el_freddo

I can’t remember if the phase 1 gearbox has two pivot ball locations. The phase 2 boxes do for sure and the cable pivot is the one further away from the input shaft. I put two washers behind my pivot ball (on phase 2 cases) to get better leverage as the clutch fork would max out on the back of the hole it pokes out from. I think it had something to do with an aftermarket TOB that was a couple of mm thinner. Cheers Bennie

I’m guessing the fuel temp and tank pressure readings are in the later models. I don’t have any of those in my EJ22’d L series, it runs a cutdown Gen1 series 2 factory management. Down here we have to keep the factory emissions with engine conversions to get engineering, or pass a $1275ish emissions test that you two attempts at before you’re up for another round of 1275! That’s before you get to pay for the engineering certificate on the engine conversion itself. Hence why I was asking. I also found using second hand parts much more economical in my situation. Horses for courses, at the end of the day if it goes and you’re happy that’s all that matters. Cheers Bennie

When driving at speed and the AC compressor is engaged you shouldn’t really feel it too much if at all in a modern vehicle. With that said, the compressor is going from a standstill to pretty much instantaneously spinning at the speed of the fan belt. That could be enough to feel but it should subside quickly rather than feeling underpowered from there on until the compressor turns off again. Do you have a lightened flywheel? Cheers Bennie

I’ve been told that gas and oil filled struts will behave differently but not really noticeably unless you swapped from a good/new set of one type to a good/new set of the other type etc. I was just glad to stop my L’s rear end trying to crab walk during high speed cornering. That wasn’t fun! Cheers Bennie

What’s the reason for aftermarket, is it deemed an easier install for you to be successful with? Cheers Bennie

A mate at a dealership or a forum told me, can’t remember which. That’s when I noticed I could only get gas KYBs in stores or online. The gas shocks sit higher than the old oil units with the same springs, there could be a difference between the two for height but other than general observation on this one swap I don’t have any strong basis to say this is a sure thing that will change. It could’ve been the new rubber bush at the base of the shock that wasn’t crushed that made the difference in my case. It still sits a bit higher (which I like). Cheers Bennie

Dunno how it is in the US but over here OEM KYBs are oil filled - only available through dealerships that charge and arm and a leg over here! The “aftermarket” KYB units are gas filled. I’ve got a set on the back of my L series and they go quite well. Once they start leaking they’ll be dead in no time unlike the oil units that keep going for some time after they start leaking. Cheers Bennie

Not really. Looking for the dual range lever will tell you if it’s dual range or not. 4wd button on the gear stick is single range. AWD with locking centre diff comes in the RXII coupe (turbo) and some JDM spec turbo wagons/sedans. Dunno if it came in any other US spec vehicles. There’s a diff lock switch on the console usually. Wagons are typically all 4wd with the exception of some early units that were 2wd. I hope that helps. Cheers Bennie

Do you still have the engine cover fitted under the engine? This can have a huge effect on airflow through the radiator. There could still be other issues at play too - leaky head gasket could be one for example. Cheers Bennie

I think I’ll hold onto my L series and brumby for as long as I can!! $10G for an exhaust part is ridiculous to say the least! Cheers Bennie

OP hasn’t logged in since March 25th. Without an update or further info I doubt this will progress any further. Any updates @KevinP? Cheers Bennie

Not all. There are some single range units and fewer AWD units. Both have a little lever on the RHS. AWD lever pivots down low with the arm facing up, the PT4WD single range has a lever the pivots up high on the side of the gearbox with the arm facing downward. Both are actuated by a big vacuum diaphragm that’s mounted on the LHS behind the bell housing. It’s big and gold-like in colour usually. The dual range PT4WD box doesn’t have any levers on the side of the gearbox, but does have a rod that passes through the square plate rear section (both sides) and a rod that connects to the dual range gear selector on the RHS behind the bell housing. The AWD has a similar setup too. All share the same clutch cable, gear selector rod connections and gearbox mountings. Cheers Bennie

Also correct if everything in the 1600 is shared with the early 1800 gear. I’m not sure on what changes were made from the 1600 to 1800 in mounting arrangements or the tail shaft length etc. Cheers Bennie

Yep, genuine gaskets between the head and intake. I learned this lesson many years ago and stick with it on my EA81 too. No issues with those gaskets in there since replacing them in 2017. Cheers Bennie

Correct

They’ll physically be the same and bolt in no worries. The difference is in the diff ratio. You could install it, select 4wd and see if it will move ok. If it feels like your driving with the hand brake being increasingly applied the front and rear diff ratios don’t match. The other way to work it out is by counting the teeth on the ring gear through the drain hole. 37 teeth = 3.7:1 ratio; 39 teeth = 3.9:1 ratio. NOTE for those using this with later model gearboxes and diffs, 39 teeth on the crown wheel can also be 3.545 ratio (rear diff) and 37 teeth can be 4.111 ratio. I can’t remember the number of teeth for 4.44. The difference is the number of teeth on the pinion gear. Cheers Bennie

That is the MY/Brat/EA81 dual range 4wd 4spd gearbox. Cheers Bennie

I’d do a compression check first up. You could have an issue with a cracked piston or something random like that. Do you know the history of this engine? I’m wondering if it was overheated previously and has caused some issue with the piston or cylinder liner. Rare if it is either of those. If one cylinder is clearly down on compression compared to the rest of them, get a bore scope down the spark plug hole and see if you can see any ring landing damage/chipped piston. Cheers Bennie

Did you use a genuine tensioner or an aftermarket one? It’s odd that it came and went. Got any codes? That could point you in the right direction. If you did a big end you’ll be sure to hear it on start up when cold. It shouldn’t come and go when driving, but knocking on start up is a definite sign of an impending issue. I hope it’s a tensioner issue! Cheers Bennie

Have you removed the CV shaft from the diff before trying to remove it from the hub centre? If not, do this first and it involves removing that big long bolt for the two lower control rods/arms to pull the whole knuckle assembly away from the diff for the driveshaft to pull out of the diff or slide off the stub axle. This should allow the shaft to slide out of the hub, then you can get to dealing with the knuckle and the bearings (best to remove from the vehicle and deal with it in a press). Cheers Bennie

Are you in the rust belt? If so there’s half your problem. One that I did for a mate years ago we pulled the whole hub/knuckle off the vehicle and used a press on the bearings. The drive shaft *should* slide out of the hub no issues. I was able to remove the hub from the knuckle with a pin punch and small mallet, that was easy. Getting the bearing casing out of the knuckle required a press. Once that was out, fitting it all back together was the easy bit. Cheers Bennie

What 6 star said plus: Check your selector linkage bush to see if it’s still there/surviving. Also check to see if the retainer pin has any slack in it - not usually an issue in this model though. Check that your oil level is correct too. Doubling the clutch can really help with gear changes. Reverse uses 1st gear, so selecting 1st or 2nd before going for revere will stop all rotation when stationary, giving you a generally clean reverse selection. Lastly it could be a terminal issue - a gear that’s about to let go from some other issue within the gearbox. Probably not likely if this box is factory sealed still. I’m only sharing this as I had a “built” gearbox let go of second several years after having it build. Admittedly that box was from factory parts and apparently someone before me mismatched gearsets, resulting in 2nd letting go at the worst time possible. In the lead up to this 2nd became super hard to select unless very spot on rev-matching was done. It let go several hundred km later on a gentle downshift rolling up a hill, little to no engine braking. Hope those things to check out help you out. Hopefully it’s not a failure in the making as this gearbox will be a 3.9 ratio and is harder to find than the 3.7 ratio. Cheers Bennie

Hey mate, there you are! Thanks for that. We’ll be hitting up FROG on Monday, hoping for the best. Cheers Bennie

Thats how It was done over here. If equipment ran with the R12A then that’s all good. Once recharge was required, if the AC service person had R12A in stock they could use it. If not the system had to be changed over. This is why I find it surprising that it’s still available. AFAIK our change over of old equipment/these requirements came in to effect a good thirty years ago. I know that R12A is preferred over R134A for refrigeration. And from what I’ve only heard around the traps, they say that R1341A is very damaging in terms of climate change stuff. Anyway, that’s quite off topic, I was just really surprised to hear that you could still buy R12A. Cheers Bennie

How is it that r134a is illegal but you can freely get and legally use Ozone damaging R12A?? Crazy! There’s also a sight glass in one of the lines. We used LPG or hichill in my L series (changed all the O rings to be compliant). When running, you should see a continuous stream of tiny bubbles flowing through the sight glass. Don’t know how different it looks with other refrigerants. If you have access to another Subaru with working AC, you could check out that sight glass activity and try your best to match that. Cheers Bennie