I'm posting this partly to blow off some steam and partly for your advice. I've pulled Subaru engines and transmissions before, but none of them were this finicky. Everything up to this point has gone smoothly. I'm trying to separate the engine from the transmission and it won't budge past about 3mm.

 

It's suspended with the engine mount studs just out of the holes and I've tried wiggling, prying, different combinations of the lift and a jack underneath. There are 6 bolts on the bell housing for this year, right?

 

Any advice?

I believe either 4 or 8, never seen 6.

 

And those dowel's half way down each side.

 

Pitch stopper undone?

either the engine mount bolts aren't clearing the cross member (look underneath and make sure they are clearly above the crossmember), or

you don't have all the bolts out holding the engine to the trans yet - there are 8 bolts on that engine.

 

do NOT pry it - i did that once and a huge chunk of aluminum sheared off the transmission bell housing. i'm lucky i have some limited metal fabrication, working, drilling, welding, torch equipment so i could repair it - but it was not fun and some people would considerable a transmission replacement the only repair.

 

so if something is hug - don't force it.

 

exhaust, pitch stopped, flexplate bolts ( if it has them?)

 

at the same time - it can hang on corroded dowel pins - that would be most likely if this engine has never been out before. if it has they usually come off easier.

 

if you suspect this - gradually "rock" the engine back and forth, it's a tedious process but works - pry one side out a mm or so - then go to the other side and do the same, work your way around the bellhousing doing that - after enough rocking like that it will separate. i've only had one or two that were really bad like that - just needed constant rocking to separate and i pound away with chisels and have a 4 foot unbelievably heavy digging bar, i do not care about scratching or marring the benign bellhousing - i go right at it head on (proven by my shearing of a huge chunk of aluminum off the trans!!!!!).

does this have a hydraulic clutcH? if so, you have to remove a pivot dowel out the side of the trans to free the throwout bearing from the fork

Thanks guys. I'm an old school subie guy and haven't separated anything japanese with more than 4 bolts, before. I'm sure it's because I missed two on the bottom.

 

Yes to pitch stopper undone, yes to mount studs clearing and lots of rocking.

 

Miles, if I am just pulling the engine and selling the transmission later in the partout do I need to mess with the clutch at this point (yes, it's hydraulic)?

 

This is my donor car for a phase II EJ22 swap into my 1987 GL. It was rolled and the body is pretty much trashed, but the guts are great.

You'll want a 14mm swivel socket for the bottom nut above the drivers axle if it's one of the remaining ones.

once all the bolts are out and the engine mounts either unbolted or free of frame, I've always used a bottle jack against a 2x4 on the firewall and the lifting hook to separate a stuck engine.

Has worked whenever I had to resort to it with no problems.

 

O.

Got it out. Once those bottom bolts were off, it came out like cake. The engine looks good. Its currently on a stand. I think I'll just do the basic reseal and oil pan with all subaru gaskets and seals. I should have enough saved up by that time to get an adapter plate from SJR. I plan to mill/grind the holes on the EA82 flywheel myself, using the EJ flywheel as a template.

 

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Glad you got it out.

 

Even though it should be metal reseal the baffle plate while it's out.

 

And most of us purposely don't do the rear main.

Oh yeah, I'll reseal that oil separator. I think a 1999 should already be metal from the factory. I've gone both ways with the rear main seal. This engine has 180,000 miles on it so I might just do it. It looks like it was well taken care of. Oil pan gasket is not leaking, just minor dampness around the valve covers, totally dry timing area, etc... There is a mobile-1 oil filter on it (I only use subaru) and a stock air filter, so it looks like the P.O. was fairly diligent. The clutch/flywheel has a few signs of heat-scoring but Its not getting reused so who cares.

 

I'm actually really interested to pull the clutch off of the EA82 and see what it looks like. I've been the only driver on that clutch (a first for me), though there are many uncommon factors (large diameter tires, only about 3000 miles on it, hard 4x4 driving, etc...).

 

Any tips on getting the entire wiring harness out of the donor car to accompany the engine? I'll just go slow and have patience getting it removed.