Hey all.

 

I have a '99 Legacy Outback Wagon that has a bad differential inside the transaxle. It's already been diagnosed and I know this to be the issue. (It has also already happened once before on this car, which we fixed by getting a junkyard unit installed that lasted for a fairly long time.) The car is perfectly drivable in the meantime, but I have been quoted
2700 dollars to have a mechanic do the job himself, and due to the age of the car, I'd probably just scrap it if the problem became bad enough, rather than pay that price. (I don't really want to do this if I can help it. Lots of good memories in the car.)

 

What I'm wondering is how difficult it would be to replace the transaxle on my own. I've never done such a thing before, but I do have a full toolset and I am decently handy. I know that it'll probably involve removing the exhaust and such in order to get access to it.

 

Also, in a similar vein, would it be worth the extra work to pull one from a junkyard myself before replacing it on my car? If I were able to pull it, I could get one from the local pick-n-pull for 99$.

 

Any thoughts (including other options I havn't mentioned) and advice are appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Yes and Yes

 

Not to hard, you want to make sure the TC remains fully seated.  Make sure the front & rear diffs are the same ratio.  

 

The UPAP option is worth it, if you can find one from a car that was hit pretty hard, side or rear, that way you can be pretty sure it was going down the road.

t I have been quoted 2700 dollars to have a mechanic do the job himself

 

that's very pricey, shopping around would save you $2,000 probably even if you didn't do the actual swap yourself.

$400 transmission + $400 to install = $800

 

call around to 10 shops/mechanics and find some better prices/people to install a used transmission that you supply.  should be able to find a place to do it for $500 or less....maybe a slight premium for CA urban environment, but shouldn't be much.

 

www.car-part.com, search by zipcode ask questions here about finding a good used transmission.

ebay and jdmenginedepot are other sources

 

the problem may simply be that the shop can't source a reasonable priced transmission and places do freak out about 1999's for a variety of reasons.  that is somewhat of a crossover year

1996-1999 OBW, SUS, GT, and EJ25 equipped LSi's should fit your vehicle - but ask first.

 

you could even swap an earlier EJ22 (probably 1996-1998 auto) transmission into it if you swapped the rear diff to match.

open your options up like that and you can often find a cheaper  transmission.

 

i've had a couple bad front diffs - i've never tried it but always wondered if i converted them to RWD if that would take the loading off the front diff and it would prevent it from getting worse?  do you need AWD, LOL?

 

otherwise - yes - install it yourself!  the FSM's are readily available free on the internet, get one of those and sift through the procedure, keeping in mind often the FSM has unnecessary steps.  like disconnecting the fuel lines and battery i'd never do for a trans swap...

Edited November 23, 201411 yr by grossgary