my girlfriend was driving her 1989 gl sedan up a pretty big hill on the freeway today when BAM! she heard a big thump and the car lost all power.

 

i came to her rescue, with a bottle of lucas transmission fix and some royal purple. i hate Automatic Transmissions with every ounce of my being, so having never owned one myself, lubing it up and throwing it in and out of the gears was all i could really think to do.

 

at first, it seemed to work.

 

The ATF was a little low... but nothing too major, so i topped it with lucas AT fix. The differential took a whole bottle of royal purple just to get to the bottom of the dipstick... so i added the whole bottle and took to the road...

 

unfortunately, there is obviously something seriously wrong with the transmission. running the car in 2nd or 1st gear helps considerably, however at one point when i shifted to 2nd gear going down a hill i heard a very loud thunk and the car almost stalled... running in drive, there are really bad sounds coming from the transmission during acceleration, and really, really bad sounds during deceleration especially.

 

my question is this... she has the 1.8FI engine and wants to stay with the AT... what are my options for finding another AT for her car?

 

what year/model range of ATs will bolt directly in with no modifications?

 

would it be preferable to have it rebuilt or somehow serviced? Does the problem sound like the AT or the differential to you guys?

 

I know this is a lot of questions, but i really want to convince her to keep this car... at 210,000 miles it has been an amazing car and with a different AT i think it could be a great car for years to come!

 

any help/info is GREATLY appreciated!

 

thanks!

 

casey

503-750-4906

cocheeze@hotmail.com

If it's a 4wd trans I have one here in Corvallis that has low miles and worked great when pulled. (drove the car to the The Gorge at George just a week before pulling trans)

 

Otherwise, any 3spd auto trans from 87-94 GL/Loyale model will work. Just not one from a Turbo car.

 

PM me if you need the trans I have. I can deliver to Portland.

Teach her to drive a stick. Took me about 2 hours to teach my current GF. I always convert them to manual's because I also hate working on the AT's.

 

GD

I would inspect the front CV axles and driveshaft as possible problem areas. Not too often a transmission goes bang, quits working and then begins to work again.

gloyale - its a non 4wd, unfortunately.

 

gd - i wish it were that easy... i wish it were that easy.

 

john - already done. both driveaxles are fine... no driveshaft, 2wd.

 

i too was surprised by the fact that it still ran after the loud thumps it made... i just assumed that it was a normal AT thing... perhaps it is a problem in the diff rather than the AT?

 

either way, it appears i will be doing an AT swap.

 

casey

gd - i wish it were that easy... i wish it were that easy.

 

It's totally that easy - If she's getting free labor on the car - well then she has to play within your rules. Illustrate to her how much time and effort has to go into you doing the work to keep her car on the road and that it's ultimately free. She should understand that there are limitations to what you will work on and should she desire to cross that line then she's going to have to find a shop and pay for the work herself.

 

Take her to a flat, open parking lot at night - make her start out in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd without touching the gas. I've done this many times and besides being fun for all involved (parking lot not stressful like streets), it's effective.

 

Been with my GF for 4 years - learned to drive manual on my Brat back when it was the stock 4 speed (3+ years ago) - got rid of that Honda shortly after and now she won't own a car that's not a Manual (and a Subaru).

 

You give in, and you comprimise, and you bend to her will every time.... pretty soon you are the shell of a man that stands for nothing.

 

GD

i know its been a while but...

 

would a transmission from a 1993 legacy 2wd non-turbo work for this swap?

 

just curious because there is one here on portland craigslist.

 

thanks!

No, totally different. A turbo EA82 transmission will work but you have to use its CV axles.

No, totally different. A turbo EA82 transmission will work but you have to use its CV axles.

 

no the turbo 3ats still had 23 spline. 3.7 ratio so diff would need swapped, but still capatble with the axles.

my girlfriend was driving her 1989 gl sedan up a pretty big hill on the freeway today when BAM! she heard a big thump and the car lost all power.

 

i came to her rescue, with a bottle of lucas transmission fix and some royal purple. i hate Automatic Transmissions with every ounce of my being, so having never owned one myself, lubing it up and throwing it in and out of the gears was all i could really think to do.

 

at first, it seemed to work.

 

The ATF was a little low... but nothing too major, so i topped it with lucas AT fix. The differential took a whole bottle of royal purple just to get to the bottom of the dipstick... so i added the whole bottle and took to the road...

 

unfortunately, there is obviously something seriously wrong with the transmission. running the car in 2nd or 1st gear helps considerably, however at one point when i shifted to 2nd gear going down a hill i heard a very loud thunk and the car almost stalled... running in drive, there are really bad sounds coming from the transmission during acceleration, and really, really bad sounds during deceleration especially.

 

my question is this... she has the 1.8FI engine and wants to stay with the AT... what are my options for finding another AT for her car?

 

what year/model range of ATs will bolt directly in with no modifications?

 

would it be preferable to have it rebuilt or somehow serviced? Does the problem sound like the AT or the differential to you guys?

 

I know this is a lot of questions, but i really want to convince her to keep this car... at 210,000 miles it has been an amazing car and with a different AT i think it could be a great car for years to come!

 

any help/info is GREATLY appreciated!

 

thanks!

 

casey

503-750-4906

cocheeze@hotmail.com

 

 

hi,

from your low diff oil, and my friends experience with his gl 3at, your diff is shot.

his got so bad finally it would back up, but lock solid trying to go forward, the trans still shifted fine till then.

find a used unit that is known good and swap them, is the least expensive way.

This car isn't worth the money for a transmission rebuild. And it's really not necessary since you shouldn't have a problem finding a good unit somewhere. Subaru transmissions are easy enough to find that I don't think a rebuild is a good option on any automatic subaru to be honest with you.

 

Seems like you said it's only a FWD which I believe means you could use a turbo transmission if you were really trying to find the cheapest transmission possible, by using the turbo axles or inner joints.

 

The trans failed due to loss of diff gear oil, best to keep an eye on fluids in the future.

no the turbo 3ats still had 23 spline. 3.7 ratio so diff would need swapped, but still capatble with the axles.

 

This is a FWD model so no need to swap differentials. Also the FWD turbo transmission will have a 3.54 differential ratio. Not sure anymore about the axles but still think the turbo and NA axles are different.

okay guys, i hate to sound like a ********************* here, but there is a lot of information that just got thrown my way all at once... it seems that multiple people are faulting the differential rather than the 3at now, so:

 

can i just swap out the differential alone? or do i need to swap out both the transmission and the differential?

 

would swapping just the differential out be any easier?

 

lastly, does anyone have a differential that would work that i could buy?

 

thanks!

 

casey

the differential and transmission are 1 unit, referred as a trans axle, switching from an auto to a manual is a little more involved, you have more parts to swap out, like petal Assembly's, and a few other odds and ends. its not hard, not sure if you can find a 2 wheel drive auto easily. . having owned both , the manual trans is better on gas .and less hi way rpms makes it quieter on freeways. i still run an auto 2 wheel drive wagon, for short city driving , when it blows up ill probably change it to a 5 speed, i have had alot of the auto transmissions fail just like yours did.

 

sorry to confuse you with more opinion.

okay, i have a new lead on an at for my 1989 gl, but it falls one year out of the year range that i was previously told will work, so i figured i would run it by you guys just in case...

 

would a 1995 subaru impreza 3AT bolt into my 1989 GL sedan 3AT 2wd non-turbo?

 

there is one here in town for pretty cheap.

 

thanks!

okay, i have a new lead on an at for my 1989 gl, but it falls one year out of the year range that i was previously told will work, so i figured i would run it by you guys just in case...

 

would a 1995 subaru impreza 3AT bolt into my 1989 GL sedan 3AT 2wd non-turbo?

 

there is one here in town for pretty cheap.

 

thanks!

 

NO ! none of the impreza or legacy trans is the same, and won't bolt up. only dl, gl, gl10, loyale, any 3 spd auto, turbo, or not, if you use a turbo trans it has a higher hwy gearing but will be a little slower to accelerate, and the trans axle stubs are different spline than what you have now, but you then use the turbo axles or 4x4 axles on it.