Can't handle the cold

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I have a 2006 Subaru Forester automatic with about 40,000 miles on it. When it gets cold out, I notice that when I first start driving the car, it jerks/lurches and makes a loud noise when shifting from first to second and second to third. When the car warms up after driving for awhile, it doesn’t do it anymore. We recently moved from Utah to Minnesota and since it’s much colder here (high today of zero), the car is doing this much more often. I brought it to the dealer and they completely flushed the transmission fluid (which they said looked yellow instead of red/orange??), but it is still making the noise and having trouble shifting in the cold. They said it would be $800 to take the transmission apart, so I’ve been leary about taking it back. My husband thinks I should just drive it until it dies and then get a new transmission if needed. I tend to like to get things taken care of, but the cost is holding me back. Do you think it’s the transmission? Anything else that would cause this to happen in the cold?

Thanks,
Red Rue Too

2

I will assume you changed the fluid for the first time at about 40K. For the time being, let it idle a little longer, maybe get a block heater if there is a transmission coolant line to the radiator. Unfortunately, it isn’t as good as most fwd cars which warm up the trans quicker as it idles. Subaru transmissions are farther away. $800 is really not much to take a transmission apart. I would go to a transmission specialist for another opinion. Hubby’s advice would be fine if the $800 was the same repair bill if something did break later…I doubt it/