Transmission Leak

[Bdub]

So, noticed a puddle on the ground a few weeks ago, and noticed it was ATF. I looked under the car, and the trans. pan was covered in ATF. So, I got a little closer, and appeared it was a gasket leaking. No big deal. WELL....today I go to "fix" that leak and realize it's not the pan, and it is coming from higher than that, dripping down and just going everywhere. It looks like the oil cooler hard line that goes to the radiator has totally rotted away. Lovely. I inspect it a little closer and I really don't think there is any way to replace that line without dropping the transmission? It looks like a 5 minute job, if I could get to the damn nut which is holding the cooler line to the transmission. Not sure if anyone has had any experience with this or not, but my shifter has been VERY difficult to get into R,1,2 gears, and I'm assuming because of that leak.

[Someperson]

no fluid= no shifting lol

[Legacy777]

Brandon,

Unfortunately, I don't have that pipe any more. I only had some of the piping up near the cooler.

You can buy a new pipe for around $30. The p/n is 21619AA004.

However the pipe is the same on all the first gen Legacy 4EAT's, so hopefully you can find a used one.

As for replacing it, what I would suggest trying is removing the bolts that hold the crossmember to the chassis (and remove the pitch stop mount) and lower the back of the transmission down with a jack so that you have enough clearance to change the pipe. This may work or it may not....I'm not sure how much room is there. You may want to remove the driveline, it depends on how much you lower the trans. Be aware that if you remove the driveline, ATF will dump out the back of the trans.

[Bdub]

Thanks Josh for checking into it for me. I was thinking that will be worth a shot to try and drop the transmission a little and see if I can reach up there. It will be close, but hopefully I can do it like that.

[Bdub]

Unfortunately, I have yet to get to this problem. Thanks to Subaru Genuine Parts.com sending my order to the wrong person, and my lack of time, I just opened the box tonight. I still have no idea how Im gonna reach that line. Will find out tomorrow I hope.

[Bdub]

Well, luck was on my side today. I managed to break that banjo bolt loose with a long open ended wrench, thankfully it wasn't really torqued down too tight. The rest of the removal was pretty straight forward. Installation wasn't difficult either. I fed the bolt and washer through the hard line, snaked it above the transmission, and with a long pair of tweezers held the other washer on the opposite side as I slowly threaded it back into the transmission. So, all in all not so bad. Did an ATF pan empty and refill, and works like new.

[James614]

Great to hear it worked out so well! If that line was so bad, I would definitely check out all the fuel/brake hard lines too.

[Someperson]

What he said ^

[Legacy777]

Glad to hear you got it working again!