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I bought a 1991 Subaru Legacy this past July and I'm new to the Subaru world so please bear with me. It had been sitting for about 9 months before I bought it. The Subaru has 208,000 miles on it, but it has a newer engine with 70k on it. The car came from the factory with a front drive auto transmission, I can only guess its the original tranny with 208,000 and I doubt its been serviced much .

My Problem: When I shift into drive when the engine is cold, it goes in gear fine and I drive off. But when the engine has been running a while and I shift into drive, it takes about 4-5 seconds before the gear is engaged and I can drive off.

So here is my Question, should I think about getting a new transmission in the near future or does it need running from sitting for 9 months or does the tranny just need a new filter?

Thank you!

The obvious solution is to get a new 5MT

Sorry, I don't know much about transmissions, especially automatics, so I can't help you there

change the fluid and filter and drive it for a while.
but dont get a flush just do a simple drain and re fill.
when it gets to the point where it wont shift anymore get another one.
usually when the fluid is old or mucked up its the opposite the tranny will suck when cold but once warmed up it'll be fine or better.
either way for the price start with a good service and go from there.

-Alex

The flush is really expensive. I called the dealership to get a price quote on flushing my 90 L wagon 4EAT and they wanted $200. I told them I paid $175 for the tranny in the first place!

I just need the tranny to last me the winter and then I am hope to do the 5 speed AWD swap. Before the snow flies I plan to replace the tranny filter and newer transmission fluid.

Legacy 5 speeds are tough to come by in this part of the country but Impreza 5 speeds are pretty common. If I take a 5 speed from an Impreza, can I bolt it to the back of my EJ22?

I know I will need an Impreza diff. if I go that way, also an AWD gas tank.

Thank you

kimokalihi wrote:The flush is really expensive. I called the dealership to get a price quote on flushing my 90 L wagon 4EAT and they wanted $200. I told them I paid $175 for the tranny in the first place!

If it's anything like my e30s transmission it would be ridiculous to pay that when it's so easy to do it yourself. It's just like changing your oil except that you have to siphon the new fluid in. But that was with my e30, not sure if these are the same.

If you take it to a trans specialist they should be able to put a pressure gauge on the hydraulics and tell you what condition it is in.

Thank you for responding to my post. Today I found out it is time for a new transmission. It konked out on me when I was on the highway headed twards Bath New York. I only have 3rd gear, everything else is gone.
So time to go to the local junk yard and look for a new transmission.