2016 Legacy with a little over 60k km minor oil leak somewhere near transmission

[ashuk1981]

Hello all,

 

I recently bought a used Subaru 2.5l legacy 2016. Just some background to the car: I am working in Bahrain, this car appears to have been made in Japan and registered in Bahrain using the vin code decoder that I used, this was surprising because all my research indicates these legacys are made in the USA. The car is in good condition, the only issue so far has been a slight vibration (from under seat) when idling for a while and when shifting between neutral and drive or moving to park there is some minor vibration shunting type noise, however if I do it quickly its fine, is this normal for these cars?

 

I only bought the car 2 weeks ago, I took the car to an independent mechanic to fix some OEM wind screen wipers and to change the AC filter and to inspect the car for any problems, they identified the minor oil leak. I am not seeing any oil on the driveway at the moment, so I assume its a minor leak. I am also concerned about the CVT transmission, the oil is yellow but I understand the transmission oil is green? so not sure what to make of it really.

 

I followed this up by taking it to the Subaru dealer/service place (called motorcity here), they initially said the car has been serviced here all along but now out of warranty so they could inspect it for a charge and any work needed would be paid for by me. I went away and did some reading and found the car has a 5 year warranty on the power train/engine, contacted them again and was told indeed it does still have a warranty until 2020, the guy dealing with my call apologised for one of their employees mistakenly stating it was out of warranty.

 

I have booked the car in for the inspection next week. I will keep the forum up to date on the progress, any advice you can offer on this and how to deal with it would be much appreciated, has anyone encountered anything similar? I have found on other subaru models people posting pictures of wet oil cover with yellow residue similar to the picture I have posted below (subaruforester.org/threads/brief-tale-of-cvt-leaking-issue.663674/ ).

 

I am new to dealing with this type of issue having only owned manual transmission cars prior to this one, so again any advice would be gratefully received.

 

Image of leak taken by a mechanic friend:

http://www.csmtest.co.uk/subarulegacy2016/WhatsApp%20Image%202019-10-20%20at%2014.23.13.jpeg

 

 

Video of leak taken with my phone on a strip of cardboard:

http://www.csmtest.co.uk/subarulegacy2016/WhatsApp%20Video%202019-10-22%20at%2022.29.19.mp4

 

Image of car:

http://www.csmtest.co.uk/subarulegacy2016/WhatsApp%20Image%202019-10-20%20at%2021.53.28.jpeg

Edited October 23, 2019 by ashuk1981

[ammcinnis]

Correct fluid for the TR-580 CVT (2.5 engines) should be dark green, and for the TR-690 CVT (3.6 engine) it should be orange. Note that the correct CVT fluids are proprietary to Subaru. (Of course, this assumes that the CVT still has the correct fluid type in it.) There is a known problem in some CVTs with seepage around the oil pump chain cover (accessible from the bell housing) due to sealant incompatibility. In the U.S. this issue is addressed by TSB 16-103-16R (revised September 26, 2019).

 

The leak could also be differential oil, which would generally be yellow/amber in color. Diff fluid could be any color, though, since the Subaru spec for it is generic.

 

The only other possibility would be engine oil, which could be any color, but would generally vary from amber to almost black.

Edited October 23, 2019 by ammcinnis

[ashuk1981]

I should really have posted an update earlier, sorry it's late.

 

The subaru garage fixed the issue, it was coming from the differential but I can't remember exactly what he said - I was just relieved they could fix it easily.

 

The car has been running fine, still vibrates a little on idle but doesn't vibrate at all when driving. I've been told this might be to do with the ignition coils.

 

I had a window not going down problem today, odd problem but this video solved it

still not seeing the window switch lights lighting up like they use to - so the problem might come back again.

 

Apart from the these minor issues, the car has been a pleasure to drive. I don't drive it too hard but when I need to, it delivers plenty of power.

Edited June 24, 2020 by ashuk1981

[Grnlantern1]

There is a TSB on the CVT for possible leaks up to 100k miles.. So I recommend ALL of you check it closely because Unfortunately I had my transmission replaced at 94k miles because it was a area where Subaru Techs weren't allowed to repair it..

 

Now at 137,000 only 43k miles later I have another leak and it's out of Warranty.. So get ready to grab your seats.. I asked my dealership how much was Labor for Removal and Install to diagnose the problem they told me $1,150.00.. Here it comes if it's determined that the same area is leaking and a New Transmission is needed that will cost $9,000 and thats a refurbished Transmission... I'm so frustrated right now and waiting on a reply from SOA because I feel transmission shouldn't fail again at 43k Miles..

 

I'll keep u guys posted..

 

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[Leonardo]

There is a TSB on the CVT for possible leaks up to 100k miles.. So I recommend ALL of you check it closely because Unfortunately I had my transmission replaced at 94k miles because it was a area where Subaru Techs weren't allowed to repair it..

 

Now at 137,000 only 43k miles later I have another leak and it's out of Warranty.. So get ready to grab your seats.. I asked my dealership how much was Labor for Removal and Install to diagnose the problem they told me $1,150.00.. Here it comes if it's determined that the same area is leaking and a New Transmission is needed that will cost $9,000 and thats a refurbished Transmission... I'm so frustrated right now and waiting on a reply from SOA because I feel transmission shouldn't fail again at 43k Miles..

 

I'll keep u guys posted..

 

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

 

Oh Damn!!!