m4ff3w

Transmission swap and HG job complete. So far, wife is very happy.

I just did a HG on my buddies '05 Baja. 255k on the original HG (and timing belt! eek!)

I only pulled the trans, following the advice of the Gurus. The trans has an incredibly violent kickdown from 4th. There is alot of friction material and shavings in the pan. I took the valve body out and cleaned it & checked the valves for movement. Along with new fluid and filter. Issue still present. I'll be ordering the parts for the timing/waterpump/headgaskets tonight.

All engines are sub-$200 at Pick-n-Pull. This one was just attached to the trans I need anyways and had piles of documentation (someone nailed it in the drivers side rear corner). Many thanks for the words of wisdom. I'm glad to hear the eBay timing components are ok to go with.

Many thanks for the replies. The engine is sub-$200. I absolutely need the transmission and thought if I pulled them both at once I might save myself some heartache. Our car is due for timing belt and water pump, so I would be looking as some cost savings there with the new engine. You certainly do make valid points worth of consideration. I know the car I have was drove hard and put away wet, as the transmission was replaced at 79k and the engine replaced at 170k. The car now has 189k on it and both the trans and engine have issues. The donor car was excusively dealer maintained until at least '09. Although, judging by your post that might not actually be a good thing. On the transmission side, I'm running my car on the TCU from the Outback, so I think it will swap with no issues.

My wife's new to us '99 Forester has developed a failed HG. It is leaking coolant into the combustion chamber. This is in addition to the transmission issue we haven't resolved. There is an '00 Outback with a EJ251 at a local salvage yard. If I swap the manifold and required sensors (along with cam wheels?) it is correct that it should bolt in an run, yes? Also, the transmission is a TZ1A4ZCABA which is a Phase II with a 4.444 final drive. This should swap with the TZ1A3ZC2AA in the Forester, as it is also a Phase II with a 4.444 final drive, correct? There are no other Phase II engines or Phase II transmissions at local self service yards. The wrecked '00 Outback had piles of maintenance receipts including HG done at the dealer about 50k miles ago. It just hit the yard this week, wreck on the drivers rear corner. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

189k. 110k on a replacement "Transtar" trans and rebuilt TC.

I just picked up a '99 Forester L with a 4EAT for my wife. This is our 2nd Subi, we used to have a '99 Outback with a 4EAT. It didn't do this. When in 4th and then accelerating enough to cause a kickdown to pass, the transmission has a violent kickdown. It feels as if you got rear ended. RPMs increase substantially after pressing the accelerator before the kickdown, at high throttle, resulting in the violent kickdown. I've adjusted the TPS, drained pan (fluid was clean and not burnt), replaced filter, refilled, no change. The ATF Temp light isn't on and I have not been able to pull any codes from it. The car shifts fine under all other circumstances. Any ideas?