Stefan E.

Things are moving ahead with my project, and today the moment came to try to start it up. But there is a problem, or maybe several problems... When I turn on the ignition, everything lights up on the dash. Fuel pump starts and runs a couple of seconds but there is something wrong with the gear indicator lamps on the dash. The "N" is lit all always, the "POWER" lights is also on. And it won't start. I'm pretty sure the reason for that is because of the funny behaviour of the gear indicator lights. Well I run around and checks the connectors on the tranny. The harnes from the gear selector switch is warm. I pull the connector and find that one green wire is warm, the others seem okay. Now, what do I do? Any quick suggestions on what I do now? I don't have a manual or electric wiring diagram for this car so I'm a bit lost. Could it be that the switch itself has gone bad, and just don't work? Strange anyway that the green wire got so hot! Can anyone help me out with a wiring diagram? Thanks Stefan

Well, did some more work today, and here's what I found. It seems the wiring is not exactly the same. The "basic" harness on the donor car has a few extra wires compared to mine, so I'll change the whole thing. It's just a few minutes work, as all the inside trim and panels are gone. Just changing the harnes is only a matter of a few connectors and a couple of screws. The real work when it comes to harness is in the dashboard area and foreward. It might be possible that there may be differences on cars on different markets as well. I live in norway, so who knows, might be minor details that are different. Stefan

The tranny is a electronic 4 speed auto, I'm sure of it. The local Subaru dealer told me to stay away from the older 3-speed, but this one was good, and the same as the Legacy trannys. I shouldn't have any issues with it, I have driven the rusted donor car a little bit and it works fine, smooth shifts and no other things going wrong. Exept for the air suspension, but I won't need that anyway. The reason (s) I want to change the tranny is that the 5 speed manual I have is in bad condition. Some noises and it doesen't shift well into third. In addition I want to have the better looking interior, whis is blue, with better seats and with a tach in the instrument cluster. Mine is grey, but the cheapest version, with bad seats and no tach. So I'll take the whole package! Well I guess I just have to take all the wiring then... I don't look foreward to it, but hopefully it'll be ok. Luckily it seems all the connectors are colour-matched, and only fit with the one they are ment to fit, so with a few pictures it should be possible to do it. About the front driveshafts: Do I have to change them as whole units, or can I just take the inner ball joint and switch those to make less work of it? The reason for asking is that the outer ball joints on the donor car is in "unknown" condition. Well the donor car is a turbo;) , and the 4 speed tranny is the one that it came with from the factory so I think it would work out okay, as long as I take all the parts and put them into my car. I found the control box for the air suspension (I think) under the drivers seat and I found what I belive is the control box for the tranny inside the trim over the left rear wheel. Thanks for the help guys, I'll be back soon because it seems new questions are popping up all the time! Stefan

Hi guys, I'm brand new to this site (just found it) and I hope you can help me out with my latest project! Hope I posted this at the right place... I have a 1990 Subaru 1800 mpfi wagon, DL which is an okay car but it wouldn't hurt if it was a bit more, well let's say "luxurious"...:-\ So, a while back I found this '88 wagon, well equiped, with 1800 turbo and 4 speed electronic auto tranny and full time 4wd. It was parked because of serious rust, and I got it almost for free. My plan (which I have already started) is to put the engine, tranny, interior, dashbord, instruments, power windows and door locks in my car. What I have done so far is to strip the "donor" car from all interior stuff, seats, dashbord and most of the electric wiring. And today I removed the engine and transmisson. It looks okay so far, but initially I have one question: Do I have to take ALL of the wiring from the donor car, or is there something similar which even the basic editions have in common with the more expensive ones? As far as I can tell, it seems the wiring for the tranny and 4WD system is just "added" on top of the basics, but I haven't studied the wires and counted them to see if they are all the same. A LOT of wires... Second question: The one thing I will not use from the donor car is the air suspension. I'll stick with the good old one. But do I have to do anything special to avoid getting warning lights? I don't know but I suspect that the wiring to the shocks and the air susp control device is integrated with some other stuff so that I will have to put it in the car, but not connect any of the connectors to the shocks, if you know what I mean. Is there any other special thing I have to be aware of? I have already put on the rear disc brakes, and I also know that the rear diff will have to be changed. This is quite a bit of work, so I hope it all works out! Thanks for any help guys! Stefan