2017 Subaru Outback 2.5L & CVT

[THORROMIG]

Purchased this last week and shout out to Paul for his help.
Going in above mentioned, Wife's vehicle bought new. I can only recommend -- she makes the final say on "her" vehicle! Never had the CVT or the differentials serviced yet at 47K..

 

[buster]

Good choice IMO if you're going non-OEM. Definitely get it changed. I didn't bother on the 19 Impreza and the CVT failed.

 

[IndyIan]

Let us know how it goes, IMO subaru makes 2 cvt fluids for its 2 cvt's, which suggests to me that they think the properties of the fluid should be matched to the transmission?
I assume a generic fluid is made "grippy" enough for the cvt that needs it the most? But how amsoil figures that out, or if they even bother, I don't know.

 

[Pelican]

Weeeellll, Subaru makes its own CVT tranny, all the others have it made by outside suppliers.
Amsoil is in business and as a universal fluid must go with the majority, which is NOT Subaru.
Not a bet I'd like to make. May work & may not, if the latter what would the cost be to you?

 

[Glenda W.]

Great choice and perfect timing on the services.

 

[4wheeldog]

I will just say this......I just passed my 2012 Outback with 287k miles on to my son and his wife. CVT (And the rest of the mechanicals of the car) still operate as new. I changed the CVT fluid every 40k miles, with Valvoline CVT fluid. I would probably have used Subaru fluid if they had not originally recommended that the fluid was lifetime, and they only sold it in 30 gallon drums when it was due for its first change.
Lifetime fluids are a non starter for me.

 

[wag123]

Subaru makes its own CVT tranny, all the others have it made by outside suppliers.

Subaru currently uses JATCO/Nissan engineered/developed Lineartronic CVT automatic transmissions that they manufacture in their own factory, although some internal parts are manufactured by JATCO. Regular fluid changes are critical to the JATCO CVT's survival.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

That's a lot of washers

 

[Ranger83]

Subaru currently uses JATCO/Nissan engineered/developed Lineartronic CVT automatic transmissions that they manufacture in their own factory, although some internal parts are manufactured by JATCO. Regular fluid changes are critical to the JATCO CVT's survival.

Citation needed, other sources suggest Subaru does not use JATCO CVT. They’ve been making CVT’s since the Justy.

List of Jatco transmissions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[wag123]

Citation needed, other sources suggest Subaru does not use JATCO CVT. They’ve been making CVT’s since the Justy.

List of Jatco transmissions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I know that Subaru doesn't use a JATCO CVT, they manufacture it themselves. But, their CVT was engineered/developed jointly with JATCO and uses a nearly identical internal design and some internal parts actually come from JATCO. In reality the JATCO CVT is more of a Subaru transmission then a Nissan transmission because the concept and design originally came from Subaru.
Here is the definitive answer about the Subaru/JATCO CVT connection coming directly from Subaru...

News & Profile | NewsRelease | Subaru Corporation

www.subaru.co.jp

 

[Rand]

I know that Subaru doesn't use a JATCO CVT, they manufacture it themselves. But, their CVT was engineered/developed jointly with JATCO and uses a nearly identical internal design and some internal parts actually come from JATCO. In reality the JATCO CVT is more of a Subaru transmission then a Nissan transmission because the concept and design originally came from Subaru.

News & Profile | NewsRelease | Subaru Corporation

www.subaru.co.jp

odd since jatco is a belt pusher design and the subaru a "chain" puller type.
The internal design is not nearly identical...
Your citation is from 2003 10 years before CVT came back to subaru.

 

[scrllock]

Subaru currently uses JATCO/Nissan engineered/developed Lineartronic CVT automatic transmissions that they manufacture in their own factory, although some internal parts are manufactured by JATCO. Regular fluid changes are critical to the JATCO CVT's survival.

don't doubt that fluid changes are necessary, but subaru does not use the nissan CVT.

Let us know how it goes, IMO subaru makes 2 cvt fluids for its 2 cvt's, which suggests to me that they think the properties of the fluid should be matched to the transmission?
I assume a generic fluid is made "grippy" enough for the cvt that needs it the most? But how amsoil figures that out, or if they even bother, I don't know.

Subaru currently has 4 different CVT fluids:

CVTF-II (green)
CVTF-III (blue)
CVT-HT (orange)
High torque CVTF-LV (amber)

AMSOil recommends their fluid for all Subaru CVTs except for the orange fluid for the TR690 in the SJ Forester XT, VA WRX, and late-gen H6 Outback. Wish I knew why they don't recommend it for the TR690, it's decently cheaper than the OEM CVT-HT.

 

[bbhero]

Two types of CVT…

Belt / chain driven and then the toroidal CVTs..

 

[THORROMIG]

That's a lot of washers

For the tranny and differentials, differentials are getting changed very soon also.

 

[Marcozi]

I will just say this......I just passed my 2012 Outback with 287k miles on to my son and his wife. CVT (And the rest of the mechanicals of the car) still operate as new. I changed the CVT fluid every 40k miles, with Valvoline CVT fluid. I would probably have used Subaru fluid if they had not originally recommended that the fluid was lifetime, and they only sold it in 30 gallon drums when it was due for its first change.
Lifetime fluids are a non starter for me.

"Lifetime fluids" is a marketing ploy, and not a maintenance philosophy.

 

[GSCJR]

I just passed my 2012 Outback with 287k miles on to my son and his wife. CVT (And the rest of the mechanicals of the car) still operate as new.

Your comment and others who originally contributed to my 2012 Subaru Legacy 2.5L CVT thread continues to give me hope. The photo below was taken a few months ago with a used CVT installed @260k a few years ago now; I plan to do a pan drop in the near future for an internal inspection:

 

[4wheeldog]

Your comment and others who originally contributed to my 2012 Subaru Legacy 2.5L CVT thread continues to give me hope. The photo below was taken a few months ago with a used CVT installed @260k a few years ago now; I plan to do a pan drop in the near future for an internal inspection:
View attachment 253267

I did a pan drop at 240k miles. My conclusion afterwards was that it was unnecessary as the pan had no sign of any buildup and wiped clean without any metal or sludge. Knowing what I know now, I would skip the pan drop and just drain and fill at 40-50k intervals. The pan didn't hold any measurable amount of fluid when dropped either.

 

[Rand]

AMSOil recommends their fluid for all Subaru CVTs except for the orange fluid for the TR690 in the SJ Forester XT, VA WRX, and late-gen H6 Outback. Wish I knew why they don't recommend it for the TR690, it's decently cheaper than the OEM CVT-HT.

You mention the H6 outback but
does not the current outback XT have the tr690?

 

[The Critic]

Those don't look like the correct washers unless the Outback has a different setup than the other TR580's.

It will probably take about 5.5 qt for the drain and refill.

 

[scrllock]

You mention the H6 outback but
does not the current outback XT have the tr690?

I do not mention it because the current outback XT is specced for CVT-LV, which Amsoil recommends their fluid for.