2wd to awd conversion

[General chaos]

can it been done. is it hard. or can it just be a tailhousing swap?

[brumby420]

can it been done. is it hard. or can it just be a tailhousing swap?

 

What kinda subaru is it?

[General chaos]

both transmissions are from 90-94 legacies. i think the fwd is a 92 and my awd is a 93. and what i forgot to really say exactly is can a transmission be made from a 2wd to a awd. is swapping out the tail housing unit all that is needed?

Edited June 5, 2011 by General chaos

[idosubaru]

another option is to install the 2wd trans in place of the awd. i did it on my 1996 legacy. didn't even swap the TCU or anything else and it runs perfectly. been driving it for over 50,000 miles now.

 

"POWER" light blinks on start up because it's looking for the rear speed sensor input, but i don't care. i'm sure that would be easily remedied by cutting the rear speed sensor wire, or as a last resort swapping in a FWD TCU, but it doesn't matter.

 

i have a couple other dedicated AWD winter soobs, but good tires are more important than awd for snow driving if that's your main concern. i'd rather have snow tires than awd, but i realize not everyone wants that.

Edited June 5, 2011 by grossgary

[johnceggleston]

i think an awd fwd can be made into an awd. most of it is just bolting on the rear extension housing. but you also need to add the clutch drum on the trans side of the transfer clutch. i don't really know what that takes. it has been a while since i looked at one.

 

then you have to make sure the wiring harness on/in the trans has the duty c connector.

 

have you looked for a trans here? www.car-part.com sort your search by distance, shipping is expensive.

 

NOTE: some early FWD trans had a 3.7 ratio, i think. so you'll neeed to avoid those or you will be re-working both ends. the trans would have to be almost free to justify all that work, imho.

Edited June 5, 2011 by johnceggleston

[idosubaru]

i think an awd fwd can be made into an awd. most of it is just bolting on the rear extension housing. but you also need to add the clutch drum on the trans side of the transfer clutch.

i know we're not supposed to guess but having pulled a couple auto trans apart for fun/scrap and those 4WD hub/drum things out before i would be concerned that the FWD won't have the "receiving" end for that 4WD hub/drum...and the entire trans would need to come apart to swap that through-shaft it presses into.

 

just need an exploded view of a FWD trans and see if that shaft part number is different....or looks identical.

 

you could find that part number or name of the part that the hub slides into and ask subaru for the part numbers of the FWD and AWD shafts - if they're the same that's really good news.

 

i scanned my FSM and it looks like there's a good chance they're the same.

 

if the "reduction drive shaft" and "pinion drive shaft" are the same (those are the names per the FSM), that would be good news. they look identical in the FSM drawings. the reduction drive shaft just ends on a bearing located in the rear plate for the FWD but it rides inside the 4WD components in the 4WD. otherwise it looks the same. i'd ask subaru if those part numbers are the same between awd and FWD.

Edited June 5, 2011 by grossgary

[General chaos]

ok thanks. i was wondering if some other internals would have to be swapped or not. the fsm's i have looked at. weren't as good as i would have hoped they would be. but they do show quite a bit. we are going to drive it for awhile . and keep looking either for a whole new car or a transmission that isn't outrageous or several hundred miles away.