Just wondering if I've broken the auto trans in this Outback I've been doing a head gasket job on. When I pulled the engine the torque converter fell out a bit, I pushed it straight back in and it spun ok. I put the engine in today and it was a bit tight. Once the engine and trans were mated directly together and tightened down I tried to turn the engine over to bolt up the TC to the flex plate and it wouldn't turn. I tried turning it with a longer lever and the trans gave way with a bit of a tick and grinding sound from the TC and flex plate. After this I tried turning the TC through the starter hole and it would only move back and forth a tiny bit. So I pulled the engine and checked it out, I played around trying to seat the TC and it eventually seated in allowing to turn almost 120 degrees before getting stiffer. I could turn it back and forth about 120 degrees, clockwise would hit a hard point with a clunk noise, anti-clockwise would just get harder and harder to turn and at some points make snicking noises.

 

So, is it just I haven't seated it correctly yet, or is it a broken oil pump?

 

Sounds like a broken oil pump.

There's a circlip kinda dealy that goes in the tube that fits into the TC. You have to pull the tube out and re-seat the circlip correctly.

 

Still entirely possible the trans oil pump is damaged, but I would check the circlip first and try re-seating the TC again.

It was a broken oil pump, rotor snapped into 5 pieces... I've pulled out the Trans, stripped it down to the oil pump assembly, gone to the wreckers and done the same to a 91 Liberty pulled to rotor and vains, put them in this box and assembled it all together again... Currently its bolted to the engine waiting to go back in the car... What a $&!£ design, so easy to get it wrong.

Each manufacturer has its equivalent. I hear on chevy blazers if you raise the front end and run the steering wheel end-end quickly with the engine off you can damage a valve in the rack!