Subaru Legacy/Outback Transmission Problems

580 messages,  Last post on May 14, 2013 at 12:13 PM

You are in the Subaru Legacy & Outback Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Transmission, Sedan, Wagon


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#558 of 580 Re: First and last Subaru I'll ever own! [xwesx] by jla_fly

Oct 25, 2012 (10:52 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Oct 25, 2012 9:57 am)
The dealer experience was really good where I purchased the vehicle from regarding the sales process. I should have been more descriptive in that part of my review. The dealership that recently serviced the vehicle (I have since moved to a different state) was nice but didn't solve the problem .
 
Unfortunately, they have a product that lets them down. I got a good deal on the car so the sting of having this transmission issue isn't as bad.
 
Basically, the sales process was great, the product that was sold is not great, and the dealership I went to recently dismissed the issue.

#559 of 580 Re: First and last Subaru I'll ever own! [jla_fly] by xwesx

Oct 25, 2012 (12:15 pm)

Replying to: jla_fly (Oct 25, 2012 10:52 am)
I see. That makes more sense!
 
It's rather unbelievable that the dealership was so willing to dismiss the issue even if you didn't buy (lease) there since it pretty much guarantees that you're not likely to buy something from them in the future!
 
If they haven't even applied the service bulletins on what is a fairly well-documented issue, I have a hard time believing that they can call it "normal" with a straight face. You might try elevating it with Subaru directly and expressing your insistence that the software updates be applied.
 
Often times "hard shifting" is a software mapping issue rather than a design flaw with the hardware. This transmission has been around a while, and the issue is not universal amongst applications.

#560 of 580 Re: First and last Subaru I'll ever own! [jla_fly] by viper215

Oct 31, 2012 (1:25 pm)

Replying to: jla_fly (Oct 24, 2012 5:19 pm)
I had a problem like that leading up to my needing an entirely new transmission now. In the postmortem of the transmission it was found that the gear oil in the front diff was low. You might want to check that. It might not be your solution but apparently most mechs in Jamaica didnt even know it was there to begin with!

#561 of 580 Re: First and last Subaru I'll ever own! [viper215] by jla_fly

Nov 01, 2012 (8:22 pm)

Replying to: viper215 (Oct 31, 2012 1:25 pm)
I have a second appointment with another dealership that SOA set up for me this weekend. I'll run that by them. Thank you. The first appointment resulted in the service department telling me one thing and then SOA another when SOA followed up with them. My service invoice stated that the tech recreated my issue and that the problem was normal and the transmission was engineered to react the way it did. Yet the dealership told SOA they couldn't recreate the issue and that nothing was wrong. The second dealership seemed a little more knowledgeable on the phone and were willing to listen to what I had to say. They also knew about and are reasearching the service bulletin that is out there for this fix. Wish me luck.

#562 of 580 New to Subaru by winter2

Nov 02, 2012 (6:26 am)

Purchased a 2013 OB Premium on 10/27. My first car with a CVT. Interesting indeed. Tried a 2012 and I did not like the "rubber band" sensation when accelerating. The 2013 CVT is a second gen version. Much less of the "rubber band" sensation. Does moan a bit but only with acceleration otherwise very quiet. No experience with the vibration yet that others have complained about. Has about 300 miles on it.

#563 of 580 2001 Subaru Legacy by edc5

Nov 03, 2012 (7:44 am)

I am having a problem adjusting the kickdown cable after it was removed. Going up hill the car lose power and does not change right. On Flat roads runs fine. Is there a way to adjust the kickdown cable? Because before it was removed going up hills were fine.

#564 of 580 Re: Add me to the list of 2011 Outback with Tranny problems [customervalued] by adiwan

Nov 14, 2012 (8:13 pm)

Replying to: customervalued (Sep 07, 2012 6:29 pm)
I have an early 2012 Outback 3.6R LTD and it has the same problems; took the dealership they reprogrammed and it appears to be fixed but I suspect this problem will start again ... the car appears to be running "heavy/sluggish" after 500 miles of driving after the reprogramming and that is what happened after the first 500.

#565 of 580 3.6R transmission problems by gumby19

Dec 06, 2012 (7:29 pm)

I bought a 2012 3.6R Legacy in April and had to take the car in for service after two weeks of driving. Experienced the same trans problems referenced in some of the other posts, jerking into drive after slowing down and rounding a corner. They re programmed the software and problem went away. Now that it is cold and I back out of the driveway and then put it into drive it feels like I'm going to lose the transmission. It makes an extreme clunk. Took it to the dealer and he said I had to warm up the car for 3-4 minutes before backing up. Tried that it and still clunks pretty bad. It doesn't do that all day after the first time but I'm headed back to the dealer. I bought a Subaru becomes of the "reliability reports". Should have looked at this forum first.

#566 of 580 Re: 3.6R transmission problems [gumby19] by xwesx

Dec 06, 2012 (11:30 pm)

Replying to: gumby19 (Dec 06, 2012 7:29 pm)
I've had two separate automatic Subaru vehicles over the years, both Outbacks, and never had "clunking" issues during cold spells. Cold here is down to -55 degrees F, so a loud clunk isn't "normal," and certainly isn't doing your transmission's parts any favors.

#567 of 580 Re: 3.6R transmission problems [gumby19] by sharlynne

Dec 07, 2012 (12:04 pm)

Replying to: gumby19 (Dec 06, 2012 7:29 pm)
My 2010 Outback clunks sometimes going into reverse...but I live in high temps. So hot or cold doesn't matter.
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