Hi guys, I have a 07 Legacy with the 5eat Trans. Recently it was serviced at my local Subaru dealership and the ATF was changed. Immediately after I noticed that the car was not shifting as smoothly as before and there was a bit of shift shock. I went back to Subaru who then informed me that the car was put through a "RE-LEARN" process which will take a while to get used to my driving. After months there has been no change. I did some research and paid for a Service Manual which shed some light on my situation. The Subaru Manufacturers recommended Auto Trans Fluid for the Facelift/2006 - 2009 Legacys/Outbacks is Subaru ATF-HP or Idemitsu ATF-HP. ONLY!. Well I pulled out my invoice for the Service that my local Subaru Dealer did and they used Castrol Transmax E. Castrol Transmax E is NOT a substitute for either of the recommended ATF's. In fact the Subaru ATF is specifically engineered for the Subaru transmissions and nothing else. How can a generic Castrol product even come close to providing the same specificity of the genuine product! Long story short. My subaru dealer is not interested in learing of my findings and has said that "Subaru NZ has recommended Transmax E for all Subaru's". If you have a Facelift 5 speed auto legacy/outback I would be concerned if you get it serviced by Subaru. I will keep you posted on how things go.
a.woodrow,
Mar 20, 11:05am
Most, if not all car manufacturers use fluids supplied by makers like castrol etc. They rename and repackage to suit and it is often the case that there is a suitable or identical aftermarket equivalent. How do you know that the ATF fluid subaru have used is not suitable for your transmission! It may be the case that the "genuine subaru fluid" is actually castrol in a different container. Why would Subaru recommend an ATF fluid that wasn't suitable! More likely there was some other issue with the trans service not being done properly or not picking up the relearn correctly, is it still faulty now, and if so what has your dealer said regarding the fault!
jonowootton,
Mar 20, 6:14pm
Good point. According to everything I have read about Subaru ATF-HP it is simply Idemitsu ATF-HP just re-labled. If Castrol Transmax E is an acceptable replacement for Subaru ATF-HP why is in not listed on the Castrol data sheet. The data sheet does mention transmax E is a suitable replacement for Subaru ATF. Subaru ATF and Subaru ATF-HP are different products.
gadgit3,
Mar 20, 6:32pm
According to the castrol lube guide Transmax E is the Castrol recomended fluid. Transmax E is not just a standard ATF like TQ Dextron 3, it would be classed as a special fluid http://www.datateck.com.au/lube/CastrolTradeNzl/default.asp Hit the link and type in your model
jonowootton,
Mar 20, 6:48pm
Castrol is recommending which of their products would Best Suit my car. Im sure other lubricant manufactureres have their own ATF that they says best suits my car. If the Service Manual specifies the use of Subaru ATF-HP why is this not being used! This is the correct fluid: http://www.ilacorp.biz/spec-sheets/idemitsu_atf-hp_specs.pdf
ian86,
Mar 20, 6:55pm
I guess the only way to find out is to replace the ATF again to the type you believe is the correct one!.
gadgit3,
Mar 20, 6:58pm
No Castrol recomends what of their line up works and is a drop in replacment for the genuine fluid. If they dont have a drop in replacement they say Refur to Manifacture such is the case with Toyota WS fluid Castrol has no replacment for that and the link I sent you to says so for the types of vehicle it is used in.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.