legacycentral bbs

I bought my car with 149K miles. Just before I bought it, there was a 89K mile tranny put into it (the old one apparently had a bad reverse gear). I drove it around Seattle for 2 weeks and I didn't notice any odd noises.

Fast forward 1K miles later and 4300 feet higher. Now I'm noticing a whine while accelerating. I swear it's less noticeable at lower elevations (was at sea level last weekend). I'm pretty sure it's not the turbo I'm hearing -- since I do hear that along with this new whine. I've made an inspection appointment at the local AAMCO shop for next week. Additionally, I noticed there is a delay when in reverse, from when the car actually engages. Typically the engine will rev up to 2K before it kicks in. I know, not a good sign.

I made a recording with a crappy hand held recorder. There are two clips. Both I'm accelerating up a hill to about 70 mph when the tranny shifts and I then slow down.

http://bsod2600.home.comcast.net/subaru ... _noise.zip

Ideas on what it is?

or it could just be alternator whine?

and btw, AAMCO SUKS big time. they are good at selling people major transmission service, but actually do a really BAD job of fixing your transmission. Around here, people that take a car into aamco witha good tranny, come out witha bad one. They either put something in your fluid to ruin it, requiring a new transmission, or something else, but more times than not they will do something to your car so you HAVE to get a different tranny, and since they are cheaper than a dealership, you will go thru them. They make their money this way, and is how they have stayed in business.....not by doing good transmission work.......my two cents.....I WOULD NEVER BUY A CAR that had a transmission repair or replace by AAMCO, NEVER......, and this is why one sees alot of different makes of cars advertised for sale, and the listing says, "recent transmission work, with warranty from AAMCO". whoever buys that car is screwed more times than not. AAMCO is to transmissions, as what MAACO is to paint............

Have you changed the fluid recently?

When the transmission was swapped out a month ago, they must have had to put new fluid in.

I checked the ATF level after driving around town for a bit, and it seems to be full.

Called AAMCO (1:30 pm) and they said there was a lot of metal in the bottom of the pan. The filter/cleanable screen was also clogged with metal. Said while filling the tranny, they had a funnel in there and acted like a megaphone where they could hear transmission working, which apparently is not good. Said they were just filling it up again with fluid to see how its working.

GUH! Not sounding good at all .

Well AAMCO called me back and they said the transmission is dying Going to charge me $1750 - 2000 to rebuild it. I'm going to think about it for a while.... I suppose now would be the time to contemplate doing a swap to a manual tranny. But DAMNIT, I just bought this car a month ago!!!

That's too much $ IMO.

AAMCO Sucks, never go there.

Yea, well I'm in Klamath Falls aka a hicktown. The only other option would be the subaru dealer, and I'm sure they'd charge me up the ass. You know of something else in town that would do it?

I just talked to the guys at Smart Service in Shoreline. He told me it would be around $2900 to slap in a reman transmission. You know any other spot in the Seattle area that would do it cheaper?

when you drive it, does the transmission slip any? does it shift into and out of all gears?
If it doesnt slip, and it does shift into and out of all gear, you need to go somewhere else to even see if you need a different tranny. AAMCO "ALways tell you you need a different tranny" that is how they make there money. Go somewhere else, an independent mechanic, not a "McShop". AAMCO may even be lying when they said they found metal shavings in there...........