carfreak85

More testing in progress...

More background: Back end of the car is on the ground, front end on jackstands with the transmission in park. Update: We did some playing around with the halfshafts to see if it made a difference from side to side. I pulled both, reinstalled the passenger's side axle on the driver's side (only one axle installed) and the clunking was very faint. With only one axle out you couldn't really tell there was a problem. I could feel something, but my dad said it felt like the ring and pinion meshing to him. However, with both axles installed in their original positions you could feel the clunking, loud and clear. We swapped the axles side-to-side to confirm, and the clunking was still there, unchanged. I'm headed to the junkyard to try to find a spare axle.

Where do you folks source quality replacement axles? I just looked them up on www.subarugenuineparts.com and they want $375 PER AXLE!!!

Update: I pulled the halfshaft from the offending corner and it feels pretty smooth. No binding as it goes through it's movement, DOJ extends and compresses ok. I'll drop the driveline after work today to see how that feels.

Update: I drained the front differential and the fluid was caramel colored, not too smelly, perhaps a bit thin, but otherwise in great condition. The magnet on the drain plug only had a light dusting of debris, nothing alarming at all.

1 Lucky Texan - I haven't dug that deep yet, but I will find out tonight.

The clunking is only audible at lower speeds in lower gears, while in gear, not during shifts. I can't figure out how to make the clunk consistently while driving, but my wife claims to hear it often. I heard it at least twice on a five minute test drive before I pulled it in for the repairs. The trans mount looks great for the mileage on the chassis, haven't inspected the pitch mount yet.

Background: Struts are all newish, brakes recently serviced, new inner/outer tie rods, new ball joints, new FCAR bushings, wheels rebalanced, recent alignment. Symptoms: Faint clunking noise at low speeds while accelerating. Shaking at 60 mph, felt like unbalanced wheel, except we just had them rebalanced. Back story: I've been chasing an issue with the passenger's front wheel on our 1999 Forester for a few months now. The car is closing in on 200k miles and I had just finished replacing the ball joints and tie rod ends on the car when I noticed the passenger's side front control arm rear bushing was pretty badly torn. I replaced that bushing, got an alignment, then my wife tells me that the car is shaking on the highway. OK, wheels must be out of balance, so we get them rebalanced. No change. I do the wheel shake test and I felt some play, so let's take a look at the wheel bearing. Wheel and brakes removed, I can feel some clunking as I turn the hub. The driver's side feels smooth when rotated, but there is obviously something wrong with the passenger's side. I get the passenger's side spindle assembly on the bench expecting to find some grumbling and play, but it feels pretty smooth in rotation, with no axial or radial play. So I grab the halfshaft and rotate it. The clunking is still present, but it doesn't feel like it's coming from the CV or DOJ. I supposed it could be either of those parts, but I get the feeling that the passenger's side differential carrier bearing is going south. Question: I've read a lot about Subaru transmissions over the years and that if not reassembled properly with the correct backlash and bearing preload, they will fail again in pretty short order. As I see it, we've got a few options on how to proceed: 1) Rebuild the original transmission - Has to go to a shop and could get expensive with labor and, "while we're in there" incidentals, rebuild could re-fail 2) Replace original transmission with a good used one - I can do this, no problem, but I worry about getting a bad used transmission 3) Sell the car and find the wife a new vehicle - Since our Forester is a the bottom of it's depreciation curve right now, does it really make sense to sink $600-3,000 into a vehicle that's only worth $4,000 tops? Looking for opinions, experiences, etc. If you've got a nice, used transmission, I'm all ears too!

Just because you found a search result doesn't mean that person completed a 5 speed swap.

LOL at "thousands". "Hundreds" would be more accurate and is still probably optimistic. OP, it's your call on the flywheel bolts. I chose to put sleeves on my bolts because, even with the bolts torqued to spec, it sounded like a rod was knocking when I started the engine.

Will it fit? Yes and no... As mentioned, the early EA81s will need to have some aluminum ground off the lower engine-side bellhousing. AT and turbo engines don't need to have this done. While the flywheel bolt pattern matches the pattern on the EA81 flywheel, the EA82 uses fatter bolts, so you'll have to machine sleeves to take up the space between the EA82 bolt hole and the thinner EA81 flywheel bolt. Not sure about the pressure plate interchange, but look up the part numbers and see.

GD, I think you might be mistaken on the EA81 GL-10 and Turbo info. I've got some documents to scan and share...

I'd be willing to bet the stock brake bias for most Subarus of any generation is closer to 80% front /20% rear.

GD, got a link to your buddy's inlet? I'm in need of something to delete the silencer on my EJ20G swap.

LOL, you're out of the Subaru game? MORE FOR ME!!!! You got lucky that you didn't keep that Honda Odyssey as long as you kept your Civic, otherwise your transmission would have surely s#it the bed by now.

Why do you need an EA81T harness? Just merge your BRAT's original harness with the Legacy's and build any missing circuits from scratch.

*cough* 360 *cough*couch* Sambar

AdventureSubaru, what did it cost to ship your Toyota? Grossgary, Depending on how things go with the seller, I will be on the East coast later this month and could alter my plans while out there. Otherwise it would depend on how quickly I could arrange shipping, or find an engine to swap in and drive it home.

It's not looking good for me, but I'm keeping faith! Grossgary, do you know anyone local who could pick it up and deliver it to you? Or have any suggestions?

A small, skinny one. Unless your car started life with an automatic, the trans tunnel will be pretty narrow.

I've got an EA81 (for the failed resistor pack in the T-wagon) and an EA82 resistor pack on the way to my local dealer. I'll see if I can get a fan speed switch too. Thanks!

Gosh, I hope the seller doesn't think I'm a Nigerian Prince, all I did was ask for their number, then gave them mine... Grossgary, my computer was acting up so I didn't have access. I'll give it another go today.

Anyone have any idea why my HVAC's blower motor will only operate on fan speed 3? I thought that if the blower motor's resistor pack failed, it would only work on fan speed 4...

Grossgary, I'll get you the info when I get home (work computer doesn't like copy/paste on USMB, Craigslist is blocked too...). The seller doesn't want to call me or provide me their phone number...

I guess some unpaid time off is in my future then. Your offer of assistance (or lack thereof) will be noted for future reference...