2013 subaru impreza transmission fluid dipstick location

Hi all,

I just took my 2015 Crosstrek in to a local shop for an oil change, and they informed me that the CVT fluid looked "dirty" and needed to be replaced. I told them that I recently (in Feb) got my 60k mi service at the subaru dealership and if they didn't replace it, it shouldn't need to be replaced. I'm pretty annoyed that they even checked the fluid, since as far as I know the fluid shouldn't even be checked unless you really know what you are doing. I called them back to ask exactly how they checked it since as far as I know, there is no dipstick for the fluid. They told me that to check the CVT fluid they either open up the drain plug very slightly to let out just a little bit of the fluid, or some cars have a "hidden" dipstick under the car that they can check. I'm now concerned that even by checking the fluid they may have messed something up. Should I be worried about this?

Hi all,

I just took my 2015 Crosstrek in to a local shop for an oil change, and they informed me that the CVT fluid looked "dirty" and needed to be replaced. I told them that I recently (in Feb) got my 60k mi service at the subaru dealership and if they didn't replace it, it shouldn't need to be replaced. I'm pretty annoyed that they even checked the fluid, since as far as I know the fluid shouldn't even be checked unless you really know what you are doing. I called them back to ask exactly how they checked it since as far as I know, there is no dipstick for the fluid. They told me that to check the CVT fluid they either open up the drain plug very slightly to let out just a little bit of the fluid, or some cars have a "hidden" dipstick under the car that they can check. I'm now concerned that even by checking the fluid they may have messed something up. Should I be worried about this?

Sounds like an upsell to me. There are loads of threads and posts here about CVT fluid changes. Try the search feature...

Your fluid will look a little dirty pretty quickly, it’s foubtful they messed anything up but I wouldn’t go back there again either way.

Only possible problem is it being slightly low or them introducing contaminants into the fluid. Both are probably not that big of a deal but again they shouldn’t even touch it.

Go somewhere else

Sounds like an upsell to me. There are loads of threads and posts here about CVT fluid changes. Try the search feature...

I think an upsell is exactly what it was. I'm not worried about the fluid itself, I'm now just concerned that the mechanic may have messed w/ the fluid levels or something when they let out some of the fluid to inspect it. Not sure how paranoid I should be about this- from reading other posts on this forum it seems like the CVT system is pretty temperamental and can be damaged by small changes in the fluid levels.

There's no dipstick and you don't pull the drain to check. There is a check plug. Don't go back.

They did nothing. They are BSers.

Okay, sounds like there is minimal chance of any negative effects on the CVT system if they did in fact check it using the check plug? Yeah, I wonder if they actually did anything at all. Definitely not going back. All I wanted was a oil change and a tire rotation. I did NOT ask them to mess around with my transmission fluid in any way.

Check the plugs and you might notice evidence of them tinkering with it.

Check the plugs and you might notice evidence of them tinkering with it.

Just stuck my nose under there and looked at both the drain plug and the fill/check plug. Both were bone dry and didn't have any obvious signs of being recently tampered with. I'm guessing what happened was:

Whoever worked on the car had some guide that said "CVT at 60k" and they told me I needed the fluid replaced without actually ever checking it. Then, after I told them to not mess with my CVT fluid, they tried to reinforce the story by saying the fluid was "dirty".

By the way, for any future people who stumble on this thread- I found a video explaining exactly where the drain plug and the fill/check plug (it's the same for both fill & check) are on the CVT. As previously stated, everything I've read so far says you should not mess with them, but in case anyone else had an experience similar to mine and is curious where they are located, here you go:

I've changed my fluid 3 times in the last couple of months (there's a thread about it on here) and I can assure you that the "opening the drain plug just enough to let a little out" doesn't actually work. Mine, at least, does not leak a drop until the last thread disengages, then it flows like water.

Just wanted to call "BS" on that possibility.

If you plan on keeping your Crosstrek long term, I would suggest getting the CVT fluid changed at about 60k miles. But have it performed by a Subaru dealer or independent Subaru-only shop that knows what they are doing. I don't know why SOA is so vague about changing CVT fluid. Nowhere does it say NOT to change the CVT fluid. It is a serviceable fluid as SOA recommends changing CVT fluid at 25k miles if you tow. Interestingly, SubaruCanada

a CVT fluid change at 100,000km (62k miles) in order to maintain the extended CVT warranty.

Shop BS.

If you drove your Trek to this shop, the CVT fluid temperature would be too high to do a valid 'check'. Given the temperature should be between 95-113 degrees F to check proper fluid level, if they actually opened the fill plug, the CVT fluid would have spilled out, and you'd now technically be slightly low on fluid.

Does this mechanic have a boat? If he does, I think he was looking to have you make this month's boat payment.

Don't go back.