1993 Legacy Transmission Replacement 4EAT

[Rampage]

About those stickers on the tranny. The first 6 digits must match your original transmission. The 7th letter A means 2.2 non-turbo.

 

[grimaceNMike]

11 hours ago, Rampage said:

About those stickers on the tranny. The first 6 digits must match your original transmission. The 7th letter A means 2.2 non-turbo.

- Thanks!! I found a similar explanation for the 2nd gen. Good to see this info. 

So, do people all agree that I should avoid getting that transmission with the nasty fluid in it?? 

 

[lmdew]

Cleaner the better.  It's a bunch of work to change the trans.  I'd rather replace 2 engines than an Auto trans.  Heavy as can be.

That does not mean with a good fluid flush once it's running it may be fine. 

Once you confirm it's working, drain the fluid. 

Fill, pull the upper radiator ATF line and run another hose into a gallon jug.  Start the engine, watch all the old dark nasty fluid be pumped out.  3/4 full, shut off the engine, fill the trans with new fluid and repeat.  It usually takes about 3 gallons to get all the old nasty fluid out.  Hook up the radiator ATF line.  Service to the proper level, take it for a long drive and recheck the fluid level when it's hot.  Service as required.  You are Done!

[grimaceNMike]

37 minutes ago, lmdew said:

Cleaner the better.  It's a bunch of work to change the trans.  I'd rather replace 2 engines than an Auto trans.  Heavy as can be.

That does not mean with a good fluid flush once it's running it may be fine. 

Once you confirm it's working, drain the fluid. 
 

- How do I confirm its working?? I contacted 5-6 transmission shops and nobody that I can find tests transmissions when they are out of the car.  

 

[lmdew]

Seat of the pants.  Just drive it.  Try tight slow circles in both directions, checking for torque bind.  Make sure it shifts through the gears as it should.  No AT Temp light flashing.

[grimaceNMike]

15 hours ago, lmdew said:

Seat of the pants.  Just drive it.  Try tight slow circles in both directions, checking for torque bind.  Make sure it shifts through the gears as it should.  No AT Temp light flashing.

Just to be clear, this is what the donor car looks like. It doesn't have an engine, or wheels.

How do I test THAT transmission before I put it in?  

[idosubaru]

40 minutes ago, grimaceNMike said:

Just to be clear, this is what the donor car looks like. It doesn't have an engine, or wheels.

How do I test THAT transmission before I put it in?  

 

Back to what he said in his first post - If it's not wrecked, not rusted to pieces, and the engine seemed good enough for someone to take it, and add to that the fluid looked like garbage....I wouldn't want that transmission.  But if it's your only option to replace an already bad transmission and you've got all the time in the world, then I guess you go for it. 

Edited June 11, 2020 by idosubaru

[grimaceNMike]

22 minutes ago, idosubaru said:

Back to what he said in his first post - If it's not wrecked, not rusted to pieces, and the engine seemed good enough for someone to take it, and add to that the fluid looked like garbage....I wouldn't want that transmission.  But if it's your only option to replace an already bad transmission and you've got all the time in the world, then I guess you go for it. 

Idosubaru, thank you for the advice. 
There is a large dent in the rear quarter panel where it looks like it was lightly t-boned. But the damage doesn't look extensive enough to total the car. There is also a rusted-out hole about 6 inches in diameter near the rear door frame. I am torn if the car was hit, parked, and then donated years later, or if the trans went and the owner pulled the engine and then donated the car?? Dang it I wish people wrote car history in magic marker under the hood before donating it! 

[idosubaru]

3 hours ago, grimaceNMike said:

Idosubaru, thank you for the advice. 
There is a large dent in the rear quarter panel where it looks like it was lightly t-boned. But the damage doesn't look extensive enough to total the car. There is also a rusted-out hole about 6 inches in diameter near the rear door frame. I am torn if the car was hit, parked, and then donated years later, or if the trans went and the owner pulled the engine and then donated the car?? Dang it I wish people wrote car history in magic marker under the hood before donating it! 

a rear quarter panel hit easily totals subaru's, even ones a decade or more younger than this one.  they're welded in place and take significant body work to cut, align, weld, paint compared to bolt on body parts.  $500 part, $500 welding/prepping, $500 painting.  $1,500 puts it in total range for a car valued at $2,000 which is probably more than this car would be worth. And that's assuming no additional work, lights, pin stripes, available parts for repair....etc.

it's probably ambiguous but maybe - If the rear quarter dent has exposed metal that doesn't look very rusty (mostly surface rust) then you could potentially guess that it was a "recent" hit and not driven around or sitting around exposed for years on end like that.  I have two wrecked Subarus I just bought within the last few months and some exposed/damage metal is starting to rust but it's obviously surface rust and not cratered rust from sitting for years. 

[tarakan]

Yeah, the best thing here would be to replace the car. I have a friend who works at https://transmissioncoolerguide.com/best-transmission-cooler/ and according to him the transmission system is the first system which when it fails leads to an imminent replacement of the car. Following his advice it is recommended to start looking for a new car when your transmission starts causing trouble. According to him - unless you are ready to invest about half of the car's price into properly repairing the transmission.

Edited September 29, 2020 by tarakan

[grimaceNMike]

Final follow-up on Grimace:

As some of you may have read, I replaced my original (285k mile) transmission that endured years or torque bind abuse with a junkyard-pulled transmission that I grabbed out of an old sedan.  When I installed the "new" transmission back in July of 2019, I had issues with getting the car to move in "D" or "3", it would just rev like in neutral. When I put the car in "1" or "2" the car would set off at a slow speed but then slip out of gear and free rev if given more than 1/4 throttle. Being in school at the time, I parked the car and planned to replace the transmission again when a better one showed up at a junkyard. Fast forward to June of 2020, I finished school and free time so I decided to perform a fluid change on the transmission again, just in case that might help, before returning it under warranty. After doing the fluid change the transmission would go into "D" and I would feel a slight lurch, like the car wanted to move. When I pressed the accelerator though, the car just revved up in RPM's. And as the RPM's wound down the car would start to creep forward, but not with any torque, almost like a clutch slipping really badly.

After playing around with different combinations, I found that if I had the shift lever in position "2" with the "Manual" button pressed on the shift lever the car would start in 2nd gear with no problem. Once I was going over 18 MPH I could shift the car into "D" and the rest of the drive would be fine. It would shift between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with no issues once it got past 18-20 MPH. If I put it in "1" it would work fine too, but that gear has so little speed in it that I would just start in "2" to avoid having to shift so many times. After about a month of driving the car like this I replaced the 6-year-old battery and suddenly I could start the car in "D" like the engineers had designed. But intermittently the car would not like starting in "D" at a red light and I would have to shift it down to "2" to get up to speed again. I don't know if that's due to the battery being disconnected and resetting the trans computer, or what. Another idea I had was that I forgot to top off the torque convertor before I shoved it into the housing, and maybe I was low on fluid for a while. 

And as a final, and sad ending to this story, I will add the newest development... Apparently I got the car up and driving so well that someone else wanted it. That's right, Grimace was stolen from me.   After almost 10 years of ownership, and many fun adventures, my car has been taken from me.
Its been about 3 weeks since then, so insurance wrote it off as a total loss a couple days ago. Even if he is recovered, grimace is gone from my life. :/ 

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by grimaceNMike

[el_freddo]

It’s probably in the snow belt now  

(trying to make light of a shite situation). 

Bennie

[grimaceNMike]

el_freddo, yeah part of me hopes it was a Subaru enthusiast that stole it and they are using it for strictly off-road use on their property out in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully they are being gentle with it, in all my years of ownership I never once did WOT in that car. 

[Stelcom66]

So sorry to hear! I'd love to find that era Legacy wagon with the 2.2L. I had a '92 sedan version of that, same color. The wheel covers were silver though - I assume these were painted. That gold color goes well IMO. Also one of my sons had a '92 he bought from my mom years ago. My youngest had a '95 LS, with the 2.2L. Different body style, I prefer the previous generation like yours. The '95 seemed very (too) low to the ground.

Around here if there is one to be found with the 2.2L, which is very rare - the rust is usually significant. I don't see any sign of it on your car. Whether you have it or not it's still yours.

[el_freddo]

I hope it’s found in reasonable if not good condition and that your insurance company doesn’t write it off so you can have it back. Although, after that it just never feels the same, even if the thief only drove it around the block... 

Here’s hoping. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[grimaceNMike]

On 1/2/2021 at 9:48 AM, Stelcom66 said:

"So sorry to hear! I'd love to find that era Legacy wagon with the 2.2L. I had a '92 sedan version of that, same color. The wheel covers were silver though - I assume these were painted. That gold color goes well IMO. 

Around here if there is one to be found with the 2.2L, which is very rare - the rust is usually significant. I don't see any sign of it on your car. Whether you have it or not it's still yours."


 

Thanks a bunch Stelcom! Yeah, I painted the wheels back in 2014 because they were scuffed up and terrible looking from parking too close to curbs. I thought they turned out pretty good too. I did about 5 coats of paint on top of a primer to fill in all the scratches that couldn't be buffed out with sandpaper. The car had absolutely no rust, the engine started up and ran like a champ, even with 289,450 miles on it. God I miss it. 

I also added a leather interior from a 2001 Outback, I had power seats and heat  

Insurance gave me $2200 for the car. It is gone forever now. :/
 

Edited January 20, 2021 by grimaceNMike

[Stelcom66]

You're welcome! OMG 289K+ miles, that's incredible! That's a 2.2L for ya - but we do hear of some EJ25s over 250k miles here at times. I know the car was worth more to you but I guess getting $2200 for a '93 is good. Those leather seats are in nice shape, I don't see any cracks. A good color if you're going to get leather IMO, lighter colors do make a difference in the heat I've heard, meaning not as hot as dark colors. 

[idosubaru]

On 1/20/2021 at 3:01 PM, grimaceNMike said:

Insurance gave me $2200 for the car. It is gone forever now. :/

 

not necessarily - you ask them to do a buyback.  If they find it, you can buy it back from the insurance company for pennies.  Probably $100. 

Last one I helped someone do was a 2003 outback H6 sedan and she got it back for only $275. You keep the original check and buy your car back for pocket change.  So she got a check for like $5k or whatever and later on gave $275 to get the car back.

if it’s located running and driving it’s totally worth asking.....and would make a heck of a story if you got to drive it again. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by idosubaru