I gave up and took it to a dealer $320 or so for a drain and fill. (the lady on the phone did not know if they had a sucker,..they did not)
it was a warm 85F and damp day and they were in their old garage, (building a new one).
I live in the mountains and the dealer is a hour plus away on the flat, …they said they rarely do CVT fluid changes.
(I wanted it changed, “severe duty is a pretty idiotic term for “real world subaru” bought for snow / ice in mountains, doing its daily work saving my life.
…if life were easy I would have bought a front drive camry hybrid …or one of its various siblings).
With the heat and the humidity it took hours for them to get the temp down to 94 F exactly to do a drain / fill.
(I mean like 5 hours with 2 big fans running, and me sitting in the old show room next to a 1982 brat with a 1.8,)
So if swapping as a DIY or at a dealer, be ready to leave it or pick a cold day. so whomever is doing it, they can fire up the car and let it warm to 94F exactly on the written procedure.
(They thought the trans would have to relearn, …and said I might get some spastic shifts, but nothing but tranquility.
thoughts on 100,000 + thousand mile CVT subarus: take it to a trans shop and get them to swap 100% of the fluid with a warranty. (or a dealer “with” a siphon).
as far as thoughts that any transmission fluid lasts forever as per what the factory books/ schedules say:
my brother had a 2003 saturn 2.2 that he bought from a neighbor, 150,000 miles. (poking around NYC stop/ go, and highway). Original owner said: the maint/ book says the trans fluid lasts forever, (no handle, no spout to the top, nothing, …but a drain & fill hole pair on the trans underneath….. I had my brother take it to a transmission shop and suck it out, (he called 5 and got 5 prices)
and they said that it sure showed 150,000 miles of love. …but ready for new stuff. what fluid did GM say lasted forever in a car in 2003? = plain old Dextron 3 red stuff just like a 2002 subaru.
(forever if they want you to buy a new car vs. swapping it and maintaining the car. .
..I am supuprised they did not write on the same tables: the factory fill dino oil lasts forever in miles / years for programmed obsolescence.
(As We “need” you to buy a new car,…as next year’s yachts will not pay for itself).
