pontoontodd

So I got one of these converter boxes from a junkyard. I think it was from a 2007 Outback. I plugged it into my 1999 Outback and it's definitely not right. One of the brake lights on the trailer lights is on all the time, even with ignition off. The six pin plug is the same at the back of the car but the wire colors are all different (I cut the plug off the car I got the wiring from). Does anyone have a pinout or wire color chart for the Subaru converter box?

I've done similar to what woodswagon has done. I like the idea of backfeeding the lights on the car being towed, might have to do that eventually. We've always used the HF magnetic tow lights. The problem with those is that the wiring is very weak, each conductor has about four strands and they break easily. I just rewired it with some new four color trailer wire and put a new four pin end on it. I've also used a coiled trailer wire connector, takes stress off the wires while turning. https://www.amazon.com/Wesbar-787206-5-Flat-Coiled-Adapter/dp/B007V4XME4/ We are usually towing one Subaru with another so this helps keep things in line: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cht-17200

We put the 52 mile trans in the car this afternoon. Have to wait for the sleeves to press on the axle stubs before I finish hooking everything up, they should be in by Tuesday. The blower motor doesn't spin with 12V applied to it, it's getting 12V, so need to find/buy a new motor for that. Wondering if the 18V running burned it out. It does probably have 20 years and 256k miles on it. Before we pulled the trans I ran the car again and it's still only making 12.5V. If I turn on everything it still makes 12V or a little more, so it seems to still be working just not making 14V. I have tried another alternator that was working good last year that's doing the same thing. I checked the wiring again, one pin is 12V with ignition on, center pin is 12V straight to battery, the third pin has good conductivity to the correct pin on the ECU. The FSM says that pin should have 4-5V with the ignition on but it's 8V, would that cause this problem? I think I have another alternator plug and I'm tempted to wire that in completely separate with a resistor to that third pin so it has 4-5V, wire the other two pins to battery and ignition and try that.

Thanks for the tips, I need to get on this, I've been watching TSS fab and haven't seen any updates on the 4.44 / 4.86 R&P. Clear out your PMs please.

Drove about 90 miles to pick up this gem. 2005 Forester 5MT with 52 miles on it, they said it was out of a crash test car. Funny how much cleaner it is than the 2013. 4EAT stubs fit, seals in the trans are too big. I ordered some 30x35x13mm ground bearing races that I can hopefully press on the stubs to make it seal. One of the switches has the wiring cut, I have a few of those lying around. Impreza drove out there and back great, almost four hours round trip. Head gaskets seem to be holding.

Subarupartwholesale shows the same part number for the front diff side gears in the 2005 Forester 5MT and 2013 Impreza 5MT, so I think my 4EAT stubs should fit.

Did you get front wheel drive or four wheel drive SVX axles? Car-part lists them separately, there's a pair of 4WD SVX axles in town for $45 each. I know the early 90s Legacy FWD axles were bigger than the 4WD axles.

Noticed car-part lists tons of different axles for 2003 Impreza. I understand AT and MT are different, sounds like you're saying the sedan is wider than the wagon, so that explains the front. For the rear they're showing different left vs right and different for RS/TS/Outback/WRX (different for sedan and wagon)??? Are there really ten different rear axles?

I would really like to find a 5MT with less than 100k miles and 20 years on it. Must have 4.11 ring and pinion and VSS. A taller fifth than the stock 99 Outback (.87) would be nice too. The only thing I can find like that I can find is the 2004-2008 Forester. According to the FSM and subarupartwholesale, they had a VSS until 2008. In 2009 it shows a plug. I've seen pictures on car-part of a 2004 and 2005 with the VSS in the side. Car-part is showing the 2004, 2005, and 2006-08 do not interchange but I don't know why. According to the FSMs and cars101 the 04-08 Forester has about the same ratios as my 99 OB but a taller (.78) fifth. The pictures on car-part show plugs in the side, no CV axle stubs. The plugs look pretty big too, I'm assuming it's the same issue I ran into with the 2013 Impreza trans. It looks like those bigger seals can be replaced without unthreading the side caps, is that right? Couldn't find stubs on subarupartwholesale for 04-06 Forester in the front axle or front diff section. Anyone know if my 2002 4EAT stubs would fit? Again, worst case I turn up a couple sleeves in the meantime to make the seals work. There are a couple of 2005 Forester 5MTs with about 60k miles on them within 50 miles of my house for about $500. Anything else I should check?

My wife's been driving the 2001 OB H6 from Oregon for a couple days now and at most one night there were a few drops of oil or trans fluid under the car. Nothing this morning. So I probably got lucky and the head gaskets aren't leaking. It still needs a tie rod and rack boot and have to put the drip tray back under the front end but hopefully will be a reliable driver for a few years.

I replaced the valve cover gaskets, oil cooler gasket and hoses, resealed engine oil and auto trans pans, replaced engine and trans filters (three total), engine/trans/front diff oil, coolant, spark plugs, belt, idler pulleys, and air filter on my 2001 OB H6 a couple weeks ago. My wife's been driving it for a couple days now and at most one night there were a few drops of oil or trans fluid under the car. Nothing this morning. So I probably got lucky and the head gaskets aren't leaking. If you do all that at the same time it's not too bad, unbolt the exhaust from the engine, remove engine mount nuts, jack up the engine, then you can push it to one side or the other at a time. For the record I used MAHLEVS50489 from Rockauto. Would have just bought them from the dealer but it's expensive when you add up the valve cover and spark plug hole gaskets from Subaru.

I got a 2013 Impreza 5MT TY758V45AA. First thing I noticed is that the speed sensor hole is not machined. Some pictures of them I've seen online (now) have an allen plug, others are just not machined. Figured I could machine it or worst case use an old case half and adjust the side bearing. Checked the 4EAT spline stub and it fits the differential splines and bore nicely. The seal is much larger though, figure I could switch the seals or buy/make a sleeve. Case is not sitting flat in this picture. Finally got the case split open and there is no speedo gear cut on the 3/4 double gear. For what it's worth the gears measure the same width as the '99 5MT gears. Anyone want a 2013 Impreza 5MT with 39k miles on it? I really need to step up the 6MT/R180 conversion. Anyone with a good lead on that let me know, I see a bunch of them on NASIOC. In the short run there is a '99 5MT with 175k miles on it in town for $300 or one 70 miles away with 136k miles for $420 I will probably buy. Also still need to figure out the alternator voltage issue.

I will get one of those axles sometime to see. So I got a 2013 Impreza 5MT TY758V45AA. First thing I noticed is that the speed sensor hole is not machined. Some pictures of them I've seen online (now) have that allen plug you mention, others are just not machined. Figured I could machine it or worst case use an old case half and adjust the side bearing. Checked the 4EAT spline stub and it fits the differential splines and bore nicely. The seal is much larger though, figure I could switch the seals or buy/make a sleeve. Case is not sitting flat in this picture. Finally got the case split open and there is no speedo gear cut on the 3/4 double gear. For what it's worth the gears measure the same width as the '99 5MT gears. Anyone want a 2013 Impreza 5MT with 39k miles on it?

OK I'll just take a set, was wondering if it was some large size like 14 or 17. Still wondering if you know (or know where to find out) what axles might be longer than what I have. Have wider than stock control arms on the car and I have some old FWD Legacy axles that have more plunge than normal EJ axles, but if I could find a better source of long axles that would be good. Talked to a yard near here that has a 2016 with 19k miles, waiting to hear back to see if they can get it out of the car this week. Axles and trans for $650.

Could you tell me the allen / socket size so I can take it out at the yard? The 3-4 gearset part number for the '12 and '15 Impreza is the same and goes back to 2005 in Legacy/Outback turbo. The 2005 Legacy turbo just shows a plug and gasket (washer) for the speedo. This is the picture they have for that 3-4 gearset: argh!!!

Thanks for the shortcut. I would be nervous about something leaking and pumping all the oil out of the trans. Tried a different alternator this morning. Last year both of these alternators were putting out about 14V. Now they are both putting out about 12.5V. They're definitely doing something, without the engine running voltage is about 11.5V. Checked the three wire plug at the alternator again and the middle one is still 12V all the time (battery), another one is 12V with ignition on. What might be causing this? I've been getting a lot of help on the late model trans option in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/166503-late-model-5mt-into-99-outback/ I will probably check one out today or tomorrow.

Did you go to subarupartwholesale.com? They should have breakdowns of all the parts you can zoom in on and find part numbers, pricing, etc. My 2002 OB had wind noise coming from the driver's side mirror. After trying a few other things I rolled down the window and squeezed on the seal the window slides up into as hard as I could. Rolled the window back up and now it's much quieter.

Those are some good pictures. Thought that's what I had seen on car-part but these are much clearer. What is the track width difference? Figure I could just put stubs in it and use my CV axles.

Thanks for checking input shaft, didn't consider clutch spline changing. Ya, fork, slave and release bearing look the same as the older 5MTs. Also checked online and yes, it looks like the 12+ Impreza 5MT just has a normal center diff. The 4EAT stub I checked is 25 teeth. It was out of a 2002. I could probably find the VIN but it would take a while. How easy are those plugs to remove? Any chance you can see in the hole to check that the shaft has that spiral cut on it?

Can you tell what the difference is between the 38415AA110 (2002-2004 Outback) and 38415AA070 (2000-2002 Outback)?

I might just get the front CV axles if they have them. Just to be clear you're talking about this shaft and gear right? I've got a few of those... Do you know if/when they went to the clutch pack for the center diff? Or what changed in 2014?

Thank you very much! Do you know if 4EAT stubs will work? I have a pair of those. Looks like the 04 STI 6MT stubs are $44 each on subarupartwholesale (38415AA110). My '99 axles should fit on those? I didn't see a VSS in the pictures of the '12+ transmissions. It looks like there is a hole in the side of the case, it's tempting to split the case and put in a sender. One of my '99 VSS senders should fit? The shaft in the newer trans still has the spiral gear to drive it?

Where were you doing this reading? There are a ton of these late model transmissions around, maybe I'll drive to the nearest yard with one and see if my 4EAT stubs plug in, if the driveshaft fits, etc. I can't imagine the transmission width is much different if at all. They look identical to the older 5MTs in pictures. Do you mean they switched from a viscous / bevel gear center diff to a clutch like the automatics? Do you know when? Could I just rig up a toggle switch to lock the center diff? Would it only drive the front wheels or all four unlocked? I think on at least one I saw the same plugs for neutral and reverse as mine (not that I really need those). Still wondering what if any difference there is in the speed sensor. I would be tempted to try one of the new six speeds too but they definitely have a different shifter.

I was thinking it would be great to get one with thousands of miles and a couple years on it rather than hundreds of thousands of miles and decades on it. I've broken at least four 5MTs in this car so far. Over the winter I plan on doing a 6MT/R180 swap but I'm hoping a nearly new 5MT will last this summer. I was wondering about the axles. I take it the earlier ('99) axle stubs wouldn't just plug into the newer ('12+) transmission? Worst case I could probably swap the front diff but then I have an old front diff and it's a lot more work. Other than the CV axles do you know if the driveshaft and speed sensor are the same on the '99 and '12+?

You could call it an adventure. Considering walking out of the woods and leaving your car at least twice in one day takes some of the fun out of it though. That last climb was definitely the longest steepest climb I've ever done. Not very rough but definitely needed low range the whole way. That said, I don't see why a minute of low range use should cause a problem. I know it's not getting any oil from gravity at a steep angle but there's a gallon of oil in the trans and there are already channels and holes directing oil off the ring gear to the low range. I didn't see where in that thread they were modifying the oiling but I have heard of people doing that. I have really tried to be easy on it in low range considering I've broken first and reverse without low range. I have never dropped the clutch with the H6 and 95% of the time I'm in low range is at half throttle. I just think the 5MT is inadequate for what I'm trying to do. As I was warned.