Svengouli7

There's quite a bit of metal you'll need to remove to press them out. Once replaced you'll have to figure out how you want to secure them in- some of that metal might be able to be retained and peened back over I suppose.

I agree with much of what was said above, but I was able to freshen up a 4eat without too much drama. It had lost reverse. There are a few points that are tricky and it was time consuming. For specialty tools I did order a compressor tool for about $30. I left the backlash alone on the pinion/diff. Been driving on it for 2-3 years. The kit was relatively cheap, @$200. As long as you don't have hard part failure you may be able to go this route. I have the luxury of a number of vehicles to fall back on though while fiddling with something like this. Good luck with the used one, maybe you won't have to worry about it.

All I know is I've replaced both.

What's your method for holding the pinion flange in order to break the nut loose?

I'm sure this has been done 1000x but I thought I would share here for future reference. I just got done installing a rear diff from a 97 or 98 lego outback (on my 92 legacy), with female inputs for the axles. I was able to use the stock rear axles with the stubs removed from the original diff and pinned in place. I did not have the correct socket for the stubs but managed to get the star head bolt out with a 8mm 1/4" drive deep socket without drama or harm. The outback axles are a touch longer and I did not try installing them, I looked at swapping the inner cups but the dimensions of the 2 axles are different in regards to the bearing cage as well as thickness of the shafts (old ones where thicker). Next issue was the pinion flange, the bolt pattern varies- I happened to have the donor driveline and simply used just the rear potion (diff to carrier bearing) otherwise one would have to try to swap the flanges- and I have no idea if the inner dimensions would interchange as far as pressing into the front pinion bearing. I went through all this since my bearings in the unit were TOAST- bad rattle noise that appeared @45mph and increased in frequency with more speed, letting off the gas would get you a nice death rattle noise before quieting down. Super stoked to get this sorted out- I had rebuilt the 4eat last year after losing reverse and had been worried this noise was something I had done wrong- driving it the sound seemed everywhere. Putting it up on stands and disconnecting the rear narrowed it down. Glad to have my mountain car back!

You could take the short block apart and get a better look at what's going on. If you have the time you may be able to re ring the short block, drop new bearings in it and do a quick lap job/table resurface on the heads. Doesn't sound like you have much to lose.

I've had good luck with the harbor freight kit. Not a complicated job but depends on how much you want to take on I guess.

Don't feel stupid for trying. Feel sorry for all those that never had the courage to explore.

Thanks Rooster

Hey all. Recently rebuilt my 4eat AWD in our 92 legacy. I've put about 500 road miles on it since- so we decided to take it out to the mountains to play for the day. Everything was dandy all day- but on one steep descent down a FS road I had it in 1st to slow it down and had the engine stall out. I'm thinking this could have been a fault with the torque converter since this is its primary function- but putting it out ther to see if there's any other valuable input for me on this. We had no other problems the rest of the day but I chose to use 2nd and more brakes for our other declines Thanks guys

I've had the mizumo ebay gaskets fail inside a year. Not woth saving a few bucks- on my wife's car where coolant made contact with their graphite material the gasket eroded and was carried into the coolant system. This was on a 2.2- doubt there gaskets for 2.5 are much better. Good luck.

Very sad to hear. Ed was plain awesome. The first time I met him he went out of his way to swing by my place in Seattle when my car was down to give me the part I needed- a straight up act of kindness. I always enjoyed visiting with him in the years after, trading parts or just chatting at the WCSS events. A great guy. He will be missed

Just a tip Was wanting to do a poor man "decking" of EJ25d case halves on my granite inspection block. Dowel pins were in the way. Found a thread on NASIOC on using a 10x1.25 tap to get the smaller case half seam pins out. Just wanted it in here for the record a 7/16" SAE coarse tap worked for me on these fatter pins- just cut threads in to them and at some point the pins break loose and turn with the tap- either gently tap on a vice grip attached to the tap to lift them up and out.. or I suppose if they were really stuck you could press them upward with a bit of threaded rod or a bolt. Just a tip for the search records

It may not be the ideal but I wouldn't lose sleep on it. There are some motors out there where it can cause a vibration due to there being a shaft behind that need to be aligned just so- not hte case with Subarus AFAIK

careful on those seal cap bolts. Easy to sheer.