jet8300

You guys are awesome. Thanks so much for the help!

Can I swap it into something newer? I'm assuming that the engine harness would need to be swapped but I don't really know how involved that is. The engine runs pretty good although it MAY have been overheated before we purchased it. I did the head gasket job myself and had a very reputable local place do machine work on the heads. Engine has 200k miles on it, but it seems solid. In my mind it makes sense to try to buy a 500-700 shell and swap this out since his current car is getting so rusty and the chassis/brake lines/fuel lines etc is beginning to have more and more issues. I know everything would likely FIT, however I don't know about the other aspects. Also, is the automatic trans for the legacy any different than for the forester? If I found a 98 forester with a manual, could I swap the auto that he has in? His wife can't drive stick.

My brother has a 98 outback which I just did head gaskets on about a year ago and the body/suspension is rusty and just about shot. What can we put this engine into other than another 98 outback? All I can find is people trashing this engine and also that it wasn't used for very long. I know it's not popular, but the thing runs great. Thanks!

What if when I pull a new retainer from the u-pick junk yard, I mark the thing where the locking bracket goes and then I count the turns backing out? It should be close to my car, right? I have the FSM but I can't find the part where it says to use a dial indicator. I thought I'd read in a different thread about this that the transmission has to be pulled out to get the gauge where it needs to go. Worst case I end up ruining this diff and I get a used transmission or diff for 200 bucks. This is a 98' Outback with an automatic.

I have to replace the entire retainer because I damaged it beyond repair, not just the seal. So I'll have to try bottoming it out and then backing it up. Thanks guys. Hopefully this works. I can't find a source for a used seal/bearing retainer so I'm going to have to buy a brand new one.

Actually I forgot to mention that not only did I remove the retainer without marking anything, but I need to replace it with a new one because I scratched it all up and broke parts of the dang thing off. I tried to remove the seal from the outside before reading about how to replace it. So even if I did mark anything it would not be useful. I'm really kicking myself here. I am usually so much smarter than this.

So, long story short I screwed up the seal and decided to remove the side retainer. I had no idea that it was so critical, but should have known better. Anyways, I removed it because I screwed the seal up, but now I have no clue how far to reinstall it. Someone please tell me there is a way to set it again without removing the transmission!