Seguaying now; anybody can save this GL-10?!

[l75eya]

Concerning a vehicle in the classifieds here with a bum transmission....

It is an 86 gl-10 air suspension auto transmission..

The auto in this means it's an all wheel drive version, correct? Anyway, the tranny has issues and I'm wondering if it's possible to either;

 

A.) Swap in the 3AT from our 93 loyale FWD...

Would it be possible to swap this transmission in and just remove the driveshaft and leave the car as front wheel drive for the time being. Is this feasable? I understand the front axles from the loyale would need to be swapped as well as they are 23 spline in an automatic FWD loyale, and 25 spline in a turbocharged AWD gl-10....or

 

B.) Swap in the dual range from the 87 GL....

This seems like it would be the easier route, but is there any wiring issues I would run into going from the carb'd GL into the turbo MPFI Gl-10.

I understand I would still be facing the axle issues in the front. and I would have to swap in the 87 GL's rear differential/axles as well as the GL-10 had a different gear ratio? Or maybe I could just swap it all in and use the car only in FWD mode for the time being... (not sure if that would work)

And would the axles from either of the above cars be compat. with the air suspension in the GL-10?

 

the opportunity to get this car kind of came last minute and there is not much time to act on it, hence the desperate questions.

 

Thank you a million for any/all info

Edited May 21, 2012 by l75eya

[MilesFox]

either way will work. the 86 gl10 is a 3at with part time 4wd. you can swap in a fwd 3at plug and play.

 

you can swap the 5spd dual range ,you will have to wire in the reverse lites and or the neutral switch. you can defeat the neutral switch y jumpering the 2 fat wires in the shifter harness.

 

all of these trans have 23 spline. all 3ats have 23 spline, and the turbo has 23 spline with the fatter cups that swap with 25 spline axles.

 

the axles your car already has is considered an upgrade (turbo 3at) for any non turbo with 23 splines.

 

it is as simple and actually simpler than what you are thinking.

[l75eya]

all of these trans have 23 spline

 

Just to be clear, an 86 4wheel drive automatic transmission turbocharged GL-10 would have 23 spline axles?

[WoodsWagon]

Yes, 3at is 23 spline turbo or not.

 

The 5spd swap will make it a much better car because the 3at sucks something fierce. No overdrive, no lockup torque converter, and known for apple-coring the governor drive gear so it won't shift up on it's own anymore.

You will get a better driving experience and improved MPG with the 5spd swap. If it had the later 4eat, I'd say keep it auto, but the 3at is junk.

 

If you have a donor car there, the swap is pretty easy, just transferring components from one car to the other. The wiring is pretty simple, reverse lights, jumper for the start circuit, and the clutch switch for the neutral position input for the computer.

[l75eya]

Thanks for replies, going to check out the car today!

The governor gear is what seemed to be the issue with this car.....

 

Would a completely screwed up governor gear render the car undrivable? As you mentioned it would prevent the tranny from shifting up on it's own, would it still be able to be shifted manually?

 

So the turbo 5 speeds were the one that got those 25 spline axles then?

 

I've got experience with the 3at and the 5 speed and what a difference.

Though we haven't had any issues with the 3at in 40,000 miles (and counting)

4,000 rpm at 66 MPH is no fun and the car gets 25 mpg max on the highway compared to the 5 speed which gets close to 35.

 

So pretty sure 5 speed will be going in = )

[Gloyale]

Thanks for replies, going to check out the car today!

The governor gear is what seemed to be the issue with this car.....

 

Would a completely screwed up governor gear render the car undrivable? As you mentioned it would prevent the tranny from shifting up on it's own, would it still be able to be shifted manually?

 

 

 

You can start in 1st, and shift manually to 2nd. 3rd won't work.

 

Did you check for sure that the car actually is 4wd? There were FWD, turbo, GL-10s. Although the air suspension probably means it 4wd.

[l75eya]

Yeah, it's most definitely a push button 4wd. Went and checked out the car today, and man, was I disappointed. Felt very bad for the seller, as well (diehardgl10 on these boards). The car was once so pristine, and it's a gl-10! The interior is awesome, the trip computer is cool, the stereo is cool, cruise control, power sunroof; I drool over GL-10's, but the sad thing is that this car has sat in the same spot (in a grassy yard) for 4 years, the whole frame is starting to rot out, so I had to pass on it. Such a shame

 

Thanks for the replies and the info, a mental note has been taken about all that. (Got lots of those from this site now haha)

 

I really do empathize for the seller though, if there is ANYbody that can go and grab this car for parts, the kid might take $250 for the whole thing. He had an Japanese import motor installed that (when installed) was guaranteed under 60k miles. It was professionally installed, I saw this car personally and can say that it was installed cleanly. It runs *great*. The starter was sticking a bit from sitting, but it only took one turn for her to fire up and it sounds great, doesn't leak at all from what I could see. The undercarriage was bone dry.

 

I really wish I had the space, money, and time to just pull the engine out of it, it's a gem...

 

Not to mention it has the rubber/foam spoiler on the trunk, the black accent on the back, and a freshly rebuilt turbocharger. The kid has no time to rip parts off of it and get them out to people as the car has to be gone very very soon and he's busy.

 

So, if anybody is interested in saving what is a very, very well running and strong engine, here is a link to the classified ad on this site (link to pics is in the post);

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127385

 

Here's to hoping somebody can salvage/save it a bit.

Edited May 21, 2012 by l75eya