Member Profile - Manaz

[Manaz]

Msg sent

Mick

Cheers.

[Newbie GT]

What ever you say Robert
I'll refrain from being in your thread

All the best

[Manaz]

SO, my transmission has been flushed.

The people who did it said they didn't find anything of concern in the old fluid, and were happy that the transmission wasn't slipping at all on the road test they did after the flush.

The car certainly feels different after the flush - shifts seem more decisive (in that when they are made, they happen promptly), with less apparent flaring than before.

I'll drive it a bit as it is now before arranging to put it on the dyno again. Hopefully I get a colder day then too.

[shav]

That's a bit weird but also a relief. Good to hear that it wasn't anything worse. Probably just needed new fluid.

[<GB>]

SO, my transmission has been flushed.

The people who did it said they didn't find anything of concern in the old fluid, and were happy that the transmission wasn't slipping at all on the road test they did after the flush.

The car certainly feels different after the flush - shifts seem more decisive (in that when they are made, they happen promptly), with less apparent flaring than before.

I'll drive it a bit as it is now before arranging to put it on the dyno again. Hopefully I get a colder day then too.

so the fluid wasn't burnt?

[Manaz]

so the fluid wasn't burnt?

Yes, it was burned, that was never in question. But not badly, and not surprisingly given it'd been in the transmission for over 100,000km.

As transmission fluid ages in a transmission, it starts to break down, and its resistance to burning is reduced - normal conditions which would not burn fresh fluid can cause older fluid to start to burn. There's a reason why Subaru recommend it's changed at the 112,500km - if the fluid was expected to still be fine at that point, they'd not recommend that it's changed.

[jacks-GTB]

Good to hear the box feels better...

My folks 2012 VW golf....VW told them the box needs a service @ 100,000...but they emailed few months ago...and said 60,000km now....I always get suss on there service intervals

[<GB>]

so the fluid wasn't burnt?

Yes, it was burned, that was never in question. But not badly, and not surprisingly given it'd been in the transmission for over 100,000km.

As transmission fluid ages in a transmission, it starts to break down, and its resistance to burning is reduced - normal conditions which would not burn fresh fluid can cause older fluid to start to burn. There's a reason why Subaru recommend it's changed at the 112,500km - if the fluid was expected to still be fine at that point, they'd not recommend that it's changed.

Cool.

Subaru would push the interval out as far as they can to keep the maintenance costs down but not damage the transmission. When a person starts modifying there car or even tows a trailer frequently then that interval should be re assessed.
I find transmissions with a little burnt fluid like you say still work ok till they get to a point. cars with not enough fluid often slip even if its only a small amount.

[Manaz]

Good to hear the box feels better...

My folks 2012 VW golf....VW told them the box needs a service @ 100,000...but they emailed few months ago...and said 60,000km now....I always get suss on there service intervals

DSG gearbox? VW have had all sorts of issues with them...

[shav]

Good to hear the box feels better...

My folks 2012 VW golf....VW told them the box needs a service @ 100,000...but they emailed few months ago...and said 60,000km now....I always get suss on there service intervals

DSG gearbox? VW have had all sorts of issues with them...

I heard that too. VW, Audi & Skoda with same gearbox

[jacks-GTB]

Yeah DSG...they reckon ford are one of the worst...in there focus ST & titanuim

[<GB>]

Yeah DSG...they reckon ford are one of the worst...in there focus ST & titanuim

I have more troubles with the vw dsg than the ford ones though the ford does give trouble too.

[Manaz]

Yeah DSG...they reckon ford are one of the worst...in there focus ST & titanuim

I have more troubles with the vw dsg than the ford ones though the ford does give trouble too.

It's taken some time for the behaviour of the DSG gearboxes to be "tweaked" to suit people. Earlier models were quite "grabby" and the cars would lurch about at low speeds or when taking off, because of the way the computers engaged/disengaged clutches (with basically no slip). It was a bit like watching someone who'd never driven a button-clutch before - jerky and lacking in elegance (worse - the computers would re-engage the clutch to prevent a stall, then disengage it again once the revs recovered, effectively "bunny-hopping" a car under certain circumstances).

A few VW owners I know got burned badly with very expensive repair bills, and there are reports of people dying due to VWs suddenly decelerating on freeways in front of heavy vehicles. As I understand it, VW made some "interesting" design decisions with the earlier (6-speed wet-clutch) models, such as using the same fluid that lubricates the gearbox/clutches to also cool the computer controlling the operation of the gearbox. The later 7-speed dry-clutch models don't seem to have the issues (but neither do they cope with as much torque as the 6-speed wet-clutch models). I haven't heard (either way) from Ford owners who've had issues with their DSG gearboxes of costs or dangerous situations of the same level as some VW owners had to cover/cope with.

[Manaz]

Only a minor mod, but it has a marked impact on the look of the car:



That's right, I re-badged my car (I'd replaced the winged grill with the honeycomb grill, but hadn't moved the badge over.

Subaru want over $200 for the badge (mind, you can get it for ~$50 from Japanparts.com, but then postage becomes a killer if it's all you're bringing in), so I figured I'd move mine over.

As per BBB's instructions, I used a heat gun (OK, my wife's hair dryer) to heat the badge to get the adhesive to loosen up. In hindsight, I'd say heat the back of the grill behind the badge, as that's where the adhesive you want to soften is actually attached (it's basically double-sided tape, you don't want it to come off on the badge-side, as that'll ruin the back of the badge).

Once it's nice and hot, use a lever of some kind (I used a flat-head screwdriver) to lift the badge off - the double-sided tape stuff should all come with the badge.

Then I made sure my honeycomb grill was completely clean (surgical wipes are great for this), re-heated the adhesive briefly to make sure it was nice and sticky, and located it (it's hard to get wrong, there are two round pins on the back that sit in holes on the grill). Hold it on for a few minutes to make sure it sticks, and you're done!

[HardwareBoB]

It's the little things where you take the time to do it right that make the difference for a well sorted car.