebuild which went front a 1500 job to a 3000 job after taxes, BIGGEST waste of money ever, the guy there screwed me badly and still didn't fix the AWD properly. Oh and PS i had about 260,000KM plus with the original tranny and engine NO leaks or anything, and my dad drives the car VERY abusively, just i had to get the AWD rebuilt because i forgot to fix the binding and it became permanent.

[Murphy]

well it will last for ever and a day if you can put up with it taking a second or two and engaging hard
mine has 280k miles on it, the AWD no longer works though but that will soon be resolved with a 5MT, maybe over summer break if i can find a 5MT anywhere

when my sister gave the car to me it wouldnt shift on its own usualy, you had to use the 1-2-3 on the shift lever, and then you wouldnt have 4th gear, but if you beat on the tachometer sometimes it would shift ok for a little bit
so i got a new cluster panel and it has shifted fine ever since

[hiremichaelreid]

>well it will last for ever and a day if you can put up with it taking a second or two and engaging hard

Wife can't put up with it. Everytime it strands her for 10 minutes she puts the 2 kids seats into my Stealth and I end up chrunched in the drivers seat. Ouch

>mine has 280k miles on it

yeah, I'm getting the impression the tranny should have lasted longer. I wonder if the newer ones (99) don't last as long as earlier 90's?

>but if you beat on the tachometer sometimes it would shift ok for a little bit

ROFL ! Umm, yeah, nothing like beating a piece of machinery to try and put it back in line, huh ? Haven't we all had cars like that ? Truthfully, whenever I get sick of the 1 local AM music station, I wack my Mitsubishi OEM radio to shake the cold solder joint for the FM antenna...

Then there's the silly annoyances. Like the intermittent ticking from the drivers window area, which coincidentally seems to coincide with the inability to use the power window. It's always inconclusive whether the whacking stops it.


BTW, I'm in Ottawa, Canada. I've already made the decision to go with the used tranny with 40 k miles. Local reputable ex-Subaru dealer tech with a garage will do the work.

Mike.