4eat

[98outbackpdx]

my 4eat tranny in my outback is the original with 211k, still shifts good. i heard that they aren't the greatest transmissions. my question is how many miles have people gotten out of them?

[lord flashheart]

depends on how well they are maintianed. ive herd of people hitting over 300,000 with them. but i do not know if it was the original.
if it goes out they trans are relatively easy to change, and are not insane on price. i would consider a 5 speed swap IF it goes out.
but if u maintain it u should be fine for a good amount of time.

[harrymaneuvers]

I have a 4eat with 217,000 and I was wondering the same thing... It has never missed a shift... but I didnt know if I could expect another 50k miles or more.

I drive pretty aggressively but keep fresh amsoil atf in there...

[lord flashheart]

put a trans cooler on it if your woried about it. a transmissions worse enemy is overheating. a cooler would render any spirited drives harmless. and of coarse change your fluids.

[Airgne]

friend has a 4eat with 415,000 plus miles on it. it taking a dooky now, as its only fwd.

[harrymaneuvers]

Dosent our my car already have a transmission cooler on it?

I thought I remembered disconnecting a transmission cooler line when I pulled my radiator out for timing belt service.

[98outbackpdx]

Dosent our my car already have a transmission cooler on it?

I thought I remembered disconnecting a transmission cooler line when I pulled my radiator out for timing belt service.

automatic transmission coolers are usually built into the radiator, it splits it with the radiator, if you have a auxiliary tranny cooler it would most likely be in front of the radiator and ac condenser (think i am naming the right ac part)

[lord flashheart]

I think it depends on the year I don't think the pre 1996 have them.

[ouch1011]

All auto trans cars have a cooler, most are in the radiator as mentioned. The problem is that the coolest the cooler could get the oil under best case scenario is whatever the coolant temp is, which is going to be around 200* most of the time. Realistically, it isn't going to be that efficient most of the time, so figure closer to 220* if you are putting some heat into the trans. If you are really on it, its going to be more like 250*. That's too hot, it will oxidize the fluid and make it so it doesn't lubricate. Even just a small cooler will drop the trans oil temp considerably.

BTW the life of a transmission depends heavily on what kind of driving it experiences. Highway driving is really easy on a trans since it doesn't have to shift much and the TCC will be locked up most of the time. Less heat and wear. In town driving means a lot more shifting, stop and go, a lot more heat.

[Hocrest]

I had about 267K on the original trans in my 97. I bought the car with 40k and never changed the ATF. If you have been regularly changing the ATF, continue to do that and consider an external cooler. If you aren't sure when the ATF was changed last DON'T TOUCH IT!!

[ouch1011]

I don't totally agree with that last statement. I would only agree with it if the trans fluid is really, really nasty. If that is the case, failure is imminent, because it is only going to get that way if the trans already has a problem, and flushing the fluid might make it happen sooner.

If the fluid is dark but not totally roasted and you aren't sure when it was done last, then flush it soon.

[98outbackpdx]

the fluid is still good, i am planning to do the 210k service in the near future, which will be including the 90k service too, that is gonna be expensive