transmission – Not Your Average Engineer

November 9, 2014November 30, 2014

Changing the Transmission and Differential Fluid in my Subaru Forester

After about 20,000 miles since the last fluids change, it was time for new fluids in my transmission and rear differential. On the second generation Subaru Forester with a manual transmission, the front differential and transmission share fluid. In the front differential and transmission I used a 50/50 blend of Redline 75W90-NS (58304) and Redline 75W140-NS (57104) for a total of four quarts. Note that both of these products are NON limited-slip differentials and transmissions. In the rear differential I used one quart of Redline 75W90 (57904). Note that the rear differential gets a DIFFERENT fluid than the front differential and transmission. Don’t mix this up!

A few hundred miles after changing the transmission and differential fluid, the car is running and shifting excellently. The previous transmission fluid I had in the car was the standard Subaru stuff. I don’t think it ever felt as good as my Redline blend does now.

2014-11-09

I also used some motorcycle windshield cleaner to clean up my headlights in order to have better nighttime visibility while I was working on my car.

August 29, 2008July 1, 2020

A quick jaunt along 53rd Avenue

To give my bike one last test of the now-fixed transmission before draining the oil and Seafoam out and replacing the fluid, I went on a quick jaunt up and around 53rd Avenue. Everything went very well. My bike shifted like nothing at all. Smooth and clean. I did notice that trying to turn the left turn signal on and off is getting a bit more difficult. One of these days I really need to clean that switch assembly out.

My odometer indicated about 15 miles.

Map of ride.

August 28, 2008December 23, 2008

Getting rid of the 50 weight

Drained out 50 weight oil and replaced with 10W40 Napa brand oil and 4 oz of Seafoam. Let bike idle for 20 minutes and exercised gears and clutch before taking it to the football stadium parking lot. Did seven miles worth of parking lot riding to free up the clutch and allow myself to shift between the different gears again. Did five miles on the road to get the bike up to 55mph.