Outback brakes and tranny fluid questions

[SovereignAxe]

Ok, so if you saw my previous thread you know that I finally got myself a Subaru-a 2000 Outback. Well, I have a couple issues that need addressing.

First off, the brakes aren't great. There might as well not even be a parking brake, as it does nothing to keep the car from moving, and the pedal brakes seem a little weak (they're also vibrating the steering wheel, but that's another issue). What I'm wondering is if the two are related. I know that on my Altima I had disc brakes all around, but the rears also had small drums on the inside of the disc that were the parking brake and only activated by that cable. So what I'm wondering is if I replace the rear pads, will that fix both problems, or are the brakes on the outback like the Altima, and the parking brake is a separate drum?

Also, how big of a bitch is it to replace the transmission fluid? The car has 118k miles and I'd like to get some Amsoil ATF synthetic in her. I talked to someone else that has a newer (05 I think) Outback and he said that Wal-Mart wont even do a tranny service on it, and that he has to go to a Subaru mechanic and get it done for $400. I say screw that-I changed the fluid in my Altima and it was almost as easy as an oil change.

[beatersubi]

A shaking or vibrating steering wheel under braking is usually an indicator of warped front rotors. The parking brake is a cable actuated drum-style, inside of the disk 'hat'. The two symptoms most likely are not related.

[kurt.]

Doesn't your outback only have rear drums (no disc/drum combo)?
In which case it would probably help you're problem. You can easily tighten the cable up right behind the hand lever. Just take off the center console pieces behind it and I believe it's a 10mm nut on the cable.
If what you're saying is a weak pedal, that's probably partly caused by old brake fluid and/or air in the lines, meaning a good brake bleed is probably in order.

-Kurt

[thegreenmachine]

Changing the trans fluid is a piece of cake. Pull the drain plug, replace the screw on external filter, and refill her. These Outbacks tend to have some trans problems around 100k. I would talk to someone about the use of the Amsoil synthetic to see if its compatible with these trannys. Also while your down there you might as well drain the front diff fluid and replace that...just a suggestion! 8)

[porcupine73]

Hello. I have a 2000 Outback too. I had the parking brake problem as well. The solution was a new parking pad kit and a hardware kit. Yes the parking brake is actually a mini drum brake inside the rear rotor.

If your brakes themselves aren't stellar, check out your pads and rotors. If you see for example any sides of any rotors esp on the front that are rusty it could mean the caliper sliders are siezed up and it is braking only on one side of the rotor.

Also later year Outbacks had larger front rotors so going to larger rotors (and matching calipers, pads, and brackets) might give more stopping power. Or it could need bleeding, ie if air is in the system.

ATF change is dead easy on there, just drain the plug and it will dump 4 quarts. Then you can change it several times, or quite easy is to pull one of the cooler lines off the radiator, they're right at the bottom, and then you can pump and dump and not waste as much fluid as the change 4 times method.

[97ScoobyL]

Changing the fluid is ok, its just that a lot of places will no flush a trans with 100k on it and never been flushed before. The reason of this is that auto trans are very touchy and if you move something around in there that is holding something together your screwed and will end up rebuilding or putting in a new trans.

[porcupine73]

I know many domestics with junky auto transmissions can be really sensitive to fluid changes later in life. The gunk that builds up in the valve body and stuff becomes a functional part of the trans, and then changing the fluid starts flushing away the old deposits and then it won't shift right or shift at all. I"m not sure Subaru's are as bad with this type of thing but I"m sure it happens sometimes.