el_freddo

They’ll physically be the same and bolt in no worries. The difference is in the diff ratio. You could install it, select 4wd and see if it will move ok. If it feels like your driving with the hand brake being increasingly applied the front and rear diff ratios don’t match. The other way to work it out is by counting the teeth on the ring gear through the drain hole. 37 teeth = 3.7:1 ratio; 39 teeth = 3.9:1 ratio. NOTE for those using this with later model gearboxes and diffs, 39 teeth on the crown wheel can also be 3.545 ratio (rear diff) and 37 teeth can be 4.111 ratio. I can’t remember the number of teeth for 4.44. The difference is the number of teeth on the pinion gear. Cheers Bennie

That is the MY/Brat/EA81 dual range 4wd 4spd gearbox. Cheers Bennie

I’d do a compression check first up. You could have an issue with a cracked piston or something random like that. Do you know the history of this engine? I’m wondering if it was overheated previously and has caused some issue with the piston or cylinder liner. Rare if it is either of those. If one cylinder is clearly down on compression compared to the rest of them, get a bore scope down the spark plug hole and see if you can see any ring landing damage/chipped piston. Cheers Bennie

Did you use a genuine tensioner or an aftermarket one? It’s odd that it came and went. Got any codes? That could point you in the right direction. If you did a big end you’ll be sure to hear it on start up when cold. It shouldn’t come and go when driving, but knocking on start up is a definite sign of an impending issue. I hope it’s a tensioner issue! Cheers Bennie

Have you removed the CV shaft from the diff before trying to remove it from the hub centre? If not, do this first and it involves removing that big long bolt for the two lower control rods/arms to pull the whole knuckle assembly away from the diff for the driveshaft to pull out of the diff or slide off the stub axle. This should allow the shaft to slide out of the hub, then you can get to dealing with the knuckle and the bearings (best to remove from the vehicle and deal with it in a press). Cheers Bennie

Are you in the rust belt? If so there’s half your problem. One that I did for a mate years ago we pulled the whole hub/knuckle off the vehicle and used a press on the bearings. The drive shaft *should* slide out of the hub no issues. I was able to remove the hub from the knuckle with a pin punch and small mallet, that was easy. Getting the bearing casing out of the knuckle required a press. Once that was out, fitting it all back together was the easy bit. Cheers Bennie

What 6 star said plus: Check your selector linkage bush to see if it’s still there/surviving. Also check to see if the retainer pin has any slack in it - not usually an issue in this model though. Check that your oil level is correct too. Doubling the clutch can really help with gear changes. Reverse uses 1st gear, so selecting 1st or 2nd before going for revere will stop all rotation when stationary, giving you a generally clean reverse selection. Lastly it could be a terminal issue - a gear that’s about to let go from some other issue within the gearbox. Probably not likely if this box is factory sealed still. I’m only sharing this as I had a “built” gearbox let go of second several years after having it build. Admittedly that box was from factory parts and apparently someone before me mismatched gearsets, resulting in 2nd letting go at the worst time possible. In the lead up to this 2nd became super hard to select unless very spot on rev-matching was done. It let go several hundred km later on a gentle downshift rolling up a hill, little to no engine braking. Hope those things to check out help you out. Hopefully it’s not a failure in the making as this gearbox will be a 3.9 ratio and is harder to find than the 3.7 ratio. Cheers Bennie

Hey mate, there you are! Thanks for that. We’ll be hitting up FROG on Monday, hoping for the best. Cheers Bennie

Thats how It was done over here. If equipment ran with the R12A then that’s all good. Once recharge was required, if the AC service person had R12A in stock they could use it. If not the system had to be changed over. This is why I find it surprising that it’s still available. AFAIK our change over of old equipment/these requirements came in to effect a good thirty years ago. I know that R12A is preferred over R134A for refrigeration. And from what I’ve only heard around the traps, they say that R1341A is very damaging in terms of climate change stuff. Anyway, that’s quite off topic, I was just really surprised to hear that you could still buy R12A. Cheers Bennie

How is it that r134a is illegal but you can freely get and legally use Ozone damaging R12A?? Crazy! There’s also a sight glass in one of the lines. We used LPG or hichill in my L series (changed all the O rings to be compliant). When running, you should see a continuous stream of tiny bubbles flowing through the sight glass. Don’t know how different it looks with other refrigerants. If you have access to another Subaru with working AC, you could check out that sight glass activity and try your best to match that. Cheers Bennie

Long shot on this one @Step-a-toe as I haven’t seen you on the forums in a while, hope you’re well. Can you tell me where you sourced your new L series clutch cable from? I’m trying to help out a mate with one. Cheers Bennie

Don’t stress about your feet, it mainly ends up in the passenger footwell for us Cheers Bennie

Where and how do you manage to find all this gold information Jezek? Cheers Bennie

I’m super jealous about that windscreen area under the windscreen! Funny how these things grow on you. The 5speed swap would be a nice touch to a great vehicle that you have there. It’s definitely a keeper in my book! Cheers Bennie

Before it baulks does it sound or feel like it’s running out of power? If so, it’s probably fuel starvation of some description. It could be the fuel pump as previously stated. They shouldn’t be too noisy. You should hear it prime then die before starting the engine. After start up you shouldn’t her the pump over the noise of the EA81! Cheers Bennie

Get onto that heater core now!! They make a huge mess when they let go. I did two. Learn from me and get an all copper/brass unit. Mine cost a couple of hundred about ten years ago but I’ve never had to think or worry about it since! When they pop at cruising speed it’s not fun at all! (And VERY dangerous) Cheers Bennie

Prepare to pay through the nose if the mechanic has never done a full conversion before. If you can find someone reliable to do the wiring cut down, it could make it much easier for the mechanic - and possibly cheaper for you too. Cheers Bennie

An 18 month old TOB should be fine to reuse. Cheers Bennie

I think it’s for NA EA81, also applies to NA EA82. For MPFI and MPFI turbo you need to connect some plugs under the dash to let the ECU know it’s in test mode. SPFI could be the same but I’m not 100% sure on that. Cheers Bennie

I think you’ll find the Gen1 and possibly Gen2 autos are still 23 spline diff stubs. The issue will be fitting the auto in the brat’s trans tunnel. I reckon it’ll be too big if not lifted. I could be wrong though. Cheers Bennie

Good time to renew the sump gasket if it’s not been done before. If you’re feeling really energetic you could paint your rocker covers, intake manifold and air cleaner all the same colour. Cheers Bennie

Make sure you put the correct oil seal on the correct side as they’re a directional seal that are side specific Cheers Bennie

For the want of a better name, yes. Plugs under the dash need to be connected and the long and short flashes counted to make the code. This is how I’ve always done it. Works on OBDII too from memory. I’m sure I’ve used this on my sister’s Gen3 liberty and my MIL’s SG foz. Cheers Bennie

The issue is when there’s a stray electrical current in the cooling system that causes electrolysis. It legit. Loads of science behind it. Other reason to ground your radiator (not warranted here) is when your radiator temp switch is earthed to the brass radiator as they are in the EA81 MY Subaru’s. As for the issue at hand: almost sounds like some broken wires doing dodgy stuff. That’ll be fun to find. Has the vehicle been in a crash at some point? As for the manual conversion. Read up on the wiring diagram and delete the unnecessary pins at the ECU that relate to the auto (or is it ground a certain pin to tell the ECU it’s in manual mode, I can’t remember but a gregory’s manual has a good wiring diagram I follow for loom cut downs) and remove auto TCU if you haven’t already. What gear does the ECU think the auto is in (if that’s even a thing)? Cheers Bennie

I swapped an EJ alternator into my EA81. It might be a bit different with an EA82 that’s AC equipped. https://ausubaru.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=49878 Cheers Bennie