JTK
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Out of curiosity, what color is the OEM Subaru CVT fluid? Is Valvoline CVT fluid the same color?
2012 Subaru Impreza CVT fluid change done - notes
- Thread starter deanm11
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Subaru fluid is blue-ish
Valvoline looks like engine oil
Valvoline looks like engine oil
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I know that the CVT in my Forester XT takes a special high torque CVT fluid, it is usually referred to by color but I am not sure if that is the color of the fluid or the container it comes in. I made sure the dealer I took my FXT to for my 60kmile service was aware of the two CVT fluids and they claimed they kept the high torque flavor in stock.
I also know that the WRX' CVT is mechanically somewhat different from the one in the FXT (and has less lag on launch), but I don't know how they compare to the CVT in the Impreza. The FXT and WRX have the same claimed peak torque per Subaru, but the WRX maintains it to a somewhat higher RPM than the FXT and, consequently, has a higher peak HP. This may have necessitated the CVT hardware difference between the two, but I'm not sure.
I can't speak for the CVT fluid in the new WRX's equipped with them, but as you say, the Forester XTs with the "high torque CVT" has orange colored CVT fluid in it. All the standard Subaru lineartronic CVTs have blue fluid in them. I'm not sure how much weight this color thing carries because as I've recently found out with my 2016 Nissan CVT, it's pretty blue CVT juice was black like used motor oil when I drained the factory fill at 33K miles.
I was under my 2016 Forester today checking out if I could do a D/F on the CVT myself. It's definitely different than earlier units and not like what's described for 2012's. Mine has a regular hex bolt drain plug on the pan and the level check plug that requires an allen socket is on the driver's side towards the rear of the trans and faces the side. Doable, but not super easy to get at. The front diff fill port looks real nightmarish. There's also what appears to be a drain and fill on the tailshaft assembly too. I see nothing online in regards to what that's all about.
I know that the CVT in my Forester XT takes a special high torque CVT fluid, it is usually referred to by color but I am not sure if that is the color of the fluid or the container it comes in. I made sure the dealer I took my FXT to for my 60kmile service was aware of the two CVT fluids and they claimed they kept the high torque flavor in stock.
I also know that the WRX' CVT is mechanically somewhat different from the one in the FXT (and has less lag on launch), but I don't know how they compare to the CVT in the Impreza. The FXT and WRX have the same claimed peak torque per Subaru, but the WRX maintains it to a somewhat higher RPM than the FXT and, consequently, has a higher peak HP. This may have necessitated the CVT hardware difference between the two, but I'm not sure.
I can't speak for the CVT fluid in the new WRX's equipped with them, but as you say, the Forester XTs with the "high torque CVT" has orange colored CVT fluid in it. All the standard Subaru lineartronic CVTs have blue fluid in them. I'm not sure how much weight this color thing carries because as I've recently found out with my 2016 Nissan CVT, it's pretty blue CVT juice was black like used motor oil when I drained the factory fill at 33K miles.
I was under my 2016 Forester today checking out if I could do a D/F on the CVT myself. It's definitely different than earlier units and not like what's described for 2012's. Mine has a regular hex bolt drain plug on the pan and the level check plug that requires an allen socket is on the driver's side towards the rear of the trans and faces the side. Doable, but not super easy to get at. The front diff fill port looks real nightmarish. There's also what appears to be a drain and fill on the tailshaft assembly too. I see nothing online in regards to what that's all about.
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OP here- just a report post change. Some people have claimed reduced CVT sound (they do have a bit of whine to them) but I'd say mine sounds about the same. Except there is one oddity- on left turns only, there is a slight strange sound that seems to be CVT- it just sounds like your hear the fluid circulating a bit. I'd suspect low fill that maybe manifests itself in the fluid sloshing only in the one direction but I'm highly confident I followed the fill procedure and also from the amount drained vs. what I put back in. There is a slight chance I'm coincidentally now hearing an electric steering sound but I'm pretty sure it is a fluid sound. After we get a few month more miles I'll evaluate and consider whether there is statistically significant change in fuel mileage.
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: deanm11
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
Thanks dean!
Yes, access to the fill plug is OK on my 2016 Forester 2.5, but it's blocked some by an L-shaped plastic shield that's held in place with a good 10 bolts and some push-plugs that are ridiculous to get to. It's do-able as-is, I'd just have to run a length of tubing from under the hood, then rearward and down into the CVT fill plug and re-fill it I-V style with the tubing attached to a funnel.
If you read up on various Subaru forums, the amount of money a dealer charges for a simple CVT drain/refill is crazy. I've read anywhere from ~$250-350. Some still say you can only get the CVT juice in a 5gal pail, but I see it online by the quart labeled Subaru, but made by Idemitsu.
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
Thanks dean!
Yes, access to the fill plug is OK on my 2016 Forester 2.5, but it's blocked some by an L-shaped plastic shield that's held in place with a good 10 bolts and some push-plugs that are ridiculous to get to. It's do-able as-is, I'd just have to run a length of tubing from under the hood, then rearward and down into the CVT fill plug and re-fill it I-V style with the tubing attached to a funnel.
If you read up on various Subaru forums, the amount of money a dealer charges for a simple CVT drain/refill is crazy. I've read anywhere from ~$250-350. Some still say you can only get the CVT juice in a 5gal pail, but I see it online by the quart labeled Subaru, but made by Idemitsu.
Originally Posted By: JTK
I can't speak for the CVT fluid in the new WRX's equipped with them, but as you say, the Forester XTs with the "high torque CVT" has orange colored CVT fluid in it. All the standard Subaru lineartronic CVTs have blue fluid in them. I'm not sure how much weight this color thing carries because as I've recently found out with my 2016 Nissan CVT, it's pretty blue CVT juice was black like used motor oil when I drained the factory fill at 33K miles.
I was under my 2016 Forester today checking out if I could do a D/F on the CVT myself. It's definitely different than earlier units and not like what's described for 2012's. Mine has a regular hex bolt drain plug on the pan and the level check plug that requires an allen socket is on the driver's side towards the rear of the trans and faces the side. Doable, but not super easy to get at. The front diff fill port looks real nightmarish. There's also what appears to be a drain and fill on the tailshaft assembly too. I see nothing online in regards to what that's all about.
I was intimidated enough by all that stuff to let a dealer do it at my 60kmile service...well, I HOPE they did it, they told me they were going to put in a new PCV valve and didn't bother because it was too hard to get at it under the intercooler.
I do know that they drained and refilled the coolant because it was really low the morning after I picked it up...unless maybe they just started draining it and decided partway through to forget about it and take a smoke break instead!
I can't speak for the CVT fluid in the new WRX's equipped with them, but as you say, the Forester XTs with the "high torque CVT" has orange colored CVT fluid in it. All the standard Subaru lineartronic CVTs have blue fluid in them. I'm not sure how much weight this color thing carries because as I've recently found out with my 2016 Nissan CVT, it's pretty blue CVT juice was black like used motor oil when I drained the factory fill at 33K miles.
I was under my 2016 Forester today checking out if I could do a D/F on the CVT myself. It's definitely different than earlier units and not like what's described for 2012's. Mine has a regular hex bolt drain plug on the pan and the level check plug that requires an allen socket is on the driver's side towards the rear of the trans and faces the side. Doable, but not super easy to get at. The front diff fill port looks real nightmarish. There's also what appears to be a drain and fill on the tailshaft assembly too. I see nothing online in regards to what that's all about.
I was intimidated enough by all that stuff to let a dealer do it at my 60kmile service...well, I HOPE they did it, they told me they were going to put in a new PCV valve and didn't bother because it was too hard to get at it under the intercooler.
I do know that they drained and refilled the coolant because it was really low the morning after I picked it up...unless maybe they just started draining it and decided partway through to forget about it and take a smoke break instead!
Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: deanm11
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
Thanks dean!
Yes, access to the fill plug is OK on my 2016 Forester 2.5, but it's blocked some by an L-shaped plastic shield that's held in place with a good 10 bolts and some push-plugs that are ridiculous to get to. It's do-able as-is, I'd just have to run a length of tubing from under the hood, then rearward and down into the CVT fill plug and re-fill it I-V style with the tubing attached to a funnel.
If you read up on various Subaru forums, the amount of money a dealer charges for a simple CVT drain/refill is crazy. I've read anywhere from ~$250-350. Some still say you can only get the CVT juice in a 5gal pail, but I see it online by the quart labeled Subaru, but made by Idemitsu.
I didn't have anything blocking me (there was a blanket kind of thing on the rest of the side of the case.) If you do it, just squeezing a quart bottle with the tubing works great... from below the level of the fill hole. Just keep refilling the quart bottle to the brim and you'll get down to 1/3 to 1/2 quart left in the bottle.
Originally Posted By: deanm11
JTK- for the avoidance of doubt, my '12 Impreza at least is exactly as you describe for your '16 Forester- standard hex drain bolt in the pan and allen fill plug on left side trans case, toward the rear. On this Impreza, the access was easy, plenty of room to get whatever size wrench or even breaker bar in there, with the car lifted at a modest height.
Thanks dean!
Yes, access to the fill plug is OK on my 2016 Forester 2.5, but it's blocked some by an L-shaped plastic shield that's held in place with a good 10 bolts and some push-plugs that are ridiculous to get to. It's do-able as-is, I'd just have to run a length of tubing from under the hood, then rearward and down into the CVT fill plug and re-fill it I-V style with the tubing attached to a funnel.
If you read up on various Subaru forums, the amount of money a dealer charges for a simple CVT drain/refill is crazy. I've read anywhere from ~$250-350. Some still say you can only get the CVT juice in a 5gal pail, but I see it online by the quart labeled Subaru, but made by Idemitsu.
I didn't have anything blocking me (there was a blanket kind of thing on the rest of the side of the case.) If you do it, just squeezing a quart bottle with the tubing works great... from below the level of the fill hole. Just keep refilling the quart bottle to the brim and you'll get down to 1/3 to 1/2 quart left in the bottle.
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