blueridgespeed

you may have to piece together these parts if your local subie dealer is not helpful. I have good luck with Advance Auto locally. It never ceases to amaze me when they have parts in stock, and they're always willing to order parts. Prices and convenience is hard to argue. For consumables like OIL, FILTERS, BRAKE FLUID, CARB CLEANER, PURPLE STUFF, etc for all my cars and the cars I work on, I end up being a "regular" in my local Advance and get good service, despite the fact that my "day job" is in Health Care. Felpro's head gasket KIT was something they didn't stock but would order. I've needed water pumps, alternators etc. for various vehicles and they've had them IN stock so often it blows my mind! I also purchase hoses, belts, and brake lines there.. since I also do a lot of "hot rodding" of older cars and access to the parts is important. I sent my wife there with the family hauler when it's battery started to get weak, and even though the 2000 Passat is a "we don't install that one" battery - they still installed it for her.. Prob. depends on the employees at your local store, but one-stop shopping (even if you have to come back later to pick it up) has it's advantages.

Found the same issue when doing my 93 3AT. You can simply "go deeper" and pull the whole assembly that the screen is attached to. This gives you the opportunity to flush out the castings, easiely re-assembly the unit with the new filter in place. It is indeed a bolt with a loose nut on top. It was never spot welded, nothing's broken. I fished mine out about 10 times with a magnet before figuring this couldn't be the expected procedure for a filter screen change and went deeping into it. Pulling the whole body, flushing out any black silt, checking the condition of several valves/ springs/ check balls is probably the (minimum) intended procedure other than simply changing fluid. It's honestly easier than fishing that nut up there... I never could get it to start on the threads, but it was nice time getting to REALLY know the underside of my subie