pyromanic

Thanks for the reply, but I guess I didn't make myself clear. The transmission is shifting bump bump, pause, bump bump pause, and so an. I can feel it. You know how you can feel when an automatic tranny shift up or down? You KNOW it when you feel it. This is that. But only when you let off on the gas PARTWAYand try to cruise. Doesnt do it when you back clear off on the gas and coast to a stop. Wierd huh. I really think the govener checked out fine. Anybody? Pyroclayman

So I cant do the swap to a 5 sp in the 85 gl wagon untill spring. Thought if it's cheap or easy (roll on floor laugh out loud) that I'd fix this 4x4 auto tranny and drive it untill spring. Read the govener repair write up. Searched "Auto Transmission", read for a couple of hours. Took out govener, examined carefully, seems fine. Seller of car said it was very recently replaced. So this is what the car does: I think all gears are present and accounted for. On acceleration tranny seems fine. But when a particular speed is attained, (any) and cruising is attempted IE:let off the gas) I feel a gentle bump-bump, bump-bump, bump-bump. I can't tell if it's if it's shifting in and out of gear, or from one gear to another. Also the push button four x four lights up the display, but does nothing. Tranny fluid is up to proper level, appears clean, and does not stink. More background. As previously posted, this was my local mail carriers car. Worst kind of stop and go driving. She had a complete EA 82 custom build, for the sum of 2000 bucks. Drove about 12K miles. Tranny acted up. Had govener replaced. It worked fine for a couple of months. Then tranny trouble again. She gave up. Bought a Suzuki. Car sat for 5 years in snow. I bought for the engine to stick it in my '86 wagon. But turns out the '85 is in much better shape. Will put 5 sp in it this spring. Need easy fix. LOL Would be nice though! So what else should I be looking at? Thanks guys, pyromanic the clayman

Sorry, Like I said, Red line Shockproof Lightweight. (Not Ultralight) that's what it's called. Mixed 50/50 with regular Durex 80W-90 API GL 5. The Reline label says this: "can be rated as a 75W140 Gear Oil, which provides twice the viscosity in the thin layers between the gear teeth, but has the lower internal fluid friction of a 30 weight motor oil. I hope this mix is ok for year round use, but if someone tells me no, I can change. Sure has improved prefomance in this cold, cold weather. Did I do good? Bad? Don't know much, but I sure do know I don't want to f&$% up my already tired transmission. All comments are welcome, since if this combination is deemed innapropriate, I will simply use it as a flush since the tranny fluid was FILTHY. Pyroclayman

Nope. Mines a 3.7. Wont be needing it. Anybody wanna trade? PyroClayman

Hey madmountainmonk, you picked up four of them? You plan using all four, or might you consider letting one go? You mention "solid" when refering to these units, and I've been wondering, when a feller finds one at a yard how can you tell if there solid or not? Some one mentioned somewhere in here, (this forum) that if they shift through the gears fairly smoothly, that they are probably ok. Is that the only diagnosis availiable, or is there some other ways to determine their condition? Just thinking out loud. Been wondering. anyway, welcome, and get back at me about letting one of those units go. I have the '86 DL wagon, tranplanted 5 sp D/R N/A EA82, high miles but runs ok. Crunched door, kinda rough inside and out. Will lift this, make a hunting rig. Just picked up a '85 DL wagon, zero body damage, great interior, 3sp A/t which is shot in the rump roast, push button 4x4, single range, 12000 mile on complete rebuild from the "Subaru Guru" in Bend. That darn motor is tight. But I don't even want to bother with that A/T. So yup, looking for a 5speed. (and that other stuff to make it all work of course) Let me know. Thanks Pyromanic the Clayman La pine OR

Great coincedence, cause I just logged on to report on exactly that, but with an '86 D/R behind an EA 82. Bought the car recently from a very non mechanical fellow. Oil was dirty. Tranny felt just about done. Did the 50/50 thing just this evening and can't believe the difference. Like night and day. Much more quiet too. Shifts way smoother. I used the Redline shock proof light weight. Question? Do these fantastic results last? Pyromanic the clayman

Yupper, everything in Bent Oregon is high. ('cept wages) "poverty with a view", some say. My older brother still lives in the Valley (Albany), and I might try and talk him into rounding up what I need next spring after I have recovered from Chrismas gifting expendetures and just buying two semi-servicable Subaru's. The high cost of living in Bend is why we have lived 30 miles south. But I am told that there is an old style wrecking yard south of us in Crescent that may be worth looking into also. So who's this feller in Eugene? Sounds like a good tip, but I'm ot towing the '85 over the hill, and it wont make it on it's own. But I'd be interested in knowing if he had the parts and pieces I'll be needing. I'll try to get a E-mail to him and see. About that govener, the lady I bought the 85 said she had had that fixed and it didn't last long. From what I have read here in the forums, I get the impression that once these things start eating goveners, they start eating goveners. Is that true, and why? Is there a permanent fix? Also, I drove it up and down our lane the other day, and it appears that I do not have rear wheel drive when I engage the 4x4 button. The red indicator on the dash lights up, but no power to the rear as far as I can tell. (this was on hard-pack snow, so I think it would have been apparent) No heater, turn signals, and most of the windows wont come down either, though they might have been frozen. I really haven't have time to screw with it much as yet. But cosmeticaly, it's in real nice shape. By the way, it's got Subaru chrome spokes that stick out of the wells further than the white spokes on the '86. Nice, but a little rusty. Looking forward to finding how much they clean up. Again, thanks guys, keep up the good work. Pyromanic the clayman

Well done gentlemen. Yes, whilst I gather parts and ponder. The old '86 actually seems to be running better. So at least I have a driver. We are shy of wrecking yards around these parts, and the Brads in Bend seems to be high, as they are the new age type, everything is already tagged and bagged so to speak. Warehoused and shelved and inventoried, or brought in from elsewhere. I miss the old yards, the ones where we could hang out all day with our own tools and get what we needed. Oh well. So the biggest things I will require are the 5sp tranny itself, and the 3.9 diff. So I am seeing that these 3.9 diffs are availiable LSD or other-wise, with the LSD being the more rare, correct? How much advantage is there to the LSD? And how rare, and how much price difference when they can be found? Thanks guys, Pyromanic the Clayman

So we we got the '85 GL A/T wagon home this morning. All it took was a good battery, and I can tell that the engine is as fresh as they said it was. Pumped up four flat tires, then was suprised to find that the A/T wasn't totally dead, so decided to drive it home the mile and half of gravel. Definatly not shifting proper. Thats ok, I really don't want an Auto anyhow. I bought this for the fresh engine (12000 miles on a compleat build), and thought I would part it out gradually to my '86 which already has a transplanted 5 sp D/R. But the car I brought home today is in much nicer shape than the '86, so a descision has been made. I will keep them both and intend to restore them to both to at least purpose driven functionality. Lift kit will go into the '86, eventually rebuild the EA 82, maybe find another 5 sp as this one getting tired. I want a rig for the dirt and hunting. And then also do a tranny swap on the '85 and turn it into my dayly driver. It will be obvious to all that I've got a lot to learn, but ya learn by asking right? Ok, heres my questions. My limited and muddy understanding is that the gear ratio is different between the EA 82s whith the 5 sp man D/R, and those with the A/T. So my weak logic circuits tell me that if I stick a 5 sp into a DL wagon that started life with a A/T, then my front transaxle will have a different gear ratio than my final rear diff. And that doesn't sound good. Or is that even right? Or does it matter? So I might assume that not only do I have to come up with new front axles for the 5 sp, but also a rear diff from a 5 sp rig, (but old rear axles will work, right?) But no, I realize that I'm far to ignorant to get away with assuming anything. Best to ask the dumb questions. I have a sneaky suspicion that my thinking is all wrong on this, and in fact I hope so, obviously it would be nice to avoid the extra expense and work of finding and installing a rear diff too. Sorry for the length of this, I hope I have made my misunderstandings clear. Thanks for all replys. Pyromanic The Clayman

Thanks for your interest! I will probably be needing a front axle or two before long. I take it these you mention are used? Price? What condition? But really I need to get the 85 home and evaluate the situation. Maybe monday. What I probably REALLY need is a 5 speed man. tran for the 86 before I pull that 85 engine. Guess I'll just drive the 86 the way it is for now. I put new tires on it two days ago. Sticky goodyear snows. Biggest what would fit in the wells without mods. Love the way it feels compared to those tiny stocks. Where does one find a rebuilt man trans?

Thanks for the offers to come and help. Much appreciated. But funds don't change hands untill tomarrow, then I start work on getting the mail- ladies '85 home. It's a two mile tow. Will have to slack chain it. And thanks for the info all----- Do I need to drop a drive line for a short tow? Or what needs to be done to not screw up any drive train componets? (worse than they are, that is) Lots of snow here, and no where to work inside. Will not get going on whatever I decide to do untill spring. (Unless we get some warm weather) No Hurry. So if my 86 started out life with an a/t, it has the taller geared final diff, correct? And are the rear axles all the same? (a/t vs. man 5) If not, then that means,------ I'm really thinking that I'll just take the motor out of the 85 and drop it in front of the man. 5 sp. 86 and drive. That 5 sp will probably make it for a while. Swap out her doors for my two dinged ones. Then start keeping an ear to the ground for another ea82 and TWO man 5 spd's. I really would like to lift one and warm it up for some off road fun. Sure wish I could use those 85 axles out of the auto/trans. And now for the REALLY ignorant question. Does that 85 auto trans even have the dual range feature? I think I should know this already. But I really don't. And one last question before I turn in. Back in the day, we would take our mid 70's Chev PU trucks and peel the small amount of emmissons controll crap that was on those small blocks as was present. Wasn't a lot, but it did nothing but good for Horses and simplicity. Geez there's a lot of dang tubs and stuff on these Soobs. As far as I know, a rig in oregon is not going to be inspected. How about it? How much of that stuff can I get rid of, if any? And WHOA do I dig the idea of dumping those timing belt boxes!! You bet, there gone! Thanks again guys, Later, Pyromanic

Good year to all, Greeting to all, and to all thanks for the wealth of information I have already mined from these foums. '98 Chev extended cab, 3/4 ton, two wheel drive does not do well this time of year at 6000 ft. in Central Oregon. Sooo-- So a couple of months ago from an aquaintence I purchased a tired old almost straight bodied (two dinged doors) '86 GL wagon, EA82, carb, bald tires, poor front buckets, at least one poor axle, weak synchro's in 5 spead dual range, but good glass and every thing works. Very low oil pressure at idle only. 200 bucks. How could I go wrong? It runs! So now my mail man's sister is ready to sell her retired and hibernating for several years, (read currently buried under 16 inches of snow with four flat bald tires) '85 GL wagon, same color as my 86, perfect glass and body, 12000 miles on rebuilt engine (proffessional shop job), new front axles, push button on stick 4x4, exelent interior, something wrong with the automatic tranny. She says that six months after the engine build, tranny screwed up. She is not mechanicaly inclined, so can not give details. (you know how some folks are, cars either work, or they do not) The mechanic that rebuilt the engine, to quote the gal I am buying the car from, said that problem was transmission govenor. This was replaced or repaired, which is unknown. She only drove it for a couple of months after that, when it "broke down" again. Having lost faith in the mechanic who rebuilt the engine AND repaired the auto trans, she took it to someone else. Again, she was told it was the transmission govenor again. She gave up. Bought a Suzuki. This Soob has sat for several years now. I am buying it. Dilema. The 85 is generally in nicer condition than my 86, with the ever so tired engine. Still, I don't really care to have the auto, and besides, what the heck is really going on with that auto trans? (Yes, I know, I need to get this 85 towed home, get a battery in it, and see what happens, next week I hope!) By the way, the owners manual on the 86 says it was originally sold with an auto. So there has already been a transplant. If my DR 5 speed was in better shape, I would just stick it behind her fresh engine in the "new" 85. That could be done couldn't it? But I guess it would be easier and maybe make more sense to just swap her engine into my 86, replace my two dinged doors, and ride that 5 speed into the ground? And will her axles fit in my 86? I have searched your archives, and it seems perhaps not. Is the 85 diff the same? I don't know what to do. If the Auto trans is a cheap fix, maybe that's the way to go for now. Maybe look for another engine, or rebuild the 86, slap a webber and lift kit in and make a hunting rig. Help!!!!!!!!!!! To many fun options!!!! At first I thought I just needed a "doner" car, but now I see vast possibilties!!! Where does it end???? Sorry for rambling, but I'm exited. Or greedy, I don't know which. Pyromanic