moped

It's probably jamming on one of the interlocks. The one I had trouble with was the one between the center rail (that runs to the shifter) and the right rail (2wd//4wd). I have instructions printed out at home, if nobody has sorted you out by the time I get home on Sunday or Monday, I'll dig them up and type in the key sequence for you. With the right order it all goes together pretty easily.

A couple things: Did you have the flywheel machined when you replaced the clutch? Have you made sure there's enough free-play in the clutch adjustment? I've got 5-7mm at the end of the release fork, and I think that's about right. If you don't have enough, the clutch won't fully engage (it'll be just like if you were riding the clutch with your foot).

The lower bushing is hard, white plastic (nylon?) and is held on by a hard rubber "donut". The upper pivot is 5 pieces: an inner rubber and outer hard, white plastic bushing on each side, and a metal sleeve that runs through the assembled bushings. For what it's worth, replacing all of the bushings did nothing to improve the shifting on my car. The problem was slop between the sleeve that runs over the rod on the transmission and the rod itself. There actually is wear in that rod from the slop. You can wiggle the outer sleeve assembly around the axis of the spring pin without the flashing shim in there. I'm going to make GD's suggested mod at some point, but I'll probably leave the shim in too.

The driver's side front CV joint is making noise. I did some looking, and it sounds like I can take care of that by replacing the axle alone. Is that worth doing, or should I have somebody do it who can remove the bearing races from the steering knuckle and replace those as well? Thanks! Eric

Oooh, I like that tapping the hole fix. I'll put that on the list after getting the exhaust leak taken care of and the driver's side front axle replaced. The exhaust leak really annoys me though. When I got the Y-pipe from the yard, they had just cut it behind the coupler with a torch or sawzall. The muffler shop I took it to to have the back end built just welded on to the short piece of pipe aft of the coupler instead of chopping it off and replacing it. This wouldn't have been a problem, except that I had to split the coupler to drop the Y-pipe to drop the transmission. Unsurprisingly, it did not seal cleanly when I put it back on with all the rust and crap on it.

In related news, I finally have my 4 speed dual-range back together enough to worry about the shifter linkage. What a pain in the butt that was. Anyway, I decided to try to tighten up the shift linkage as long as I had the transmission out of the car. Instead of any of the stuff involving splitting the shift sleeve listed here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49954 I tried something a little quicker and dirtier. I had some aluminum flashing material sitting in my basement and I cut myself a shim to fit between the sleeve and the rod that runs into the transmission. Remove the sleeve, cut a strip of flashing about 8mm wide, wrap it around the shifter rod, and cut it to length. Wrap it around a small socket to get a nice smooth curve in it, fit it over the rod, and then carefully slide the sleeve onto the rod and over the shim. Replace the spring pins. The difference is pretty noticeable, even with the transmission out of the car. The best part about the aluminum flashing material is that you can pound it to your required thickness between two hammer heads. It probably won't last as long as a fix with splitting the sleeve and tightening it with a bolt, but it's a heck of a lot easier if winter is fast approaching and you're getting tired of riding your bike to the office. This weekend's project: put the transmission back in the car and take it for a test drive. Woohoo!

You know, if you're careful you just might be able to replace those seals without a teardown (provided it's a manual, I have no idea about the automatic). If your seals are as old and brittle as mine, you might be able to get them out without pulling the transmission apart by sinking a couple of wood screws into the seal, and grabbing with pliers. And if it doesn't work, you're no worse off than if you'd started by pulling the tranny apart.

I've used up my quota of swearing for the night, but the input shaft seal is in and the case halves are back together. I hate the following, in no particular order: Snap rings Snap ring pliers RTV sealant Whoever designed the 4wd HI/LO shifter mechanism I suspect I'll be doing the stub-axle seals in the very near future, but on the plus side, I think I'll be able to do that without tearing down the entire transmission. These two thoughts are related - one of them popped out as I was re-mating the case halves, meaning they're both old and brittle, and easy to install and remove.

It would probably be helpful to everybody if you let us know if this was a manual or automatic. I've got my dual-range 4MT apart right now. If you want some pictures, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Progress! I called Boston Industrial today to check on my socket, and they informed me that the factory had misinformed them of when it would be shipped, and so they were expecting it in today. Bugger. Time to try the fallback plan. I stopped by the awesome hardware store this morning to check on a 35mm combination wrench, but was SOL. They carry SAE up to 2", but no large metric. Autozone didn't have one, and neither did Home Despot (there's a shocker). Instead, I opted to go with a large adjustable, which I'd borrowed from a guy at my office. At Home Despot, I picked up a set of carriage bolts in case I needed to attach a lever arm to my old (toasted) clutch disk. I also picked up a spare 3/8" socket, which fits over the hammer end of the punch I've been using. With a short 3/8" drive extension, this yielded a long enough punch that I was able to punch out the crimps on the pinion shaft nut. With the crimps punched back out, I slipped the clutch disk over the input shaft, put the adjustable wrench over the nut, and gave the flywheel a turn (with the transmission in gear, obviously). Lo and behold, the nut broke free. I pulled the transfer case off, took off the bolts that hold the bearing carrier for the pinion shaft, and split the case. With a little more fiddling and disassembly, I've got the input shaft off, and dammit if I can't get the snapring out with my snapring pliers. I've got a set of internal snapring pliers, but I need a way beefier set to get that stupid seal block off. Another day, another trip to the hardware store or the auto parts store.... Incidentally, how should I go about flushing the transmission after I reassemble it. My basement isn't the cleanest place to work, and I'm a little concerned about contamination. Can I just fill it up with lighter oil (like 10w30) drive it for 10 miles to work any contaminants out, drain and refill with gear oil, or does somebody have a better idea? Thanks, Eric

SPEC supposedly makes a full range of high-performance clutches for the older subarus. That said, when I was looking into a new clutch kit for my Brat (thought I'd glazed it, had a gear oil leak instead), I didn't see a lot of positive buzz for SPEC in general. No subaru specific complaints, but I never did get around to calling about a kit for my car because I opted to just get a new disk instead.

I got the tailshaft extension off yesterday after breaking the gasket seal with a stout putty knife and a Big Hammer. I found the RTV ultra grey at Autozone, but I couldn't find any of the Loctite stuff there, so I'll hit the NAPA near my office tomorrow. I can at least now *see* the nut that I need to get off though, which is progress. I didn't see your other reply until yesterday, so no, I haven't verified that the socket will actually fit. The current alternate plan if it doesn't is to get a 35mm box-end wrench, slip it down inside the transfer case and over the nut and turn from the input shaft. Conveniently, I have an oil-soaked clutch disk I can put a couple of holes into and attach a long lever arm. Will I need to do anything special when I put the nut back on? It has 4-way crimps onto the shaft to keep it from un-screwing. Obviously, I'll need to pound them out before I unscrew it. Will I need a new nut, or can I pound a couple of crimps back in and hope for the best?

Well, I'm still waiting for my 35mm thin-wall socket, so this might be a bit premature. Assuming I successfully get the tranny apart and back together, what flavor or RTV should I be using? Also, how many tubes? It occurs to me that the one tube I have is probably not going to be enough, and as long as I'm going to the parts store, I may as well solicit recommendations. Also, GD, thanks for the heads up (http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=103740). I've got the 4wd linkage apart, so hopefully the tailshaft extension will come off without any trouble. Apart from breaking the seal, that is. I bought a stiffer putty knife that I have yet to try. Anyhow, the socket was a special order for Boston Industrial. I believe they got it on Tuesday and sent it to me by Priority Mail, so I've got my fingers crossed that it'll come today and I can start working. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do it in the evenings.

Well, in lieu of buying a $17 socket at Autozone and having to find a lathe to turn it into a thin-wall, I found and ordered this: this. In about 30 minutes of googling, that's the only 35mm deepwell that I found that wasn't: 1) part of an expensive set of large thinwalls, or 2) #5 spline drive. I know I can get a 1" driver at my local awesome hardware store , #5 spline, I'm not so sure about. Seriously, they rock pretty hard. I'll let you guys know if it works once I get it. In the meantime, I'll have a couple of evenings to get that tailhousing off.

Well balls to Subaru for making it a different size than the 36mm socket that holds the wheel bearing nuts on (which I already own). I guess it's a trip to Autozone for me. How thin-walled are we talking here? Can you give me an OD measurement? Thanks, ~Eric

OK, well at least now I know that I need to pull the tailhousing. I took out the bolts in desperation, but I couldn't even budge it. I could at least open the seam between the transfer case and the tranny with a putty knife, but the tailhousing is on the t-case TIGHT. Any suggestions about breaking it free? I did try some gentle taps with a Big Hammer, in addition to the putty knife, but that didn't do anything either. ~Eric

Yeah, the rear main is OK. Further evidence in favor of the tranny seal: 1) only the tranny side of the clutch disk was soaked in oil. 2) Gear oil is some rank smelling stuff, and it was getting pretty funky. In other good news, I'm less screwed than I thought I was. The transmission does go into gear, it was the HI/LO selector that was in neutral! I'm not sure that's enough good news to merit a dancing banana, but I'll take what little I can find. ~Eric

I did eventually finish my engine swap (OBD-II EJ22), and drove the car for about 2 months or so. Unfortunately, I then developed two related problems: 1, the clutch started slipping; 2, I was leaking gear oil. I discovered that these two were related when I dropped the tranny to check the clutch. I figured maybe I hadn't left enough free-play when I did the adjustment, and glazed it that way. No such luck, the disk was soaked in gear oil. I ordered up a new seal, O-ring, and bushings for the shifter (hey, as long as I have it out, right?). Yesterday, I started working on getting the seal replaced. I had hoped (wrongly) that the block on the front of the tranny would just pop off with the seal in it. Nope. --- 56K warning on both links --- I did some looking, and found Gloyale's thread and started taking things apart to split the case. Obviously, his tranny is a lot newer than mine, but I figured it was probably a good place to start. I also took a look at AlpineRaven's dual range swap for reference about the front end of the tranny. Unfortunately, I am now very stuck at the point of trying to get the transfer case off. I've pulled the cover off the transfer case, and disassembled the 4WD shifter mechanism as the mitchell guide instructed, and now I'm at the point of actually spillting the transfer case off of the transmission. I can get it split off about 6-7 mm (.25 in) and no farther. I tried driving them apart with a wedge to no avail. I'm now at the point where the dowel pins are clean enough that I can move the transfer case that 7mm by hand, and it sounds like it's clunking up hard against something mounted on a shaft. Has anybody who has torn one of these apart got any advice? I'm pretty well screwed unless I can get the transfer case off because the tranny won't go into gear either now. Yes, despite the fact that the transfer case won't come off, the shift linkage has come out of the forks. At this point, I can't even get back to where I started unless I can get that transfer case off. Any ideas? Thanks, Eric

There's an alternative to putting a jack under the front of the transmission. If you cut a 2x4 to length, and lay it across the shock towers, you can sling the tranny with some rope. That's what I did when I did my EJ swap. The engine is quite light, by the way. When I pulled the EA engine out, I rigged two pulleys from the garage roof. I did the lifting, and then a friend belayed (yes like for climbing) while I got another handful of rope. Also, I'm sure the book says to do so, but do pull out the radiator. It'll give you a lot more breathing room.

I'm not going to lie, it's a little cozy in there. At the driver's side rear of the engine, there's a metal guard I had to cut down because it was going to hit the brake master cylinder otherwise. And I'm not quite certain how exactly I'm going to change the spark plugs. I think I'm going to need to hunt down one of those chintzy flexible socket extensions. I can get the socket down in there, but I can't withdraw it with a rigid extension attached. Or I may do something clever with some string or something. Either way, it's a little tight. But it does fit, there's probably about an inch and a half (or 4 cm, if you prefer) on each side of the engine. The transmission I used is the stock EA-81 tranny, 4 speed, dual range, part time 4wd. I used the SJR adapter plate. I'll get some pics when I get some daylight :-)

So this was going to go into the "New Generation of Subarus", because I figured I might find more people with OBD-II engine experience there. But as I was typing up the post, the light came on. 15 minutes later, the car started for the first time. Here follows what I was going to post: And of course what hit me is that everything I've tested so far, has been done with the ignition in the "ON" position. I had never verified that the fuse I was pulling ON/START power from was actually hot in start. This is largely because I don't have enough hands and eyes to simultaneously probe the fuse panel, turn the key, and watch the volt meter. So I borrowed my room-mate's eyes, and sure enough it wasn't hot in START. When I hacked in the wire a month or two ago, I had just picked a fuse that was hot in run and off in off, without paying much attention to what it was. I'll fess up to being an idiot, because when I checked today, I had picked the one for the lighter (among other things). Whoops. I probed the other spots in OFF, RUN, and START, and decided on the ignition coil fuse, since there is no ignition coil any more (at least not on that circuit). And wouldn't you know it, crank, crank, crank, VROOM! Day-umm! She is loud! I haven't bolted up even the Y-pipe yet, figuring I'd spare myself the trouble of doing so until I had at least gotten the car started, chopped the harness down, and gotten it started a second time. Because lets face it, that's probably going to be some hassle involving raising up the car on jack stands and rolling around on my filthy garage floor, and who wants that. Not I before I've made sure I can at least start the car. End result, I am *VERY* happy More details about the (slow) progress of the swap to this point will follow in another thread. The heavy work actually started in late September (when I pulled the engine), but work interfered for a couple of months, and then it was winter. I'll probably write it up later this week or early next. I'll also put together some information on the OBD-II particular parts of the swap, since I might be the guinea pig on it. In my neck of the woods, OBD-I donors are few, mostly because Cleveland loves salt in the winter.

Thanks, I understand that I'll be using the EA-81 flywheel, I mostly want to double check that the bolt pattern on the end of the crank is the same for an EJ for a manual as it is for an EJ automatic (i.e. is the machining going to be the same). Now that I know that it's a flexplate rather than a flywheel, at least I know what to search for on that question. I am seriously ignorant about how automatic transmissions :-( It looks like I'm going to have to stop at the parts store for a Haynes for the EJ. Borders didn't have one and the library was closed. Thanks, ~Eric

Contrary to appearances, I haven't died since last posting about the project, and I've even pulled the EA-81 out of my Brat. I've got a donor car pretty much lined up, but before I commit, I'm trying to find the answers to a couple of questions: The potential donor is an 01' Impreza with an automatic transmission. My car is an '86 Brat with a manual. I've read through the guide Numbchux posted, and think I've got most of the other details lined up or at least moved to the "feasible" column of the to-do list. Is the flywheel to engine bolt pattern the same on the EJ22 for automatic and manual transmissions? I know this sounds stupid, but I've never owned a car with an automatic, and the donor EJ car has one. Does the EJ22 ECU rely on any signals from the transmission or transmission computer if it has one? I realize an '01 might not be the ideal car for the swap being OBDII and all, but winter is drawing nigh in Ohio, and it's getting time to sh*t or get off the pot with this engine swap :-) I'm going to swing by the library today and see if they have a Haynes for the donor car. If I can find out about an ECU/transmission connection from that, I'll definitely update here. ~Eric

After checking on the price of getting a compression test done, I decided to just break down and buy a tester myself. I was kind of hoping to avoid buying another tool I have limited use for, but it sure was cheaper. The three cylinders I could thread it into were reading 170 psi, the fourth woudn't thread in well enough to seal, but the gauge was hitting 90-100 psi before it leaked. Oddly the plug threads in just fine. I think it was more a matter of being unable to get the flexible hose aligned correctly between the vacuum and AC lines. Two problems with this: 1) I can't find a spec in my Haynes manual for what the compression should be. It seems reasonable to assume it's not low, might it be high? Boyle's law seems to suggest I should be seeing around 125 psi, but that assumes an ideal gas and constant temperature, so it's a rough number. Could somebody please let me know what I should be seeing? 2) The engine wasn't at normal operating temperature. The car is a bit loud, and I figured I shouldn't submit the neighbors to the racket of warming it up all the way. I let it run for a couple minutes, so it wasn't stone cold either. In any case, the lack of power manifests itself regardless of engine temperature. While I had the hood open, I pulled out the spare ignition coil I have for the Triumph (it's a Lucas coil, it's never a bad idea to have a spare around for anything Lucas), checked that the primary and secondary resistances were within the same range as the existing coil and swapped it in. No luck on that one either. If there's a problem with spark, it's not the coil. At this point, given the number of other things I get from a newer engine (greatly improved power, for one, a car I don't have to be ashamed to bring to my environmentally-minded mechanic for two), and the things that need to be done anyway (clutch (I've had to adjust it once), and exhaust), I'm leaning towards just doing the swap. Ross thinks he can get us access to a hoist to do the installation, and I think we can probably get enough parts off of the top (alternator, AC compressor, intake manifold, carb, and air cleaner housing) and bottom (oil pan, exhaust)) to get the old engine out of the car via the bottom. That is assuming that the frame isn't in the way. I haven't gotten underneath to check yet, but I will shortly. One more quick question though: GD indicates that the EJ-22 comes from the 90-94 Legacy. Wikipedia suggests it's in the 90-99 Legacy and 95-01 Impreza. I found a thread on the forum relating to a blown '99 EJ-22 motor here. '96 and up will be an OBDII motor, right? Has anybody done one? I can't find any on the who's who list... With that, I guess I'll call the junkyard and see what they have. And then I'll see what my schedule is like for the next month. I know I'm already going to be out of town two weeks in the middle of August, hopefully not a whole lot more than that though. Thanks again for answering questions!