johnceggleston

i don't know if this relates to your situation, but a mechanic once told me to be very leary of suby engines with broken timing covers and/or cam sprockets. he said the cam bearings or 'thrust' something can be damaged and you won't know unless you look for it. i don't really know what he was talking about but i put it out there in case it helps. this guy did a lot of 2.5L head gaskets, but had never done a 2.2 > 2,5 swap. so who knows?

with the drive shaft , both sections, removed, there is no seal at the rear output shaft of the trans. the rear seal on the trans 'seals' to the firest piece of the drive shaft. it is not surprising that with a bad u joint and lots of vibration ATF would leak out. i'd replace the rear seal as well as the drive shaft.

what year 2.2 did you buy? if it's an interferrence engine, 97- up, you might have valve damage. why did you have to replace the cam sprocket?

i have replacment bearings for both the ac idler pulley and the compressor pulley. let me know if you are interested.

larry, in your first post you said the 97 TCU didn't work because the car wouldn't start, did it not turn over, starter didn't engage or would it turn over and not fire? i was wondering if the 97 TCU didn't 'see' the neutral switch. maybe the pinout changed slightly on the connector. it seems the 97 tcu would be a better choice for the trans but would it be more work getting it to run? i didn't re-read the bulk of this thread so forgive me if this has been covered.

it's the TCU codes and from what i've read it's fairly complicated. this is why i suggested the dealer. but if you search and ask some one will tell you how to do it. have you checked the connectors going to the trans? there is a main connector located on or near the top of the trans, passenger side near the fire wall. you might check it, unplug it and look to see if any of the pins are bent. since the TCU wasn't removed, i doubt that the conections there have changed any. check the A/T fluid level, drivers side near the fire wall, yellow dip stick. check it cold first then hot. it can be difficult to read when hot. look at both sides of the dip stick. did the trans run right before the engine was pulled? is the blinking A/T temp light intermittent, does it come and go? as nipper often says, a blinking light is not to be ignored.

this sounds like torque bind. it will cause a flashing A/T Temp light at start up. it will flash 16 times just after you start the car. do a search and read up on it. this is probably something else, but still elcetronic in the trans. you need to have your trans trouble codes read. this will tell you alot. your problem may be a conector or a bad duty solenoid. it may be in addition to the torque bind (which could be a bad duty 'c' solenoid) or it could be instead of. don't go to a transmission shop, unless oyu know and trust them. either find a way to read the codes yourself, or go to the dealer to have them read. after you find out what the codes are then you can address the problem. be very specific when asking for the codes to be read. you want the codes (numbers) as well as the explanation. there are not many things that have to be done by the dealer, but reading trans codes may be quicker and easier that way. it sound like you are going to have a great car.

year, make, model, miles???? how long have you had the car? is the shift shock new or different than it has been? other history?

you don't even need to do that. if you don't put any thing into the trans cooler part, nothing will leak out. the trans cooler part of the rad is sealed and seperate from the coolant.

someone suggested "NO pb blaster" on the rear mounting studs on the diff. if they unthread from the diff housing (instead of removing the nuts) the diff can come strait down, doesn't have to move forward before it can drop.

it won't do it when you are going strait. the front and rear wheels need to be turning at different speeds to have torque bind. going strait, they turn the same. try going forward in slow tight turns, wheels turned all the way to the right. then try the left. this is the test for binding. it's all determined by the speed difference front and rear.

let's review.... if your car is a 96 2.5L outback the trans part number will be TZ102Z2ABA . you can use any auto trans from a 2.5L auto car, wagon or sedan, 96 - 98 and a few early 99s. this includes leg GTs, leg LSi's and Outbacks. the part number for your matching trans will start with TZ102Z2.....and end with aca or aba or cba or caa..... if you match the beginning of the part number, not only will it work, the final drive will be the EXACT same. you can use any auto trans from a 2.2L 95 - 98 leg whose part number doesn't have the second 2 if you also swap in the matching rear differential. the best choice will be decided by how much does it cost, how much to ship, if any, and how much to install. but having outback, GT and LSi to choose from increases the the supply. i would probably go with the "best mileage for the money".

why not pull the fuses, 2 or 3 a night untill you find the circuit? of course you'll have to have a way to jump the car in the morning until you find the culprit.

there should ba a vin# etched into the block on the passenger side, kinda low very close to the rear edge. but i don't think you'll ever see it with the engine in the car. i had to look twice with the engine on the bench. auto trans have the same thing on drivers side in the center of the case.

i don't reall know if the procedure is the same for cars without the power light, but i think the power light was replaced by the AT TEMP light for trans warning purposes. maybe for code reading as well????

there is a difference between 'locked' and operating your car in first. when 'locked' the front and rear wheels turn exactly the same number of turns. this is ok for snow, ice gravel dirt etc. not so good on pavement. in first gear the A/T transfer clutch still allows for a difference in front and rear speeds, similar to an open diff. it also prevents damage to your trans, transfer chutch, drive train and tires. it was designed this way. this is why nipper says not to use the term 'locked' for having the car in first gear. when operating correctly the transfer clutch doesn't lock any thing, it splits, shares, distributes, sends the power from the engine to the rear wheels. the front wheels are always powerd by the trans just like front wheel drive car with an auto trans. most of you know this, but some new guys may not. now that i've stirred the pot, i'm out of here.

this is your alarm system. if you look around under the dash near the fuse box on the left of the steering wheel, you should find a push button (it may be danglinig on a wire, not mounted) , press it with the key on. or use your remote maybe.

my first clue was the different connectors with different number of pins between the 99 phase 2 and the 95-98 phase 1. for 10 years they had been using the TZ102Z... series trans, in 99 they went with the TZ1A2Z...... 2ND was an ad on ebay for a trans wirring harness, the one that goes into the the trans case, for a 99 outback auto trans. it had more wires and what appeared to be 2 more of the speed sensors like the one in the transfer case. 3RD some one posted a link to a 99 trans diagram of some kind and it showed me something to confirm my thinking. the added sensors could be temp or something else but they looked like the speed sensors to me. but i'm not an engineer nor a subaru expert, so i could be wrong.

do you have torque bind. when my 95 leg sedan with a 96 leg wagon auto trans got torque bind and a flashing AT temp light i put in the fuse and the FWD light came on and the flashing light and TB went away. we drove it like this for a while. then, occasionally, the torque bind and flashing light would come back even with the fuse in. when this happened the FWD light would go out. conclusion, if you put in the fuse and the FWD light comes on the duty c is working, if the FWD light doesnot come on then the duyt c is not working. i haven't studied this problem in depth so my conclusion may be wrong, but the facts are correct. in my car, if the duty c is not working the fwd light will not come on. we finally removed the rear section of drive shaft until we replace the duty c.

the phase 2 trans, 99 and up, has at the very least, 2 more speed sensors. i think they are internal. they are the simple one like the one on the rear extention housing. this by it self adds 2 more wires to the wiring harness / connector. i don't know what other changes they may have made in 99.

the new plates have a large arrow on them indicating where the 'treated' screw goes. i don't know for sure, but i assume the bolt hole for that one goes all the way thru to the oil area and therefore they want it sealed, not just torqued. i assume the other bolt holes are just that, bolt holes with bottoms. if torqued to spec, they work just fine. sealant or tocktite is optional for these, but torque specs change when you 'lube' a bolt. i don't know how locktite would affect this.

if you still have the old trans hanging around, i'd compare the connectors on the trnas wiring to see if thay are the same. of course the connectors are the same but do they have the same pins. some one a long long time ago talked about swapping a trans and having to rework the wiring at the connector, because of the change from one gen to the next. i don't really remember. but i think he had major driving issues, not just a flashing light. a 95 to 96 swap should work, the 96 to 95 did for me. i'll bet it's something specific to that trans like a bad solenoid, not a generic swap conflict.

or: http://www.car-part.com also, i assume you look in the for sale section here. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76738&highlight=tail+light

my memory of the related thread is that the problem was a bad seal... o-ring maybe. the thread was very specific. would a fluid "designed" to enhance, improve, renew seals be a possible additive? or are they just bunk?

maybe the pin you use for the 4wd locked switch is involved. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50264 i just read through andyjos details and it sounds like pin 11 with a 13 ohm resistor might do it. this is just a wild a$$ guess on my part, i don't really know much about electronics.