Could you be checking the oil level instead of the transmission ?
Have you considered the probability that you drained the front differential, rather than the transmission? Those two drain plugs are not very far apart.
The trans holds almost 10 qts, while the diff holds about 1.3 quarts.
I strongly suggest that you get this sorted out before you try to drive it and wind up destroying the differential.
1 Like
Yes, the transmission does have 2 dipsticks. The one on the driver side is for ATF. The one on the passenger side is for the final drive oil; or gear oil.
Care MUST be used when dealing with this issue. It’s quite common for someone to drain the final drive by mistake while thinking it’s the engine oil drain plug. They drive off with a dry final drive and if the whining is ignored there will be a catastrophic bang at some point and the transaxle is now scrap metal. Drain plugs are all close together so sometimes it might get confusing when you’re under a car looking up. This was enough of a problem that Subaru even issued a service bulletin on it.
Youre not confusing the final drive oil with the ATF are you? Half a quart sounds more like gear oil out of the final drive. The final drive capacity is only about a quart+.
Nice looking vehicle by the way. I"d give 400 bucks for them all day long no matter if the trans or engine was bad. The transmission is not hard to change. It’s easier if the front of the engine is tipped up when the rear crossmember is removed. I’ve pulled them in an hour and reinstalled them in an hour and a half. Of course that’s with the air wrench at full bore and 6 cups of coffee.
Once upon a time I made a 20 dollar bet with a co-worker at the Subaru dealer I could install a new clutch in 1.5 hours and have it out the door. I won the bet but it ruined me for the rest of the day. Any money I made on the clutch was lost in the ensuing jobs because I was gassed. Stupid move on my part.