I have a 1997 Legacy Wagon L, 2.2L. It is an automatic and it has 170k miles. It was doing great except for an oil leak. It had a major oil leak that was slinging oil everywhere which made it hard to tell exactly where the leak was coming from and if it was just coming from one place or from multiple places. I decided to pull the engine and replace the front and rear engine seals, rear main, oil separator plate, torque converter, timing belt, the o ring that is in the cover located to the left of the rear main, and I think thats it. I know I replaced the oil pump seal but I think that is considered a front engine seal. Anyways, when I put the engine back in, it started right up nicely and it was not leaking anymore from what I could tell. So I went to take it around the block to warm it up and it would not move. It feels like the transmission went out. I went to look at the transmission fluid and it was very nasty and black, like old oil. Now before I go buy a new transmission I just wanted to post here and see if this may have happened to anyone else. Maybe I did something wrong and its a simple fix or maybe my trans was on its was out and the work that I did to it just made it go? Im not sure but any help would be appreciated. Also when I had the engine out I pressured washed everything to clean all the oil that was everywhere. Could that of messed something up? Before doing the work I never noticed any slipping or anything but I have heard of cases where people wont feel any slipping but then they go to replace the fluid and it makes the whole trans go out. Thank you for your time and help.

it sounds like the torque converter was not fully seated when you installed the engine and when you tightened the bolts up it crushed the trans oil pump. this is not an uncommon occurrence for first timers.

 

there is a good thread covering how to seat the torque convertr, search ''torqueconverter'' and read some of the older threads.

 

the solution is a used trans.

 

sorry for your problems.

I agree with John. However, the trans is not lost. The pump can be repaired. I did this years ago. I was able to find used parts at a trans shop. Pulled it apart and replaced the broken pump drive. Hardest part was putting the planetaries back together. Not sure what a transmission shop would charge to replace the parts but might be cheaper than replacement.

like they said,the torque converter wasn't properly seated and now the oil pump isn't moving any ATF.

 

it's not too hard to find a junk trans and yank the oil pump bits you need for it if you or a shop repair it. you could post on here for the oil pump parts in the parts wanted forum.

 

252-977-3710 has one in North Carolina for $500. looks like that area is the high end of the spectrum, there's a bunch around me for $250 and $300.

Well that sounds like my problem. Thank you all for clearing that up for me. I guess I gotta learn the hard way. I appreciate your quick replies. You guys are always right on.

i have a 95 auto trans out of an impreza with less than 100k miles. let me know if you are interested.

 

the only difference is the speedo drive, mine is cable driven and yours has a speed sensor. the change over is really simple. everything else is exactly the same.

 

i'm in roanoke, va. we could meet half way.

Honestly, if you make the mistake of not fully seating the TC and pulling the bellhousing together with the bolts, then you probably shouldn't be digging around inside the transmission.

 

Did the TC spin freely from the flexplate when you went to put the 4 bolts in through the access hole in the bellhousing? If it did, then you probably didn't crush the pump. If it was a pain to get lined up to the holes in the flexplate, there's your problem.

 

Now, you also said that you replaced the TC. Did you add the 6qts or so of ATF that the TC holds? It could be that the transmission sucked the sump dry trying to fill the new empty TC and there wasn't any fluid left to run the hydraulics.

If you drained the converter while it was out, you need to put more fluid in to bring the level up.

 

Was there room between the converter and flex plate after the engine and trans were mated back together? There should be roughly 1/8"- 1/4" of space between the two when the converter is fully seated into the trans.

The torwue converter will seat about 3 times as it seats on both shaftsm adn into the ump housing. it is best to leave the TC on the trans, unbolted form the motor when removing the motor, if the tC is not leaking.

I have a 1991 4EAT trans that is ready to run, already replaced the cable drive speed sensor with the newer electronic version. $150 plus shipping if your're interested.