CVT fluid leak at fill plug

[Ryan Albery]

This would probably apply to any Subaru, but I've got a leak at the fill plug for the CVT and I'm hoping someone might be able to offer some advice. I went through numerous dealership visits in several states after the fluid level/temp light kept coming on, and finally a dealership in CO fixed the problem 4 years ago, covering the repair (barely!) under the 100k mile extended warranty they issued. About a year ago and 35k miles later the light came on again and I took it to a local AZ mechanic who specializes in Subarus for a CVT fluid flush. When they were doing this they told me that the threads of the CVT, not the plug, were slightly cracked. They added a thread sealer, and told me to hope for the best.

Just today returned from a 6 week trip while the car was parked at home, and noticed that maybe 1/4 quart of tranny fluid had leaked out from the plug. Darn. Wish I had a picture to share, the crack started on the outside of the plug threads and ran nearly through the threads towards inside the CVT. Maybe 1mm on the outside to 0.5mm on the inside. I'm tempted to pull the plug and and carefully add some high temp gasket sealer, top off the fluid... and hope for the best. If anyone out there is smarter and more experienced than me, would much appreciate any advice. Seems weird and suspicious that the threads on the plug hole would crack.