2017 Subaru Outback Transmission Failure

[Sir Henry]

My transmission is beginning to slip and make funny noises. I’m currently sitting in the Wausau Subaru dealer waiting for the diagnosis. It’s only got 42K miles on it but is beyond the five year warranty. The good news is Subaru extended the warranty to ten years as a good will gesture.

I’ll know more in a few hours if mine will be covered.

[BigAl52]

Good Luck. Wifes son has had issues with his transmission in their Outback which is a 2015. It went out at 80K and they replaced it with a used one which is all they could find at the time. Now it is leaking transmission oil and is back in the shop again

[Sir Henry]

Subaru is picking up the bill for a new and improved transmission. Since it was a factory authorized repair I got a free loaner too. The mechanic knew what was wrong when I turned the wheel sharp to exit the parking lot on the test drive.

I thought I might get a hassle with the tow hitch and 7-pin electric hookup complete with braking. I’m guessing 35K of the 42K miles was pulled my teardrop. It was my dedicated tow vehicle. The Transit is now the TV.

[markiver54]

I was thinking that the teardrop might have something to do with it.

[Sir Henry]

I was thinking that the teardrop might have something to do with it.

Yep. I was just reading the cost of the new transmission is $8,600! The labor is 24 man hours. Glad it’s covered.

Also I need to have it serviced every 30K miles to eliminate any future problems. The current service recommendation is every 60K. It’s far cheaper to pay $200 every 30K than $8,600 every 80K which is about the average life of the older design. With regular service the new design should go 250 to 300K.

[BigAl52]

Glad they are helping you out with the transmission. Ive owned 3 Subarus and I think they are a good car and a good company

[Sir Henry]

Glad they are helping you out with the transmission. Ive owned 3 Subarus and I think they are a good car and a good company

This is the first one I’ve owned but had a company car that was a Subaru in the mid 90’s.

[Sir Henry]

I picked up my Outback an hour ago. It’s good to have a boxer six under the hood instead of the four banger the loaner had.

The transmission is running smoothly and no noises. All this ran me exactly zero dollars even thought it was six months past the warranty.

[BigAl52]

Put a turbo on that 4 cylinder and it will make you pay attention

[Sir Henry]

Put a turbo on that 4 cylinder and it will make you pay attention

The four had lots of power but it came at a higher rpm and made more noise. At 60 mph the four ran at about 1,800 rpm and the six ran about 1,200 rpm. The four turbo in the STI actually has more ponies.

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I thought the six was a lot faster off the line and didn’t have to work as hard to do it.

[JEBar]

All this ran me exactly zero dollars even thought it was six months past the warranty.

congrats indeed

[BigAl52]

I had a Forester with that 2.0 and the turbo. It would leave the 2.5 in the dust and in the mountains here did 10 times better pulling hills than the 2.5

[John E Davies]

Yep. I was just reading the cost of the new transmission is $8,600! The labor is 24 man hours. Glad it’s covered.

Your dealer is wacky, they charged double the man hours to replace it. An independent Subaru shop would be cheaper for labor for normal servicing of an out of warranty car...

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Put your zip code in here to see what your cost should be.

https://www.kbb.com/subaru/outback/2017 ... eid=420071

Just be glad it isn’t a four cylinder or you would be facing head gasket failure. You are lucky they honored the cost, you were using it for severe service but ignoring the fluid change interval. It is really hard on tow vehicles in the Northwest and West with all those killer mountain grades.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

Remember the old slogan? Inexpensive and built to stay that way. That certainly doesn’t apply any more. They dropped that idea in exchange for the Love slogan. A high mileage Subie will be a money pit. The 3rd Gen models are simply horrible for blown turbos and head gaskets.

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John Davies
Spokane WA

[Sir Henry]

I had a Forester with that 2.0 and the turbo. It would leave the 2.5 in the dust and in the mountains here did 10 times better pulling hills than the 2.5

I suspect the Forester weighed a lot less. Was there any lag time? I like to keep the rpm’s down. Probably enough a turbo wouldn’t kick in.

[BigAl52]

No lag time at all Gene and the curb weight of those 2 vehicles is within a couple hundred lbs of each other. Depending on which model you have.

[Sir Henry]

I had a Forester with that 2.0 and the turbo. It would leave the 2.5 in the dust and in the mountains here did 10 times better pulling hills than the 2.5

I suspect the Forester weighed a lot less. Was there any lag time? I like to keep the rpm’s down. Probably enough a turbo wouldn’t kick in.

I bought a new to me teardrop which the Outback can pull easier although the Transit will be the new tow vehicle. The Transit is a twin turbo and I don’t feel the turbo.

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=14934

[BigAl52]

I assume your transit has the 3.5 litre V-6 twin turbo they are using in the pick-ups. Drop that pedal to the floor and you should feel something. I know the Ford 150- towing cap is close to 12K with that engine if thats the one you have.

[Sir Henry]

I assume your transit has the 3.5 litre V-6 twin turbo they are using in the pick-ups. Drop that pedal to the floor and you should feel something. I know the Ford 150- towing cap is close to 12K with that engine if thats the one you have.

I normally drive like I have a bowl of fish in the seat beside me. Yesterday I pulled out in heavy traffic and had the petal to the metal and it got up and roared. Yes on the 3.5L V-6 twin turbo but with the short geared rearend and AWD it’s only rated for 5,000 pounds. With taller tears and duals it can go up to 12K. Still it was factory built and has the towing mode, trailer brake and 7-pin.

I’m averaging 21.2 mpg on the highway and city combination. Of course city driving here isn’t like stop and go every quarter mile. It’s more stop once every 30 miles.

[BigAl52]

Well you might want to leave the fish bowl at home once in a while. Ford uses a fuel injection system that is prone to carbon build up in the valve train. You might want to drop her to the floor once in a while.