Changing the Transmission Fluid On The Silver Bullet Subaru.

Because everyone should love
their Subaru.

I have discovered a new way to show Silver Bullet Subie some love!   Without having to wait for him to break or run 3000 miles for an oil change.   Nope!   Today I discovered how to change the Transmission Fluid on a 2003 Subaru Legacy!

Hmm.  Should I worry about this?  

Now, I'm sure many of you are saying, "So what, Big deal."    OR you are saying: "You have to actually change that stuff?" I know!  It was a surprise to me as well.  I have been curious about this ever since I accidentally watched some Subaru video where they mentioned it.  (I should mention that I'm aware many people don't even know what a transmission is.... until it breaks.)

300,000 miles is a Lot!  And it's getting
closer....

So why has this suddenly appeared on my radar of things that should be done?    Well,   Subie is beginning to pile on the miles.    And my hope is that he still has many years AND miles left in him.  And the only way to do that is to keep him maintained and up to par on routine,  AND UN-routine things.    And that is where the Transmission change comes in.  ( By the way, there has been NO performance issue leading to this... Hence the lack of grease for a wheel that never squeaks.)

I've got a book!   Knowledge is
power. 

So,  After watching several dozen You-Tube videos,   reading forums and books,   And after asking Andy, the Subaru Mechanic Brother-in-Law about it,  I finally gained enough bravery to try such a delicate task on my own.   I say "delicate" because it is possible to mess this completely up and cause Subie's Transmission to blow up.  First do no harm!

My attempt at determining if I'm
Level. 

After the jack stands on one side,
I'm finally level this direction too! 

Armed with the Manual,  17 mm Socket, and a very long funnel,  I prepared for surgery.  Subie had already been hot, so I did not have to warm him up.   I tried to find a level spot on our yard, which was a bit of a challenge.   First, because our yard is basically a hill.  And second,  I had no real professional way to make sure Subie was level.   I ended up using a level on the roof.   It appeared to work on a "Some-What" level.  ( Can I say, "Level" one more time?)

17mm  with a breaker bar.

Draining the Fluid. 

Then, on to the draining part.   A bit of a challenge, given the space.  Even with the jack stands, it was a chore.  I ended up using my Breaker Bar, which I have rarely used before, for the task.

Nothing holds old fluid better than
an empty cat litter container. 

Every 30,000 miles?!?!  Oops!  

The fluid was a little dirty, but not black!   Which is good!  Because I have never changed it and we bought the car 170,000 miles ago!   How often are you supposed to change the Transmission fluid?  Acording to the book:   30,000 miles!   Oops!   That kind of neglect is enough to have the Authorities take your Subaru Privileges away!  Thankfully,  the neighbors are none the wiser and everything stays in the Family. For the record,  I do feel very bad about that....

New crush washer installed. 

The Book has the Answer.

With the fluid drained out,  I re-insert the Drain plug with a new crush washer.  I debated whether to use the old one, but it looked a little rusty and I had purchased a new one anyway.  Might as well put it on.

18 lbs of torque. 

 I found the Torque Spec and used the trusty Torque Wrench to tighten it down.   ( I love that thing!)

DEXTRON III from NAPA. 

Time to fill 'er up! I dug out the extra-long funnel I specifically bought for this project last year.  (Yes,  I originally planned on doing this a year ago! But that is another, long story...)  I pulled out the dipstick and inserted the funnel.  And then cracked open the case of Dextron III transmission fluid we purchased at NAPA.   Autozone did not have specifically what we needed.  And I did not want to be short.

Umm,   The Book was a little off,
thankfully!

Check out the color... and the really
Long funnel. 

The Book told me that it required about 10 quarts!   Andy said he puts in 4.   So who is right?   Turns out, Andy was  spot on.   I'm not sure where that remaining 5 quarts are, but they did not come out the drain plug.  And I was careful not to overfill it.  Regardless,  we bought 10 quarts anyway, because there is the "Idiot Factor" that inevitably comes with my do-it-yourself jobs.

But what do I do with all this extra
now?  

Start up the car,  Shift through the gears.

The difference with this project compared to an oil change is that you have to start the car up and then shift through the gears.   Easy enough, but it seemed a Little strange checking the dipstick while the car was running.   But after topping it off and taking it out for a test drive,  everything seemed totally normal. 

All the way down and back up. 

Then take him out for a test
drive. 

The best thing is that I felt there was no difference in performance.   I say that is a GOOD thing because it means that there was not a problem before... (so if the change improved things.... it would suggest  I waited too long,)   And there was not a problem after!  ( so I did not make things worse with my attempt to do it myself.)

Compare the new vs the old
fluid stain color. 

After all is said and done,  I swapped out the transmission fluid and no animals or Subarus were harmed in the process.  I call that a success!   There are a few other things that might need changing, but those will have to wait a few days after I make sure everything is square with the transmission.  Overall,  Subie has been a Champ with all the long drives we have been on.  I'm hoping the new juice will give him a boost in life and happiness.  And, the whole process was fairly simple!   I'm not sure why I was so scared about it for so long.  ( Actually,  I know EXACTLY why I was scared about it.... but that was a Jeep and a long time ago.)

182 horses, just like this one!

182 horses, just like this one!

So here's to The Silver Bullet Subaru!  Every Cowboy has a favorite Horse.   Just like the Lone Ranger and The Man From Snowy River.  Only I have 182 of them under the hood in the form of a Boxer Engine.    Go, Go, Silver Bullet Subaru!