presslab

Yes the 4EAT is plenty strong. There were some problems with clogged filters and line pressure causing premature failures, but Subaru has fixed these problems; a late 90s trans is best. I'd say for towing, a trans cooler and a shift kit would make it perfect. I have these on my 4EAT with a JDM STi turbo motor and it's solid. I have 4.11 R&P with the small EA sized tire diameter, it's very snappy. 4.44 should be fine on larger tires. The same basic trans was also used in the older Nissan Pathfinder, with a different transfer case setup.

Maybe something was wrong when it was built, although unlikely it is possible. You should ask for a replacement short block at the least and not just a rebuild. Using fuel with too low of octane can damage bearings, especially with high temperature. When they take your engine apart it will be evident if there was severe detonation. I assume your fuel meets Subaru's requirements? I know that turbo engines/ECUs meant for the Japanese market require better fuel than what we commonly get here in USA. With the high temperatures in your country a better intercooler (front mount or air-water) will give more consistent power and better longevity. This might affect future warranty so best to ask the dealer what they think.

You could easily retrofit a 4EAT automatic, this would have no problem at the boat ramp. I guess you want the CVT for fuel economy? The electronics will be nearly impossible with all the CANbus stuff.

I used a couple right angle copper fittings soldered together to get the lower outlet in the right place. It was meant to be temporary until I did something better (BRZ radiator?) but it's been working just fine.

I bought a set of Goodridge hoses for a 02 WRX on eBay, and they fit with a few small mods. This is with the stock calipers. If I remember the rear fitting is different but it worked fine with a banjo bolt. Sorry it's been a while...

The hole spacing is the same, but the angle is a bit different. When you tighten the nuts the mounts are stressed. Probably not an issue for most softer mounts, but I heard of people tearing the STi mounts, so I bought some small aluminum wedges that correct this angle.

The EA temperature gauge is very sensitive to differences in ground voltage. Running loads (like headlights or the blower fan) can change the gauge reading due to the currents flowing through the ground wires. Start the engine, turn on a bunch of electrical loads, and put a voltmeter from the engine block to a good ground on the body. What kind of voltage do you see? If your grounds look good add another, thick gauge, one. I put one near the thermostat housing to an air cleaner bolt. You can also add another ground right at the instrument cluster. I did these and the gauge was much better although not perfect. Once I converted to an EJ engine (and adjusted the gauge) this problem went away, as the EJ sensor is not as finicky.

The blower motor makes sense, the one in my Vanagon did the same thing, needed to remove the whole dash to fix it. You should be able to do yours after removing the glove box. Yeah the Impreza kept the speedo cable a lot longer than the Legacy. Because it's cheaper, maybe? I still can't believe some manual trans Subarus came without a tach.

Yeah a random short would be my guess too. It wouldn't hurt to put an ammeter on it, just to see how close to 20 amps it is.

'93 on has an electronic speedometer head, there are no spinning pieces. In any case it can't be speedo related if the wheels (and speedo) aren't turning, if as you say it happens while not driving.

I have measured two 4EAT starters, a gear reduction one and one non-reduction, and they both took about 11 amps. The voltage drop on that circuit is critical, a bit too much and the solenoid won't engage (that's the reason for the added on relay).

Using the handbrake transfers power to the other side, not just the front. Subarus can transfer power to the front without doing this. This trick works on 2WD vehicles too, and it's not particularly bad for anything. I cringed watching the video every time people were revving while the wheels on one side were spinning. The spider gears in the differential don't have real bearings and are not designed to take prolonged and large differences in wheel speed. Luckily in this case there isn't much load on things, but still...

I know there are torque converters with fins, the Vanagon has one. But this is just additional cooling, it's not a sealed unit. Maybe there are others that are sealed? But I doubt it, the heat produced by a torque converter is enormous. With the car stopped, but the torque converter at stall speed all the horsepower is being dumped as heat. 100 ft-lbs * 2000 RPM = 38 HP = 28,000 watts... That's a lot. It would be cool though, like the old VW Autostick. Eulogious didn't write a line of assembly code or do any reverse engineering. He just copied what I did, after I helped him out, and took the credit. Bitter? You could say that. I mailed him multiple ROM chips and never got a dime for any of it.

With the AC cut relay hooked up, the compressor will turn on about a half second after pushing the AC button on the dash. I guess it's this way so the ECU can synchronize the IAC and the compressor solenoid, so rather than reacting to the compressor turning on it can do the two simultaneously so there isn't a hiccup in the idle. Also I read that the ECU will cut off the AC when the engine is overheating; a nice feature too.

The easiest is to leave the original AC wiring in place and hook the new relay up in parallel, this way either the ECU or the AC will turn it on. If you want to go through the ECU, I believe the AC input is the red/blue wire. Be sure to disconnect the original thermoswitch from the radiator. However if the ECU input is used, but not the cut relay, the idle might surge oddly when the AC turns on/off. The ECU input is more a request to the ECU for AC, and the ECU will normally turn the compressor on at it's leisure. Without the cut relay this could create weird idle fluctuations.

If his car had the TSB #16-55-93 applied, then yes there is an external filter. I'd bet most don't have this filter, though. There is also a filter screen inside the oil pan, I can't imagine why you say there isn't as all 4EAT have this. A new one can be purchased here: www.amazon.com/Wix-58969-Automatic-Transmission-Filter/dp/B000C9ULU8/ But the most insidious filter screen is inside the radiator - this is why the TSB external filter was added, to keep the little screen from clogging up.

Clogged cooler will burn up the clutches, but by then it's too late and unclogging won't fix the trans. The band adjustment is for the 1-2 shift. The 2-3 shift uses the "high clutch". There is no outside adjusment for this. It won't hurt to pull the pan and clean/replace the filter screen, but new fluid and a flush could make it worse. In any case I'd bet your high cluch is shot, time for a used tranny or a rebuild. Be sure to check that the trans cooler is not plugged up when putting the trans back in.

To hook up the AC for idle compensation is pretty easy, but not necessary. Without it the idle will dip a fair bit when AC kicks on but it won't stall. This isn't "AC cut" though; that is meant to cut off the AC when full throttle for more power. I hooked this up on my turbo conversion and it helps the turbo lag immensely. I haven't done it on the Vanagon EJ25 conversion, I just turn off the AC when I'm hitting big grades or expect to pass. If you want "AC cut" to work the AC input is needed but that's the easy part. You also need to do a little rewiring and change the normally closed relay for a normally open one. There is a junction of 3-4 blue/yellow wires IIRC and one of them needs to be unhooked and connected to the ECU. This allows the ECU to control the relay running the AC system.

The turbo models have an oil cooler (heat exchanger) directly above the oil filter. There is a large orange o-ring that is between the cooler and the block, it commonly leaks. It can be replaced without removing the cooler by removing the center tube the filter screws into, sliding out the old o-ring and slipping in the new one. A small mirror helps a lot here. Make sure it's seated before tightening the cooler back down. There is an off chance the cooler itself is leaking. Mine did and I fixed it with a TIG welder, as new coolers are expensive.

Weld a nut on top.

You should measure some voltages when it acts up, even just something like the cig lighter. I'm going to guess that it's a bad ignition switch.

I've done this on my EJ20G, which has two fan speeds, so a little different. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/127006-radiator-fan-ej-swap-between-engine-and-radiator/ http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/127644-my-ea82t-ej20g-conversion/

Yeah, looks like the TCU right in the middle of the 2nd pic. At least the plugs are right there. I've fixed numerous ECUs by replacing components, usually the damaged part is burnt or has a crater. Sometimes it's less obvious, but most multimeters can test transistors using the "diode check" function. Well, assuming you are adventurous and want to try fixing it yourself.

I got to the lower hinge from the wheel well. There doesn't seem to be much adjustment there but it didn't need much anyway. It was full of dirt and leaves as expected so it was good to clean it out. My car is virtually rust-free, I try to keep it like that. Door closes perfect now, thanks guys.

Yup I have the "torque" cams too and the bottom end and idle is worse, you can see it in my dyno plot.