idosubaru

sorry my reply reads so abrupt, was trying to be clear and concise so it didn't shift gears from the original question. doesn't read very conversational, and i'm a big JCE fan, so hope you didn't read it that way!

"all bearings and seals" - the automatic transmission was rebuilt? were the symptoms prior to rebuild the same or something else? is the AT light flashing 16 times at start up? "wheels barely turning" - front or rear wheels are turning? find out if indeed the transmission output shafts are turning slow or only the wheels. a broken axle could result in the transmission operating fine but the power not fully transferring to the wheel.

you got it, the back 3 foot-ish section, bolts to the front flange of the rear differential and then again at the carrier bearing which is bolted with two bolts under the vehicle. the front half should stay in the transmission, don't remove that. may take some force but it should wedge out from between the exhaust and vehicle underbody, i've never had to remove the exhaust to get one out. get some PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench (any auto parts store, Lowes, etc, has it). WD40 won't really help at all. But you're out west, so you can probably sing a song and all the bolts will come out. LOL my 1988 Subaru i had shipped from California and it's a breeeeeze to work on. amazing.

you'll have so many future options, what to do, what to do!?! 1. get studded snow tires for the winter and enjoy your free repair, for the life of the vehicle! 2. convert it to RWD for mad subaru burnouts 3. replace center diff 4. sell your mechanic/trans shop on a half day of Subaru consulting from me. $500 +air fare. (20% commission for you).

if the diff was pulled out like this - then i would reinstall it like this. pulling the axles is only one nut though. pop them in the diff, then trying to reinstall the diff with axles attached...that will be a cumbersome debacle manuevering a heavy lump under a car with two unwieldy axles dangling from it.

ha ha, the entire bung sheared off!? exhaust shops routinely weld in new bungs, they've got them by the boxes and do it all the time. clean it it up well, get all that rust off there and you can easily weld in a new one or the old one. i'd use a new O2 sensor bung so it's fresh, clean metal. you can weld so you won't need this but if anyone else ever finds this thread, a non-welding repair might be to get a tap and thread the hole for a spark-plug non-fouler (O2 extender) and just thread it in.

Of course, you can find one with a blown motor and repair it. It's an overwhelming job to some, not a big deal to others. Download the readily available FSM's and read through the process to see if it's something you're up too. The 96-99's are problematic even after repair, so that's why i say avoid them. 2000 and later EJ25's are less risky and a better find-and-repair option. The H6's are excellent engines and can make high mileages without much effort or issue. Consumer reports is a good starting point but not very fine tuned, I wouldn't trust it to be very accurate. What do they mean - are they distinguishing between Forester Turbo engines and non-Turbo engines, Outback and non-Outbacks, 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder Outbacks, transmission changes? Consumer reports is nowhere near robust enough to delineate all those differences. Each of those platforms has different failure modes, statistics, and reliability traits. Often times a base forester and base legacy are THE SAME CAR. same engine, same transmission, same drivetrain. to say one is "better" is akin to sounding like a 4 year old talking about relativity. 1998 Forester - exactly the same guts as a 1998 Outback. 1999 Forester - exactly the same guts as a 2000 Outback. Consumer reports is a good starting point, after that they're weak and do not verify actual changes and robustness of a given platform.

great. yah, no fluid is one way to fry those mojo's! yah, that diff should work then. if you're having issues, don't have the diff installed yet - try installing the axles off the vehicle - diff on floor, axles on floor. that way you're not fighting geometry or weight. lined up they should pop right in - they will take some force to coerce though. maybe find a youtube video that shows someone knocking one in. front automatic transmission stubs/axles are the same if you can find one of those as well.

is it always this way? could the GPS not be accurate? cars generally read higher than actual speeds, so if the GPS is accurate that is odd. Legacy GT's have the highest final drive ratio ever offered in a Subaru, 4.44. Base model legacy's have 4.11 final drives, so if the transmission was ever swapped that's a possibility, but that's highly unlikely.

Good, wasn't sure those words were making sense, but it's really simple and works well for exactly what you are asking. I've done it in the vehicle this way many times, working on a stand this is going to be a cake-walk.

You should start another thread rather than confuse a thread for a guy who has a non-operational car that's costing him lots of money to not get fixed and mechanics are telling him it's not fixable. The 5 speed subaru's don't have FWD fuses, so at some point someone was trying to be cute, added it, or the car has been swapped, front end clip/wrecked, etc.

sounds like torque bind. that is torque bind. Reread my previous post. You are 8 bolts away from having a perfectly drivable car for free, it's definitely worth keeping. It'll be FWD after you remove the rear half of the driveshaft - 8 12mm bolts, that's it. Very easy. Then you can plan to repair it if you want - simply replace the center diff, which is easy and doesn't require trans removal. Install a known good used one or buy a new one. Or just drive it around in FWD and get studded snow tires in the winter.

what you quoted from me is out of context. what you heard in the past isn't applicable here or is incomplete or assumes some things. what i actually said: ***IF*** it is a failed center diff - they fail to "locked" and cause torque bind. in that case it's "locked" in 4WD and can be run in FWD or RWD, seen it done and driven with my own eyes and hands. Or, more accurate to this discussion, "You cannot run a normally operating (non-failed) 5spd in 2wd." If it's a failed center diff (they always fail to locked), then Gloyales quoted statement is not true.

And just so you know - finding out definitive information on this is going to be extremely difficult, and nearly impossible. You'll probably have to make a very good educated guess. Subaru transmission interchanges are tricky business. 4EAT's didn't change much since 1988 4EAT's debuted, and only minor changes are made over the years/decades. Sifting through which are interchangeable and which are not is tricky - the "interchange" lists Junkyards and Subaru uses are very limited and say transmission "are not" interchangeable even when they are. Actual interchangeability is very fluid and large in scope - but finding out for sure is tricky.

Out of curiosity I did a little research. I researched Subaru's parts database website. You can click on every part in the car - and then click "Interchange" to see what other vehicles use that exact same part. Overall - every major GT transmission part I found was the same as OBW transmission parts. If you wanted to check every part and verify, go here: http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b12/type_10/ My best guess is the transmissions are entirely interchangeable. The main difference in the Legacy GT is the "Sport-Shift" function. But I'm almost positive that's entirely an electronic capability and not a transmission-specific function. The inhibitor switches (selector on the transmission) is the same part as other 4 cylinders and 6 cylinders, so "Sport Shift" is not anything mechanical in the transmission as far as I can tell. I checked Subaru's parts database and the final drive ratios are both 4.44 final drive ratios. Torque converters, valve bodies, reduction gears, planetary sets, ring and pinions, the complete overhaul gasket kit are all the exact same part and part numbers - so GT transmissions are nothing special and basically the same transmission. I obviously didn't go through every part but I did go through all the big ones - and they're all identical to 2.5 (and often even 3.0 H6) transmission parts. Most likely it's just some slightly modified code in the transmission computer. It might mean you don't have "Sport Shift" mode any more if you use an OBW transmission in a GT. But who cares about that. The final test would be to compare wiring at the TCU or trans connectors and see what's different. More than likely they're identical and the only difference is the TCU.

Who told you it won't work and why? Title of thread says "2002 Outback" Thread says "2003 Outback" Which is it? In general 01-02 swaps and 03-04 swaps.

if they're not going in then they're probably not centered or perfectly straight when going in. make sure they're going in straight. make sure they're the right axles...not that i can think of any they'd be confused with. if it's aftermarket diff, axle, or snap rings...i'd wonder if they're not precise enough. i've never closely inspected with the thought in mind, but i'd be very surprised if the snap ring could be installed insitu. *** Are you positive the rear diff is bad? 1. they are often misdiagnosed incorrectly due to torque bind which isn't caused by rear differentials. 2. failure is almost unheard of, they never fail. they're not even worth keeping if you part a car out because there's zero demand.

+1 until you find some compelling reason otherwise, stick with Japanese bearings, particularly for anything crucial or time consuming like a pilot bearing.

I've got a way to accomplish that. When removing,loosen all the cam tower bolts, but just loosen them, don't remove them. Back them out just a little bit more - until the heads are only a 1/2" or further out, then knock the cam tower loose (2x4 & hammer) but the heads of the bolts are only partially removed that 1/2" so the tower won't go far, just nudges out a little bit. start small, then back them off a little more if you need more room. it's loose enough that they stay in place but have enough play to pull the rocker arms off individually by hand and mark them if you want to reinstall in the same position. Done this way - you don't even have to worry about how the cam lobes are loaded necessarily, the loosest ones will come out first, then continue backing off or rotate the cam. but i think i usually rotate to the unloaded position. they all rusted away around here years ago so i've only done like 2 in the last 8 years. It's a lot of words to describe - but it's really simple to do, hopefully that makes sense? i also try to jack the side of the car up to give you some gravitational advantage on keeping the arms in place on reassembly.

since they get tighter with age the miniscule 0.001 shouldn't hurt and will be warn within limits with age anyway. i've never torqued those, just "enough", but i can understand not wanting to screw those up..or down...or too loose..or too tight...

*this may have a free fix, keep reading. 1. You need to make sure this isn't simple torque bind - search and find the symptoms. If it is, that's easily repairable without removing the trans - a rather routine repair done all the time and it shouldn't be expensive. The VLSD unit needs replaced, not a big deal. that's common, anything else would be an outlier. 2. If it is currently binding and fully locked - you can remove the rear half of the drive shaft. In this picture, the top piece is the rear half of the driveshaft - remove those 8 12mm bolts (4 on each end), pull the driveshaft out and the car will now be FWD. it'll be "locked" in 4WD but since the rear shaft is removed it's simply FWD. you can run it indefinitely like that if it has the typical torque bind. that's at least a free fix that leaves the car reliable and drivable as you decide what to do. repair requires repairing the center diff - replacing the VLSD unit. as said - common issue.

engine was swapped if it's true. or it's a 1996 or it's a 1995 with an EJ22. typo's/misinformation abound on used cars, fairly common to be off by a year or so. i'm going to start sending friends out your way, tons of decent Subarus out there, this thing should roll another 100,000 miles without issue, one of Subaru's best engines ever: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4458088765.html

Your best bet: 1. find another late 90's EJ22 vehicle from a non-rusty part of the country - ideally down south where they aren't worth very much. and go get it. effort - yes, but it's totally worth it particularly if you're on a budget and like practical, economical, inexpensive vehicles. whatever vehicle you buy locally now is likely to have rust somewhere that will creep up in the future. 2. EJ22's can still be found in up to 2001 Imprezas. 99 was last year for legacy. 3. EJ25's have head gasket issues - so buyer beware. Ideally you find one with the original headgasket that's never had an issue, then you know it's currently good and if it starts leaking externally they can be driven 10's of thousands of miles like that until they get worse, they very gradually get worse. 4. avoid 1996-1999 EJ25's, worst engine Subaru ever made in terms of inexpensive longevity, due to the failure modes this issue is compounded over time. not a good engine to buy used. for the most part, Subaru trasmissions have few issues and aren't the main concern. no stainless exhaust from the factory in the US. EJ25 valve adjustment is super easy screw type. The H6's are a complete debacle, nearly impossible like the older DOHC EJ25's, and noone adjusts the valves ever because of it. properly maintained they don't really need it. That being said the dealer has a special tool for doing it, i think it's like $600 tool here in the US. lol

What people think largely depends what kind of business you're in and what kind of business person you are. Some businesses it won't matter, in others it will. While assumptions will be made in some respects, in the end - the person makes the car - the car doesn't make the person. You could very well be in business for years and people could learn to love the antics of the vehicle if the person is respectable. And that holds true the other way around too - people could learn to dislike the vehicle because of the antics of the individual associated with it. Then it becomes a constant negative advertisement. Not sure what CA is like, while it would turn heads it would also hardly register on many beach scenes.

there's a small metal access cover attached by 2 10mm bolts at the bottom of the bellhousing. if one of those bolts comes loose or it gets bent (easily done when engine/trans have been removed before) it can vibrate/interfere with teeth on torque converter. the flexplate could be cracked. wheel bearings being eaten generally means the hub itself needs replaced. a bad hub was wearing my bearings out like clock work about every 18,000 miles. replaced hub and all was well.