nontrivial Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 My dad and I are working on a 1983 Brat. It originally came with a flaky automatic transmission but I bought it anyway because I wanted to replace it with a manual transmission. My uncle had a 81 station wagon in a barn with a dual range 4WD transmission that he donated to the cause, and at the time I remember him saying something about reverse being touchy. After doing the swap it turns out that we can't get it into reverse at all, t's like reverse isn't there at all. So then I talked a little more to my uncle who said that it was getting progressively more difficult to get the station wagon into reverse, that towards the end he had to jerk the shifter hard to the right and down to get it into reverse. Eventually it got to the point where he had to remove the plastic shifter cover in order to get enough play to get it into reverse. I'm a novice mechanic so swapping the transmissions is a pretty impressive feat for my dad and I. I've got a shop manual and I'm trying to figure out what my options are, but the thought of having to disassemble the transmission or something like that is pretty scary to me. I've looked through the posts and there is talk about adjusting linkages and maybe replacing shifter rail balls and springs, and that sounds like something I'm up to. Can somebody tell me what they think might be the problem and what I might do about it? Other than trying to locate a low miles replacement transmission, what are my options? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 If the car is a project [vs daily driver] you have only time to loose trying to fix the transmission you have. Set up a place to do the work. Take lots of notes. get service manuals. Don't rush, ask questions. Factory ones are best, but you have to search ebay, or find someone who can scan, etc. And you may end up looking for a transmission to take parts from, as many are NLA. Other option, is trying to find a working used one. Not easy either. Pay someone crazy enough to touch it to fix it, which is going to be difficult and expensive, because not only the expertise for an obsolete transmission, also many NLA parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru2 Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 inspect the external linkage for slop. Pretty common for the bushings to go bad. Been a few years,but IIRC,the simple fix was to snug the loose parts together w/a bolt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 Sloppy linkage. If that doesn't fix it then toss the 4 speed in the scrap bin and get a 5 speed dual range instead. The 4MT was a giant POS anyway and in any case you can't get parts for them anymore. GD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nontrivial Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 Thanks for the help guys. I will definitely check out the linkage, but if I wanted to get a 5 speed dual range transmission where would I start looking for? What years and models have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nontrivial Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 (edited) I have a followup question. It looks like my local junk yards have a few older Legacy's and Foresters but I'll have to go take a look to see what type of transmissions they have. If I find a late 1900's to early 2000's 5 speed dual range 4WD (5MT) transmission, will it just bolt up to my EA-81 engine with the same clutch plate, rear differential, and everything? Edited October 21, 2019 by nontrivial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Legacy and forester are very different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 No. You can't use any EJ era parts. You need a trans from an 85 to 89 GL wagon. GD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Put an EJ engine in with the EJ gearbox and you’ll have some of the usual fitment mods to do as required when doing the L series 5 speed. Some required mods will be more involved than others compared to the usual L series 5spd conversion. And I highly doubt you’ll find a dual range EJ box at a parts yard in the states. All the best with whatever you decide. Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nontrivial Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 Thanks again for the all the help. It does look like the problem is slop in the linkage, so I'll try to deal with that first and see how it goes. If not then I'll look for a dual range 5MT transmission out of a 85 to 89 GL wagon like GD says. I'll keep you all posted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nontrivial Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 Short version is I put a bolt in it and reverse gear works now. If there is anybody else in a similar jam needing a little more guidance, the gear shift lever attaches to another lever, which is attached to a rod coming out of the transmission with a spring pin. What I did was replace that spring pin with a bolt as big around as I could fit in it. While there was a little wear on the rod coming out of the transmission, and a little more in the holes on the lever, most of the wear turned out to be on the spring pin itself. So this is mostly a win, but now for some reason it is a little hard to get it into first and third, and if you aren't careful it sometimes doesn't engage properly and pops out of those gears. So next week's project is to look into that a little bit, hopefully it has something to do with the new bolt restricting the motion of the rod and I will be able to deal with it. As for replacing the transmission, I found one online and I would really like to go ahead and replace it but I just can't justify the money to do that right now. Luckily the Brat is not my main vehicle but it is nice to know that I have a working backup vehicle now. I should probably start another topic, but now I have a good EA-81 engine from the donor wagon, as well as a good automatic transmission (I assume 3EAT) with all the bells and whistles (torque converter, shifter, interior trim) that I don't know what to do with. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 Well done.It is often difficult to find best fix over the net based on description from both sides i had this particular kind of shifter slop in my first Brumby.... actually it had it prior to my purchase and some butcher fixed it by welding the outer part to the shift rail that goes through the housing is an oil seal. Problem I inherited was this butcher did not care that his repair left a lump to punch the oil seal every time second and fourth was selected. While in car I got some small tools to remove weld, repair rail back to round with epoxy, brought back to shape with that plumbers gritty flywire stuff and tightened his roll pin replacement. I still had to replace oil seal annually due to my epoxy section not being smooth steel The best repair I have seen for this was M8 bolt and curved washers. Research sloppy shifter fix as well , about $20 genuine bits for base of shift stick These babies also develop flex in pedal box structure and also the firewall where a brace for spare wheel ledge support can start to break it's spot welds away from firewall - both reduce cable effect. Most sane, and sociable people do not need to attempt repairing the 4MT boxes beyond this. I reckon a rebuild or even just a reseal of these requires a skill level beyond the EA82 five speed 4WD conversion enjoy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 Oh, drop the E from the tranny name, that did not come in until the E4AT as I have seen Japanese brochures refer to what everyone else call 4EAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 On 10/22/2019 at 6:42 PM, el_freddo said: Put an EJ engine in with the EJ gearbox and you’ll have some of the usual fitment mods to do as required when doing the L series 5 speed. Some required mods will be more involved than others compared to the usual L series 5spd conversion. And I highly doubt you’ll find a dual range EJ box at a parts yard in the states. All the best with whatever you decide. Cheers Bennie Yeah, Bennie just wants you to show us how it is done !! I am still waiting to see how others have mounted EJ tailshaft centre bearing in EA81 bodies behind EJ engine and box !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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