One of the best guides on KZfaq by far. Be sure to watch part 2 everyone!

Wow. I'm so used to working on cars now, that when you tried showing where that "hard" bolt was on the tran pan, i almost reached for my flashlight to shine at the screen to see it better. Duh...

if anyone is curious, the red gasket stuff IS from subaru, it's red fujibond red for trans, we don't use gaksets on the trans pan or oil pan..any color other than red is not from subaru, grey fujibond on the oil pan

There are multiple valves within an automatic transmission that regulate the flow of oil to the different areas. For example, oil is shifted into different places according to which gear is being selected and used.

Lisle makes a tool for pan separation. It's a blade fixed at 90 degrees to the handle, that you strike with a hammer. Really useful on pans that use sealer instead of a rubber gasket. For pans with sealer (Which is most of what I work on, being a Chrysler tech) I usually use a scraper and follow it up with some Scotchbrite. For really baked on stuff I'll bust out my grinder and a surface disc, but I rarely have to do that. Great vid on changing trans fluid, really in depth. Thanks.

Longer videos are better. Even if it was an hour long, I'd be more than glad to watch it.

What fixed my RS transmission was draining out the pan then putting back in Mobil full synthetic ATF. It made it shift so much smoother. Then it is recommended to do that 2-3 more times over long period to make the ratio of full synthetic to regular ATF better. Well worth trying!

Hey Eric, Just answering your question about jacking on the differential. It doesn't damage the actually diff or housing, but if the diff carries bushings that connect to the suspension or chassis, it can sometimes put stress on them and cause them to break, especially if they're already old and falling apart. But no real damage done.

YES! the longer the video, the better! the details eric includes in his videos are very valuable so i can never complain about the length of the video! if anything, i get annoyed if his videos are short!

in the front on subarus you can jack it up on the plate joining the crossmembers behind the engine. it's between the pipes of the exhaust manifold and about a foot left of the jack in that shot at 4:00. it's strong and lifts the car from the middle so you only have to jack up the front once

I agree with you man, 100%. Eric, it's always a pleasure to watch you work, whatever you're working on, even if it is something I either never plan on doing myself or already know how to do.

Watched both parts and loved it! I'm car savvy but never did my own tran fluid change. Now I know how and your insights have helped me avoid catastrophe, once again! Thanx Eric!

Its 3:08 am. I just like to watch your old vids(even though I dont own a Subaru)

I've seen a lot of car videos and this one by far has been the most informative and well done

One thing that I was taught is its a good thing to stick a hose the right diameter up into the intake hole that leads to a bucket of tranny fluid and start the car for a minute, cant remember if you need to shift or not but it will flush out the rest of the crappy fluid. Just make sure you have a big enough waste oil pan because that fluid will be coming out of all kind of places on the bottom of that transmission. Do that until the fluid runs red dripping out of there.

god this brings back memories......i did my first filter and fluid change at the ripe old age of 16 years old on my first truck a 1987 f150 with the efi 302 and a c6 tranny that was one tough transmission

18:31 "For tonight: high 56, low 38. Partly cloudy, 80% chance of rain."

Putty knife is your friend to remove glued on pans. The flexible nature of the knife makes it almost impossible to damage the pan, perfect tool for the job.

All i can say is.. i watch your videos as if they were episodes on tv.. love them keep up the good work eric! and even though i dont need to fix my cars its always good to know :)

I'm having a performance issue...with my Subaru.Eric slips in that comedy with his teaching so well.Keep up the amazing work Eric,your awesome!:D

Thanks for this video.I changed the filter,fluid in the trans and oil in both diffs for less than 1/3 of the price at my local trans shop,It took only a few hours and saves much money. Thanks again.

Maybe it's because Eric the car guy is such a cool headed guy. Plus, he's an experienced technician. He's used to crap like transmission pans covered in RTV. There's probably nothing that even phases him now.

I'm amazed at how clean the underside of the transmission is, considering how dirty the fluid was. But I also haven't seen the insides of transmissions very much.

Hi with subarus they have a plate behind the engine sump attached to the bottom of the subframe made for jacking the whole front of car off the ground so you can place axle stand on both sides of car.

Thanks mate. I'm hoping mine isnt' stuck on with RTV. The dealership told me there was no filter, but I realized that they just meant there isn't an exterior spin filter. So, I'll be trying this tomorrow in the hopes that it can clear my AT Oil Temp light, and the shudder during turns

Gr8 vid I had a similar issues on 2001 Nissan Maxima with 202k miles. Car wouldn’t shift right and was shifting at 4K rpm for all gears. P0744 CEL As a last resort, I said to myself what else do I have to lose it is already broken. So I did a drain and fill with Valvoline max life synthetic ATF and Lucus . It was a lot better after. But still not right. I also cleared CEL It came back in 70 miles same code Continued to drive as it was a lot better After 330 miles it was about 70% better After 600 miles it was about 80% better After 900 miles it was almost normal I then reset the CEL. The code P0744 kept on coming back every few weeks. Continued to drive it and clear codes. As it got better the more it was driven. Then I look at fluid and it will dirty already. So decided to change fluid again to get more of the old fluid out. Now, So far, no longer having shifting issues or delayed shifting or shutter when starting from a complete stop. Only time will tell Yah Lucus and Valvoline max life synthetic atf. If this works out it’s basically saved the car. The car is my son’s car now but thru this he has seen first hand how learning some basic mechanic repair skills can really save you $$$. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l7iKqcRjqd-wpXU.html

loosen one corner most of the way and put your pan under it. Then loosen the rest of the bolts a few turns and the first corner will start to drain without making a mess/ But pull the pan because if the fluid needs to be changed then so does the filter. Plus cleaning the pan wil help get all the dispersed friction material out that you can and your fluid quality after the service will be much better.

Some car manufacturers try to save on suggested maintenance cost by saying that their transmission fluid is lifetime. Nothing is lifetime, especially when it comes to transmissions. Every transmission should be serviced between 30-40k miles on regular basis. Good luck.

glad to see your video on the front page of youtube. didnt know youll make it this far. been sub to you for 2 years. GREAT WORK!!

Nice video Eric. I really like that you do regular videos and not have a few week appart videos. Good work.

can you please make a video of the reasons the transmission will fail when you change the oil.

how to cook a Red Baron frozen pizza that takes 20 minutes to bake in the oven- 1. put pizza in oven 2. start up an EricTheCarGuy video that's about 20 minutes long 3. when videos over, the pizza is done 4. enjoy pizza while watching more ETCG videos

what you described in the beginning of the video is exactly what has been happening with my hyundai elantra.

I heard it's a good idea to make sure you can crack the filler plug open before dropping the oil out. Maybe this is an old wive's tale but I like to do it that way round anyway, and as has already been said it'll help it drain quicker if it's out. Great video Eric, looking forward to the next part and I drive a manual.

Looks like it's a job for the mechanic. I definitely see how the filter if blocked could cause a shifting issue, just by the shape of it. Thanks for helping me decide to give this forester job to the mechanic with the workshop.

"im an experienced technician, and i trust what i just did" *proceeds to beat on hose with screwdriver* lmao

So you'd rather prefer listen to him swear than get some valuable information. Cussing not only distracts but prevents someone from enjoying an informational video. I am thankful that Eric tries to keep his videos clean.

when i change my gearbox oil after 100 000 miles i was surprised to see old oil being actually beautifly clean oil just like new,but still i changed it, a car was toyota avensis 2006 reg.

On my 2006 Jetta 2.5 there is a rubber gasket that needs no sealants or anything like that. It has 8 tube spacers and it couldn't be easier to install. There is little chance for error when putting the gasket on the pan because it is molded to fit over the side of the pan and it fits nicely. I have changed my fluid and never had to scrape any nasty RTV or any gunk off the transmission or pan. It is also nice that it has a drain plug but not nice that they make it the only way to fill them. My car can be filled from the factory fill port that the early MKVs (5th generation) had which is nice but still not as being able to fill through a dipstick tube. My only problem was I was replacing a dented pan and the new one had a slight bend in it that made it leak fluid. It is one of those things you won't see unless you put it down on a known to be flat surface. It was horrible since that fluid is $18.36 + tax per liter. It was night time when that happened so I just put a big pan under it to save my floor and got it taken care of next morning. It was night time and I was done putting up with that thing for the night. I will give that some thought this coming Thanksgiving that I don't have to scrape that horrible mess off.

I've been using the same spots as lifting points also, and just hoping and praying that it's ok to do that. Glad to know that it's perfectly fine to do so. Whew!

Eric, the videos are great! your quality of work and attention to detail is on point! also, the elevator music/ fast forward gasket scraping was a nice touch.

I'd suggest using a putty knife or equivalent to work around the oil pan to break loose that RTV sealant before trying to pull the pan off. When you go prying on one corner of the trans pan, especially one as flimsly as that one. you risk warping the oil pan resulting in bad leaks once you reinstall it.

Totally agree with your technique for air tools off and hands tools on.

Also don't rule out damage to the harness ect. follow it inspecting for wear or damage, especially around hot and or moving bits. Make sure all connections are good, you could go the extra mile and clean then put some dielectric grease in them.... With battery disconnected ect. IDK if subaru has radio codes or not up to you to find out my friend. Some other shops may also have the appropriate scanner that can see all the way into the transmission and if they do, then a dealer may not be needed.

I love these videos, this one really caught me off guard. I had no idea that there would be wires and such when you took off the pan! Keep em coming man! :D

i think many of us share this sentiment but could not put it into words, thanks!

I like drain plugs too. ALL transmissions should have them and no exceptions. I had a Dodge Neon and it didn't have one. It was bad enough that the A604 in that thing was hit or miss when it came to reliability. I say that because although plenty of them have failed in some cars there are people who never had a problem with that one. I guess they were lucky?

I know how to do it, I just don't trust myself to do it without making a mess/covering myself in fluid. I would definitely remove the pan anyway after pumping it out for the reasons you mentioned. Thanks.

I don't have a lift either. It sucks. Oh on a side note if you shift the trans between all of the gears a few times with the pan and filter off of the trans more of the old fluid will leak out.

these cars sometimes get jacked up on the trans pan wich smashes into the sump/filter causing a restriction that makes the engine work too hard to pump trans fluid. the engine will shake at idle when this happens. you will also see a square ring cut into the inside of the pan where the filter is pressed in by the floor jack

I guess that would be a bit too much speculation for an ETCG video. Reasons why stuff happens with cars can be extremely diverse and in the end it only really matters how you diagnose and solve the problem.

@Seegalgalguntijak that's true but an auto transmission also has a different kind of valve body that makes the transmission shift the gears

Possibly a vast majority of the demographic who watch these vids are the "DIYers" who do not have access to post lifts. Just adds something to the vids with the safe working pratices in using floor jacks and jack stands.

well i mean maybe once when the car probably only had like 20k miles, but wow, they glued that thing in there real good, leakproof for life

Eric, @3:57 there's a jack point between the downpipes, right behind the oil pan. I used that to lift both the front wheels up at once.

I know this is an old video, but I wanted to say thanks. I got the new filter/gasket installed without any major issues in about an hour. Not sure if that pink gasket crap is from the factory or not (mine had it too) but holy crap is it a pain in the rear to get off. Anyways, thanks for the videos, they are a big help!

There is another way to get way more oil out. Sometimes you can reach all the fasteners that hold the valve body onto the transmission housing itself. carefully crack those loose, do not take them out more than 2 turns. The valve body will drop a mm or so and up to a quart or so extra fluid runs out Recently I did a car that had a drain plug on the torque converter itself. Might be an idea to check for that as well

or just fill and drain a couple times since it has a drain plug. when the fluid starts to look red again, *then* pull the pan and replace the filter.

The only time a transmission fluid change will toast your transmission is when it is so close to death that it is literally using the gunk inside to act as a friction enhancer on the clutches. The problem with transmission fluid is that it is a VERY good detergent. And it will clean the last bit of grip right out of there lol. That is why people used to put Type F transmission fluid in dying transmissions, the f stands for friction as in silica or " fancy sand" and it would "help" slippage.

If you look by the air box, you'll see a little red cap that reads "trans fluid". Take that off and put the new fluid in there. There's no way to check the level. Source: Owner of a 2000 Grand Am 2.4L Twin Cam

In my experience... And this is just me... But when a gasket starts leaking? Its just that time to be replaced. Gaskets are like any parts... Except a little worse sometimes, depending on quality... But honestly, when you use the silicone, I only use it on really old engines that I know don't have to be opened up again cuz I'm fairly certain the engine will die before the next major servicing... Idk. Just me.

I recommend using a plastic scraper so that you don't dig into the metal,

thank you! the tube by the old filter got me hung up until I watched your video! thanks!

If I have an external transmission filter, should I still drop the pan ?

New fluid may dislodge the gunk and block something or lower the preassure somewhere else. However if you want to keep the car for a long time take the risk!. A gunked transmission will fail sonner or later.

That speech about changing the fluid and causing the transmission to fail isn’t making me very confident, I can’t afford a new one or a new car. I can barely afford to eat. But my transmission fluid is gross and I’m having the same problems as you. I’m also getting a loud click sound into 3rd? Gear, and when I’m rolling through a stop sign the car bucks a little before the trans catches and drives me forward. I want to change the filters and fluid but I seriously can not risk damaging my trans… I’m stuck for now I guess

hi. you don´t need remove the oil in side torque converter? or the oil in side torque converted is dreined at remove the oil pan? thank you.

hi eric. i'm not sure if you still have this car but you should try a grounding kit. it really helps with that slight hesitation. i did this on my 96 impreza and now it's alot smoother and responsive. i have the 4eat but i put down some pretty good times against modified cars in my stock car at a rallx. only mod i have is a skid plate(to protect my engine) and a grounding kit which cost me nothing because i had those things in my garage but can be bought for under $20. hope this helps! =]

in your video about 4:02 into it you do have a jack perch under the main hump of the motor (looks the like oil sump front would be on the way) great video Eric! Timthetoolman..

First do the fluid and filter change. Just because the fluid looks good, doesn't mean the filter isn't plugged. Just like Eric said a lot of people just drain and fill. Then if is still weird determine if it is electronic controlled shift or mech ie TV or vacuum. If it is electronic see dealer as they would probably be the only ones with the appropriate scanner, if it is mech adjust/ repair and go from there. Trans issues won't always throw a CEL.

Eric - this is a re-run-?! Been hoping for a vid on rebuilding your odyssey trans, saw you had a parts kit for it. Ill wait patiently for a new video, yer a hard workin guy-- thanks-!

As per my bootlegged copy of the FSM the torque is 5.7 FT-LB plus or minus 0.7 FT-LB. Thank you.

Yes. All automatic transmissions have a filter. But Renault shop should do the job for you since there is no dipstick on the transmission.

i have only had motorcycles and never had a torque wrench, but if you feel the nut/bolt your tightning then you know if its ok. And some things are not really too picky as long as they are snug. High pressure parts and say head bolts would be where i would want a torque wrench.

I don't always subscribe to channels, but when I do, It's EricTheCarGuy :)

Eric, you said in high mileage Subies, the transmission can stop working after a fluid/filter change,. What happens if you're experiencing shifting problems, but your Subie, has 432 000kms on it ? ...Hope I'm not out of luck!

Swank vid. Couldn't stop watching it.

Hello friend, what is the relationship between your front and rear differential, since I have one from the same year

My parts guy said that they called for "Automatic Transmission Make-A-Gasket RTV", so perhaps it was never actually changed, but was factory original. They did have an in-stock gasket that came in a kit so no clue why RTV would be used in the first place.

Cool safety reminder ,Thanks.

yes their is, but the best way is to flush your system by removing one of the pipes and run the system for a minute or two, this way you remove all the oil from the pipes and cooler, their is a video i saw long time ago explains this in a great way, search for automatic transmission flush how to

Man, I don't think I'm even capable of driving an Automatic transmission. Takes all the fun out of it.

I have the exact same problem on my automatic 2001 Forster, but it was driving perfect when I changed the gears myself.

Fast forward, like Jafromobile with elevator music. Cool! Although I'm happy for you that the O-ring came off so easy, as you know some pan filters have a seal that is a lot more difficult. Most of the time I don't bother and just leave the old seal in place, but I do feel a little guilty when I do that. Any thoughts?

My folks have a Nissan Versa with a CVT. Came with a 10-year warranty on the transmission. It has to, no informed customer would bite otherwise.

I had one pan that someone used rubber cement to seal it. Ended up having to get a new pan for it because the old pan got so bent when we were taking it off.

This really helped me out, my Subaru is shifting great now. Thanks man!!!

im guessing its not a good idea to change the fluid because all that sludge from the fluid breaking down will introduce gunk to the entire transmission and cause multiple problems?

i find that that pink rtv come off easier if you put a bit of solvent on it (if you have some)

0:05 Guys he's having troubling performing...I didn't catch that the first I watched this haha.

you mention possibility of failure after changing fluid and that you won't get into that. Could you make a video explaining why?

Rear diff oil might aswell change dat too... I thought it was best to change the oil after the oil has warmed up then cold? I changed my box oil and he was making all sorts of strange noises afterwards..after driving it up and road the road in all the gears it got quiter and goes in to gear better.

this is great, I love watching your videos. They are so clean and informative.

I don't want dust getting into the transmission but I'll pry and scrape hell out of the mating surface... Nothing you can do about it though. Weld nut(s) could be very useful there, GJ Subaru. :(

Question. I have an L460E transmission in a GMC. There is the rubber grommet around the dipstick tube and a quarter size piece of it fell into the transmission. Should I pull the pan to get it out. I know it wont melt or anything since its made to seal the fluid. Found it when my transmission was leaking while parked sideways on a hill.

The only reason a transmission would fail from changing the fluid is most likely due to never changing the trans oil/filter. I do mine every 30,000 miles no problems.

I was going to suggest checking the engine/transmission shift linkage, but that is possibly out of question as you have sold this Subaru.

How can fasteners that screw into a transmission go into the valve body? Isn't that a completely different part of the drive train? And they weren't that long either...

+1 on the trans service, but why the Lucas additive ? It's just snake oil anyway. If it needed additional additives they would have put them in the fluid already.

Eric! I see that you didn't flush the torque converter. You could have just started the engine and the transmission would've spit out whatever fluid is left in the torque converter by itself. Then just re-fill the transmission while it's running. Have you tried doing that? It may sound crazy, but it's safe, considering that nothing is moving inside the transmission, only the engine.