AWD tranmission leak: Questions on checking level & if worth repair

Your owner's manual should tell you how much fluid the two marks represent.
You say above the pan. Do you mean the transmission pan gasket? Not much to repair that. Might just be a few bolts not tightened.
How big,bad is the leak you see?
Seepage, or a puddle on the ground? Is everything downwind of the source of the leak wet with fluid?
If it is seepage, just add fluid as needed. $35,000 can buy a lot of ATF.

lipster said:

Your owner's manual should tell you how much fluid the two marks represent.
You say above the pan. Do you mean the transmission pan gasket? Not much to repair that. Might just be a few bolts not tightened.
How big,bad is the leak you see?
Seepage, or a puddle on the ground? Is everything downwind of the source of the leak wet with fluid?
If it is seepage, just add fluid as needed. $35,000 can buy a lot of ATF.

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The owner's manual does even have "transmission" in the index! No mention of it, which is odd. There is mention of 3.5 qt refill, which I think it much less than that in the system, which I think holds at least 2X as much. Still don't know how much is between the lines on the trans dipstick.

Your "downwind" comment nailed it. It isn't the pan or pan gasket. That we've had several times. What I saw now was the center of the front diff area wet with fluid. I cleaned it off and 400 miles later start to see it again. No puddle, just seepage.

Per the dealer it is much higher and not the differential. If I recall, its a gasket. They basically said it would be $$ to repair and with 150+K miles likely not worth it. We've been thinking of a 6 cylinder Subaru Outback, but would prefer to wait one more year. The downside is that if the leak worsens whatever trade value we may have could plummet.

Tough decision.
I can tell you I have a Sienna with the 3.5 engine, and an Outback with the 2.5L 4 cyl, and love them both. The four is plenty fast and tows almost as well as the Sienna. Last 6 months the Outback has averaged 28 mpg overall, mixed driving. I don't get that in the winter. OB gets about 22-24 in the winter, Sienna about 17. Sienna gets about 21-23 in the summer, vs OB 28. The 6 cyl OB will get more in the neighborhood of the Sienna. Just one opinion.

lipster said:

Tough decision.
I can tell you I have a Sienna with the 3.5 engine, and an Outback with the 2.5L 4 cyl, and love them both. The four is plenty fast and tows almost as well as the Sienna. Last 6 months the Outback has averaged 28 mpg overall, mixed driving. I don't get that in the winter. OB gets about 22-24 in the winter, Sienna about 17. Sienna gets about 21-23 in the summer, vs OB 28. The 6 cyl OB will get more in the neighborhood of the Sienna. Just one opinion.

Click to expand...

We actually have the 3.3 L engine. The main reasons for the 6 cylinder Outback are power and more options. We drove the 4 and it just didn't have enough acceleration for either of us. The 6 is quieter, at least to us. Also, HID lights and more & other items only available on the 6. We prefer them. Even our old '05 Sienna has them! We're thinking of a 6 cylinder with Eyesight & Nav. They are hard to come by and take 4-6 months for a factory order. Best offer so far is $200 over invoice.

What we may do is just keep the van for a hauling vehicle. Its only worth about 5K or so. We routinely have long distance drives and have been averaging 20K per year. Don't want to put that on a new car. Maybe just keep the van & add oil for a year or so. What I don't want is a catastrophic failure that leaves us down a car.