SuzithewildSubi

is it a 4 or 5 speed DR? Ive got an '84 4wd dual range wagon with the 4 speed MT and it recently developed some unhappy noises in the gearbox suddenly one morning. i was on the highway going 60mph (i just had gotten up to speed, i wasn't driving hard on it either) when suddenly it felt like i had momentarily lost all power, i thought i blew the motor. i felt a lot of rolling resistance and i was unable to maintain the car at a steady speed so i pulled over on the highway and the motor was still running, so i continued driving it. i noticed some growling and excessive vibration coming from inside the trans which could be felt when holding onto the gearshift. all gears still shift fine with no grinding synchros and the 4wd hi&lo still works fine. i had some service done to the trans about a month prior. I was thinking that maybe the DR lever was out of adjustment and it tried to pop into 4wd at 60 with no clutch. or perhaps the transfer case was dry? I'm not sure what exactly has failed or what caused the failure (could be the sheer mileage of the car @ 243,000 anything is possible) The noises were horrible for a week or two of driving and then they grew quieter and less serious sounding, though they still persist. i'm still having no further issues with it but i have no idea how long it's going to last. Living here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota these old subarus are practically unheard of. its hard to find even the 90s subarus in the salvage yards here. Finding an 84 gl here to pull parts from just isnt going to happen. Many people i meet have never even heard of or seen one before. With no chance of finding anything remotely close to me that i can scavenge parts from i'm realizing that i'm pretty well backed into a corner with this one unless i can find a replacement unit or all of the necessary components for a 5 speed DR conversion. Thanks in advance, Dylan (and Suzi)

Greetings fellow Subaru fans! I'm new to this message board and to the world of old gen subarus. My name is Dylan, my subaru's name is Suzi the wild subie.