What could be slippin'?

[wxlidar]

I was supposed to have an appointment with a Subaru DPS a week or so ago but when I arrived I could only deal with the service manager. I wasn't in the mood to fight it (personal reasons). He documented everything but I swear it is like talking to a wall. I've been so annoyed with this problem that I was close to selling it but I've decided to stick with it for a bit. Here is where I stand:

-Grunt/grind after reverse: Fairly sure this is caused by the set of gears that reverses the output shaft(s) not fully engaging. The service manager told me to try shifting from R to D back to R and then to D. My local (trusted) mechanic suggested pausing in N while shifting from R to D. Basically, give it additional time to shift. We already have to wait two seconds for the CVT to shift 'normally'. I'm not going to sit there forever waiting for the car to shift.

-Shutter: happens right before the torque converter locks up.

-Whine: Normal, normal, normal. All I have to say is if my car made this much noise when I test drove it I would never have purchased it. Local mechanic said it might be the CVT pump bearings.

While talking to my local mechanic he looked up CVT fluid and supposedly Redline now makes a compatible fluid for our CVT. He'd have to confirm this fluid is indeed compatible but if so I may switch. Does anyone know if the Subaru CVT fluid is synthetic?

May also switch to synthetic for both differentials. I'm not convinced that some of the noise isn't coming from the front differential.

I may also investigate insulating the CVT or the underside and firewall of the car to reduce the noise. This is one of the things Subaru did to quiet down the 2013 CVT.

[RobMunach]

Originally Posted by wxlidar

I was supposed to have an appointment with a Subaru DPS a week or so ago but when I arrived I could only deal with the service manager. I wasn't in the mood to fight it (personal reasons). He documented everything but I swear it is like talking to a wall. I've been so annoyed with this problem that I was close to selling it but I've decided to stick with it for a bit. Here is where I stand:

-Grunt/grind after reverse: Fairly sure this is caused by the set of gears that reverses the output shaft(s) not fully engaging. The service manager told me to try shifting from R to D back to R and then to D. My local (trusted) mechanic suggested pausing in N while shifting from R to D. Basically, give it additional time to shift. We already have to wait two seconds for the CVT to shift 'normally'. I'm not going to sit there forever waiting for the car to shift.

-Shutter: happens right before the torque converter locks up.

-Whine: Normal, normal, normal. All I have to say is if my car made this much noise when I test drove it I would never have purchased it. Local mechanic said it might be the CVT pump bearings.

While talking to my local mechanic he looked up CVT fluid and supposedly Redline now makes a compatible fluid for our CVT. He'd have to confirm this fluid is indeed compatible but if so I may switch. Does anyone know if the Subaru CVT fluid is synthetic?

May also switch to synthetic for both differentials. I'm not convinced that some of the noise isn't coming from the front differential.

I may also investigate insulating the CVT or the underside and firewall of the car to reduce the noise. This is one of the things Subaru did to quiet down the 2013 CVT.

The forward/reverse is changed with a clutch aft of the pulley system (like on a conventional automatic). The gears are always engaged.

[utopist]

Put me down as someone with this same issue with slipping when cold after shifting into drive the first time. I can prevent it from happening virtually every time if after shifting into drive and keep waiting until the rpms get as close to 1k as they are going to get.

John