idosubaru

I always resurface the heads, this shop almost certainly won’t do that. Subaru dealers have very good track records and often don’t resurface the heads so that alone doesn’t scare me if the place seems otherwise capable of cleaning, quality tools, prep, torque and good parts selection.

Theres no way to test engine condition. No inspection or even pulling the engine can verify lower end bearing condition. Anyone that says otherwise is selling you something. 1. Ask how long the head gasket repair warranty is on the vehicle and get it in writing. Standard shop warranty is 12 months, 12,000 miles if you have it done anywhere else. Cut the oil filter open and check for debris and send in oil samples to a UOA joint. That’s all that can be done and an inspector isn’t going to do it. Its highly dependent on how badly you need a car and how much you’re willing to wait. It’s risky like any used car purchase. If you want to maximize chances pass on any car until you find a compelling reason to buy. This one doesn’t sound great unless you get better feedback on the repair, history and timing components. That car needs $400-$800 in timing belt work before I’d recommend going in debt over it....in addition to properly installed head gasket. If you get the sense the mechanic use Subaru gaskets and properly cleaned and bolts properly torqued and new timing kit - buy it. Brakes and everything else are easy relatively speaking, it’s not that worrisome for anywhere to do those. A head job is far more technical and hinges on proper cleanliness, prep, and attention to detail more than just about any other work. How do you feel about this shop doing that? If not, move on until you find one. Any 2010 under a loan needs a new timing kit or at a minimum the timing belt and lower timing pulley IMO.

Tone ring, sensor or wiring.

Also if you’re worried about it - let the dealer do it. They’re doing Subaru transmissions on a regular basis. No big deal.

That’s both true and not true. First - definitely change the fluid. That EAT trans is a robust beast of a machine, they’re great transmissions. Definitely ensure it has good fluid in it. It can be drained and refilled just like the engine. Draining the trans only removes 4 out of 13 quarts so do it 3 times, driving some between each change, and you’re done. A shop can’t be expected to do all that. But a shop could do 3 trans fluid changes with the next three oil changes in a row and over the course of 1-3 years you’d have your trans fluid change. A shop may not do that because they don’t want to mix old and new fluid. It doesnt matter but they can’t keep track of good trans and ford exploders. Theres other options too but suffice to say this isn’t complicated. 1. Change the trans fluid just like oil. 2. Or have them use the machine. If he won’t, someone else will.

Clutch bands go inside the drum (I’m unsure exactly what it’s called. You didn’t notice how it came apart? I would have kept everything together as an assembly. Get the FSM it’ll have the exploded view diagram and process step and step. They’re easily found free online.

I don’t recall steel rings floating around or anything loose when assembling them. Are they the diameter of a quarter or dessert plate? You don’t mean the thin washers I mentioned earlier do you? Get the FSM section (Factory Service Manual) from Subaru and follow it. With a a few minutes searching you can get 00-04 online easily for free.

+1 to GD. plugs and wires. use NGK or subaru only.

I'd use the Subaru gasket. There's a shim at the back of the bearing support, I'd wonder if gasket thickness matters for that, and potential for sealant entry inside the trans. But I always use Subaru gaskets there so I wouldn't know. My guess for practical application and results, is that it probably doesn't matter and those concerns are insignificant. So I wouldn't recommend it but I wouldn't be surprised if it worked. The gasket is installed dry and on clean mating surfaces, as is the case with almost all Subaru gaskets.

You need a rear extension housing (the large rear section of the transmission) parts from a 01-04 VDC H6. And driveshaft as Numbchux said earlier, lots of options on that. Like the driveshaft the shifter assembly is all the same with lots of options. Check the ujoints in the shafts and take the smoothest one.

Oh right, only the VDCs got VTD. OP you understood that - the H6 donor trans needs to match yours as either VDC (which has the VTD set up) or non-VDC (which has MPT)? i was picturing the select lever way up front on the passenger side of the trans, but I guess he’s talking about the cabin side of the cable, under the gear shift is another story being further back.

Has to be an H6 (see below). H6 has VTD rear, H4s have MPT. People have swapped VTDs into MPT trans so I guess you could go the opposite way and install an MPT into VTD...but that’s a downgrade and there may be a few work arounds or issues to contend with.

Have you checked eBay and rock auto?

Sedan and outback H6 shafts should be the same. The gear selector, how could the drive shaft hit that? I haven’t seen that. Before it broke it would have had play and caused consistent impacts on the input shaft mating surfaces inside the trans. It’s effectively hammered in place after thousands of hits with an impact gun. Youll need force to get it out. Maybe significant force. Or you may need to replace the receiving end inside the rear extension housing. Luckily that’s not that hard, the housing slides off the back of the trans from under the car, don’t have to remove the trans.

i've seen them tick every second the engine is running for a year(s?). i've never seen damage but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It's only the past 10-20 years that EA82's and their symptoms seem uncommon and hard to get a bead on. 25 years ago these engines were common on roadways in areas with high subaru presence, but also getting old enough to start having TOD. people would joke about them being diesels or about to die, mechanics would think it's rod knock, etc. and plenty of people had reasons to never fix them or let them tick a long time, never with any resultant issues. i've never thought about what makes the noise exactly - i guess it's either internal to the HLA or slack in the HLA/rocker arm clearances.

you may have an outlier issue so generalities are hard to assign. Remember Subaru predominantly has used MPT for 4WD over the decades which had higher (but not common) rates of issues. and gradually they’ve shifted to VTDs. I’m not sure of all the VTD failure modes, they don’t really fail (I’m not counting ones I’ve repaired because they’re damaged by other trans/front diff failures). I’m basing this off of MPTs which are similar enough that you can swap them - remove MPT and install VTD, trans form factor is the same, etc. so they’re diffent, but this isn’t grasping for straws either. In general they’re stout and I wouldn’t be concerned about a couple weeks, a few hundred miles, no big deal. Im not sure beyond that but getting into many months and thousands will start to get risky. Ive seen one or two sheared shafts/drums internally on MPT style...almost certainly from being driven too long with binding. But get a used one for cheap and labor is free since it needs fixed anyway. So it was a stranding event but not catastrophic and causing more damage. But I don’t know where that VTD weak spot is. If it’s completely locked in 4WD you can remove the rear driveshaft and it’ll be FWD and you can drive it indefinitely. I know people who have done that on purpose for projects and it’s been done lots of times in situations just like yours or for towing on a dolly.

Excellent description, thanks.

Yes, ask. They may need to diagnosis it first to determine warranty. Worth a shot and getting some eyes on it for a second opinion would be nice, maybe it’s something else. I’m really hesitant to say torque bind over the internet on such a newer low miles VTD... I have so many stories where someone misses information or uses poor word choices or doesn’t see something that seems really obvious nor they’re running on confirmation bias and just looking for what Uncle Johnny told them...and they’re wrong all the time. I typically just ignore what people tell me and start from the beginning. Anyway - over the internet, new car, rare issue...in still hesitant I don’t think that extended warranty is for the rear transfer assembly or the front diff. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’ll get lucky or they’ll offer assistance towards repair (that’s my guess at what will happen). but it’s old (by new car customer and dealer standards) and out of warranty. No business routinely gives away free money for old out of warranty product. If you’re handy at all this could probably be fixed for free and “add a nice feature” to the vehicle. Install a switch on the rear solenoid to control 4WD and just turn it on and off. Turn it off for FWD and on for 4WD off-road or in snow. I’ve done it on the MPT model trans and I think it should also be the same on the VTDs.

Torque bind. Something in the rear extension housing is hosed. Id probably source a used one or blown trans and pilfer the entire rear extension housing to swap out. I’m not familiar with the VTD failure modes as they’re not common. As such I would be really hesitant to trust a dealer or shop on diagnosis and repair unless they’re good and trust worthy.

great. hopefully you find a good tooth count somewhere. "good picture to count yourself" - HAHA, nice detective work!

Those H6 marks are dim, I think they are to give us a hint of what it’s like to be colorblind. Lol I’d guess someone has counted teeth like LT said, people love that stuff. The H6 can seem like a monstrosity but in the end it’s simple. Ensure cam and crank marks are lined up, verify marks, rotate engine carefully by hand and make sure they’re still lined up. Check check and recheck and recheck again until you’re comfortable, ask if it doesn’t look right or post pics of your marks. Done. i get it - it’s a double check and aid. but they seem to confuse and increase anxiety when they’re not needed anyway. I’ve never counted teeth...probably once for kicks, or worried about timing belt/chain marks. Work off of what the engine sees: the cam and crank marks, it’s the most mechanically reliable method and fewer cooks in the kitchen. Alignment marks/counts only help ensure that anyway. It’s not like teeth counts or chain marks will be right and cam and crank marks wrong.

1. Torque bind - most likely Parking lot test I mentioned earlier will make it obvious to anyone who’s worked on Subaru’s with torque bind before. Do it and describe the symptoms as best as possible with a keyboard. Yours has VTD and I’m not sure of the failure modes they have or what would need to be replaced if it’s binding. It’s in the rear extension housing and about $600 labor to get at it plus parts to repair. inner axle joint is a remote possibility, broken boots aren’t the only failure mode for axle. At this age and mileage all of these are unlikely, I was just listing a few additional outlier options.

Are the axles original or have they ever been rebooted or replaced?

It’s probably a front axle inner joint. They usually last the life of the car so this is odd and should be diagnosed but that’s the closest symptom match by far. Id also wonder about wheel bearing or driveshaft. Again - unlikely so symptoms and diagnosis need clarity.

Just front to rear. CVT has a different mechanism than Manual You ignored my questions and diagnosis. If you think it’s the diff: check fluid level Then drain the fluid and check fluid for swirls or particulate or chunks. Subaru diffs don’t typically make noise only at full lock or tight turns. That’s low miles and new so this is all surprising and diagnosis and data is better than guessing , but front diff is probably barking up the wrong tree and wasting your time unless additional symptoms exist we don’t know about.