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4EAT transmission slips and is slow to engage gears

('06-'08) 
6K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  Relayclick 
#1 ·
Hi all. I’m new here. Got a 06 2.5 FXT with the 4EAT with Sportshift. Car has done 185 000 km, about 115 000 miles. A few months ago the gearshift from 2nd to 3rd became very abrupt and rough, and the car would remain in 2nd for longer than normal, often not shifting until I let off the throttle. The car would also occasionally stall when stopping while cold.

I had the transmission flushed before Christmas, and a new filter and fluid put in. After I got it back it has become even worse than before, and although the stalling is gone, it feels like it is slow to disengage the gear when coming to a stop at times. It will now quite often delay for quite a bit before engaging 1st when I put it in D. It will rev between shifts, and I have noticed that it slips, especially while driving uphill. This has so far happened in 2nd and 3rd as far as I can tell, and the effect is similar to pushing the clutch on a manual while driving. When I let off the throttle it will get back into gear again.

Fuel consumption has also been the worst I have ever seen. Although never a strong point of the 2.5 turbo, 14.8 mpg on my last tank is a bit poor. I’m usually at around 19-23 depending on the length of the drives and the time of year - tends to get quite snowy here in winter.

I also had some fault codes and the CEL/flashing cruise/traction control lights come on. Pulled the codes with my OBD reader, and got a P700, which I understand is the transmission telling the ECU to light the CEL, and a P0732 and 0733, 2nd and 3rd gear incorrect ratio. These have come on when the transmission has been misbehaving the most, and the engine has revved free while in gear. Oh, and also a couple of times the Power light has flashed and the ABS light has come on. They have reset when I turn off the ignition though. As I understand it, those two lights come on when the car detects a split between input and output power, correct?

The fault codes could be caused by quite a few things as far as I have been able to tell. Anyone seen these symptoms before and can shed some light on what my problem can be?

Best regards from Norway
 
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#3 ·
If the filter was not a genuine Subaru ATF filter that could be the problem. The subaru filter only filters like 10-15% of the fluid during each pass. Engine filters fit but they tflter 100% on every pass and that drops pressures/flow.
 
#12 ·
Do all filters have a bypass valve?

And wouldn’t the solenoids give off some sort of error codes?
All filters have bypass valves. That's not the issue the ATF filter filters only a small portion of the fluid every pass. It HAS NO BYPASS VALVE.

If you use a regular oil filter it will try to filter all of the oil. Thus the downstream flow/pressure may/will be too low.
 
#13 ·
... If you use a regular oil filter it will try to filter all of the oil. Thus the downstream flow/pressure may/will be too low.
Probably for this reason, Subaru dropped the external filter for my MY 2008 with build date of July 2007.
But the OP had his external transmission filter changed after his shifting problem, so a possible wrong (engine) filter did not cause it.
 
#6 ·
I will check the type of filter. It does appear to me that this could be a pressure-related problem, since it wasn’t this bad before the flush. I will check the type of filter. The fluid is LiquiMoly Subaru ATF-compliant.

Am I right in thinking bad friction plates wouldn’t have gotten this much worse after a flush, but rather the same or even slightly better for a short while?

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
 
#10 ·
... A few months ago the gearshift from 2nd to 3rd became very abrupt and rough, and the car would remain in 2nd for longer than normal, often not shifting until I let off the throttle... I had the transmission flushed before Christmas, and a new filter and fluid put in. After I got it back it has become even worse than before...
How long and how many miles did you have the car before the transmission problem?
Because the problem continued after changing the fluid and the filter, and because the TCU is telling the ECU to display a code about incorrect gear ratio, the transmission probably needs an internal adjustment or repair.
I would get an opinion from a dealer or transmission specialist.
 
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