AdventureSubaru

Best to get a new separator plate from subaru? Anyone else carry them?

Having just done this for the first time, if you follow the steps outlined in this thread, you should have no trouble. First timer, done in 3 minutes. Here's another way to see that it's in place. Look at the torque converter through the hole in the bell housing for the starter. There should be less than 1/8 of an inch between torque converter and the bell housing. Here's a shot for a little extra help. This is a 2000 Outback. The rim of the torque converter was just under 3/16 of an inch from the bell housing.

Replacing the trans on a 2000 Legacy Outback. Had the new trans lined up and ready to start hoisting and realized I was getting ahead of myself. The car loses about 1 1/2 quarts between oil changes. (No big deal for a Subaru well over 200k) Looked at the flywheel and this is what I saw. Am I correct in thinking this is a light rear main seal leak? And if so, where are the best places to get a replacement? I'm sure Autozone etc. have them but wasn't sure if this is one of those things to go Subaru only or not.

Thanks for the help. The trans is out and sitting beside the new (ish) one. My 03 tranny did not come with a torque converter so I'm swapping the 2000 over to the new trans. Just in case, is there a way to visually inspect the torque converter to be sure it's still good? High miles on the original trans but I don't hear of these going bad often. P.S. read plenty on seating it so hopefully that will go smooth. mnwolftrack should get a Christmas card from any of us who swap an automatic trans.

Thanks for the advice. Got the Torque Converter bolts off. Now just rigging a come along to lower it and a ratcheting strap to hold the back end to lower it smoothly. (Here's hoping anyway.) Any better ways to lower/raise the tranny without an actual transmission jack?

There are two metal hoses coming off the drivers side of the trans. I could disconnect the rubber hoses where they mate up above the driver side axle, but the hoses on the replacement trans are both bent backwards and are unusable, so I'm having to swap the metal hoses over to the new trans. One bolt is 19mm on the top rear. The other that is just above the front of the trans pan is larger than 19mm. I'm assuming it's 21mm but don't have anything larger in metric to know for sure.

I'm removing the 4EAT (auto) out of a 2000 Legacy Outback. Replacing it with a 2003 4EAT also from an outback. Been reading up via search for the last hour. Still not sure of a few things. The axle pins are out, I think I have all the bell housing bolts off. Starter, drive shaft and exhaust system have been removed. Trans is drained. Electrical, disconnected. What size bolt am I looking at to remove the forward drivers side hose? It's larger than 19mm and I'm going to have to buy a socket specifically for it. How do I best remove the flex plate/torque converter bolts for a 2000 and newer? Every write up that I've found describing this process is for earlier model Subes. This is the larger problem I've run into and is halting my progress. I can see one of the bolts from underneath behind the oil pan but don't see how I can get a wrench in there. How many bolts connect the engine and trans? I have 6 bolts out and 2 nuts removed but the 2003 trans has 10 holes for mounting bolts. (pretty sure I factored the two pins into this.) Any help would be much appreciated on this. Ready for this thing to be out of the car.

Do tell... Sounds like a worthwhile addition to my 2000 Outback. How do you do it?

wow... what's the story behind those shots?

The topic has been discussed and debated a lot. If you do a search in the forums you should see a lot of these opinions. The general consensus seems to be that the newer subarus are best for on road driving through rain/snow etc. with the AWD advantage. The old 4x4s are best for real off road conditions. That being said, there are plenty of modifications available for the newer generations to make them very trail worthy. I am in the process of lifting my Impreza for such reasons. There are some very formidable rigs out there that are of the newer generation. But for cheap and reliable wheeling - I'd go with the old 4x4s any day - Cheaper, simpler, easier to lift, dual range 4WD - they are tough to beat. Getting harder to find though.

progress report? Thinking of a similar process myself.

Left to right - 99 Forester front, 96 Outback front, 99 Forester Rear, 03 Forester rear. Looking at these, it seems the actual height of these when uncompressed is the same. Spring difference - Front - The Forester has got a larger spring compared to the outback. Rear - the 03 Forester seems to have a slightly smaller diameter spring than the 99 Forester. As of now, I'm planning on using the 99 Forester set up front, and the 03 Forester set in the rear. Plus I made a set of 3/8 top spacers all the way around. Any advantage to swapping the Forester springs to the outback strut? Looks the same but i'm new to this.

As far as HP gains are concerned, these older cars get a little gunky sometimes. The hitachi carbs are pretty rough to work with and the performance isn't much, so I think a weber carb or swapping to spfi in the future is a good way to plan. In the meantime, a can of seafoam can go a long way. There are several accounts of these little $7. cans of magic making a night and day difference. You'll smoke the neighbors right out of their houses, but it's great for restoring some lost power if you've got much buildup in the system.

A few other questions. I found a 97 Legacy Outback from which I purchased the rear control arm brackets. I am thinking/planning on getting a few more goodies tomorrow and I'm wondering how much work they are worth. 1. If I undo the bolts holding the transverse links to the frame, does it slide off the back of the control arm? Or must I remove the whole arm? 2. For the front and rear sub-frame spacers - Again, can I undo the bolts to the frame and slide them out? Or do I have to drop the whole sub-frame? 3. Where is this pitch rod on an outback? (Having read up in the "how to lift your impreza" sticky) Am I assuming correctly that it's the end of the steering shaft like the EA series that needs to be lengthened with the lift? 4. If I want longer spacers than 3/8 on my strut tops, whats the easiest process for removing the bolts from the strut top? These are the last few bits I think I'll need before I do my lift. So far I've acquired 1999 Forester Front struts/springs 2003 Forester Rear Struts/springs 1999 Forester rear swaybar brackets 1997 Legacy Outback Trailing arm brackets 4 nearly new 215/75/15 Sentry LT Super R/H tires 3/8 HDPE Strut top spacers Beastly 3x4 custom roof rack I welded up a while back. Pair of Wal-Mart fog lights to accent the roof rack so the rig looks legit. Anything I'm missing/should know about? Wanting this thing ready for the snow.

Sounds good. Craigslist has several good candidates. I should have a good trans in a few days. Is there a writeup on the swap anywhere? Or anything I should know about specific snags in swapping it apart from the torque converter. (been doing some reading. Wish there were more pics.) I haven't done a subaru trans newer than EA81 series yet.

Been researching, and researching, and researching some more and am looking for confirmation and a little help before i buy/swap a used transmission. The car is a 2000 Legacy Outback with the 2.5 and 4eat. I was originally confused by the online part locators because it listed only the 2000 Outback and SUS as compatible. Now I'm thinking that any Phase II 4EAT should be just fine if it has the same gear ratio. Am I correct in that? If so, it seems that some of the 99 outbacks had Phase II and that any of the 2000-2004 Outbacks should be Phase II with the 4.44 ratio. And I'm told any of the 99-01 Foresters are also Phase II 4.44. Questions are - Is there any difference between the various phase IIs apart from the ratios (4.11 or 4.44) such as speed sensors, wiring harness and such? Or is Phase II a Phase II across all the years and models? The transmission about to be replaced is slipping fairly readily in any gear. If the torque converter doesn't come with the transmission I purchase, would it be beneficial/smart to replace that along the way, or am I probably okay? Got several potential trans/donor parts cars found on craigslist and such. Just want to be sure before I go to all the trouble.

Thanks for the tip. The interchange on these things is confusing. Been researching for the last few hours. Still not entirely sure. Correct me if I'm wrong - Looks like I can use any Phase 2 4EAT with a 4.44 gear ratio. This would be some of the 99s and any outback or SUS between 2000 and 2004 as well as the 99-01 Foresters? Hoping i'm right because this gives me a few more options.

Been searching rather fruitlessly for an inexpensive transmission for a 2000 Legacy Outback. As I search I'm finding plenty of 96-99 legacies and outacks being parted, but scarecly a singe 2000+. Anyone ever swap over a trans from an earlier generation? Looking for a little know-how on the possibilities. I would assume different gear ratios and expect to have to swap the rear diff as well. Does the bellhousing bolt up? Wiring harnesses? number of splines on the axles? Starter? Torque converter? I'm willing to do a little extra work to save the money. Not sure if It can go that way easily or not.

Yeah, the GL-10 got parted. I used the trashwagon for a few years as trail car, hunting rig etc. for a few years while I lived in Pennsylvania. Eventually The rust was getting the better of it and I got a deal from a yard that paid $500. no questions for any running/driving 4x4. Still miss that car. Couldn't beat the epressions on the faces of all these guys in lifted trucks and jeeps when this station wagon would pass them on the trails.

Yeah. I work right on the Lakeshore. it's fantastic. These days I'm in Beloit and drive right through Delavan to get to work. Miles - yeah. Been wanting to get plugged in. Don't know if you remember me, but I bought the Trash Wagon 5 replica off of Tim a few years back. Had a lot of adventures with that car.

My friends Impreza wouldn't start. I pulled the starter and had it tested. (it's good.) battery and terminals etc, seemed fine. So I took a wire with the car in neutral and jumped the solenoid from the positive cable and it started right up. I did some reading on the board and suspected the clutch safety switch. I clipped the wires leading to the switch and connected them to bypass the switch - still not starting. I'm wiring a switch straight to the battery so it can start that way. I'd like to get it back to normal as soon as possible since it seems harder on the starter this way. Any guesses on what the issue is?

Bought a set of 96 outback front struts/springs and a set of 03 forester rear struts/springs. Thinking the combo would give me a much better lift than the 99 forester set I had first. Compared them in the garage and was surprised. The front outback struts/springs are the same height as the 99 forester. And the 03 forester rear strut looks a tad shorter than the 99. Am I missing something? Are the springs squishier on the outback or 99 forester to account for the 03+ giving better height? I'm gaining a pile of struts in the garage and trying to decide which 4 are going under my impreza.

Whew! Made it! The trans held up fine. we babied it all the way and altered our route to take the highway as much as possible. (nearly going broke on the toll roads. The state of Illinois is a greedy fiend.) It slipped a little on a couple entrance ramps or pulling away from a toll booth, but otherwise seemed okay. Checked when we got here. Fluid has that nasty burning smell so I'm certainly in the market for a good used trans for the car. We'll share my Impreza until I get her car fixed. Any good info/leads would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys. We're going to cross our fingers and pray a little and see if we can make it okay. I bought some Lucas slip stop and may get a little brake fluid along the way. I'll be shopping for a new trans once we get home. What years/models might be compatable?

About to drive from PA to Wisconsin tomorrow and the transmission on my girlfriends outback has me concerned. 2000 Legacy Outback with the 2.5 and automatic trans. (295k) It has had the delayed forward engagement issue since she bought it and it was getting sticky again so we recently did a trans fluid flush with trans-X to clear it up. For the past month or so it has occasionally shifted hard when accelerating up a hill or under a lot of load. This morning, it's been acting very slippy. Didn't want to fully engage in drive for a while. If you accelerate hard, it often slips. About to take it on an 800 mile drive is a little concerning. What's my best bet from here? I am thinking of adding some Lucas Oil or at least having it along. Anyone with more Subaru know how have some opinions on it? And going from here, is this fixable for the trans or should I be shopping for a new one?