Zosh Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 Hi, I burned up the torque converter in my '02 WRX by not replacing the small amount of fluid that drained out during swapping the radiator twice... I was at a garage looking underneath a '00 Legacy GT that's for sale for parts. The entire transaxle assembly on it looks pretty much identical to mine from what I remember. Everything on my car is stock/OEM too. Is anyone able to confirm that the Legacy's 4AT swaps into my WRX just fine?? Or I suppose worst case scenario, I should be able to atleast transplant the Legacy's torque converter into mine, right? If you know, let me know! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 Legacy AT trans (4EAT) is most likely NOT compatible. The WRX Auto trans had a 'weird' gear ratio and likely had different electronics so the TCU/TCM wouldn't 'read' the other trans correctly. But according to online Subie parts sites the torque converter/TC MIGHT work, and double-check your Flex Plate will bolt-up before installing. Make Sure you know how to 'seat' the TC as it's a tricky part to install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 Those should both be phase 2 ver 1, which means it's possible they would sort of work. But they definitely have different ratios. You would likely need the rear diff. And the shift points wouldn't be correct. Probably fine for a daily driver (I used a JDM WRX trans in a '95 Impreza once....it was OK), but pretty disappointing to drive spiritedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 Chux is right - they’re the same phase so it’ll install fine but will require one extra step: the legacy and Imp final drive won’t match. The simplest solution is to swap the rear diff to match the trans 4.44 final drive ratio. legacy should be 4.44 so you’ll need a 4.44 rear diff that accepts your Impreza axles. 02 Impreza rear axles May not slide into a 2001 legacy rear diff. I could be wrong I don’t follow Impreza closely I’m unsure if the rear axles swap but Impreza and legacy rear axles aren’t always interchangeable in the same year. Legacys went to newer axle style before Imprezas. Not sure when that happened and Imprezas had a few changes through the early 00’s. so you’ll have to research which axles the 02 Impreza uses and get a matching 4.44 rear diff That being said there’s no way losing fluid in a radiator swap was enough to trash the transmission. losing that amount would not bring the fluid level from between the low/high marks on the dipstick, to not registering on the dipstick, which it would need to in order to damage anything. Also if the trans were that unforgiving to losing a pint of fluid or less they’d be blowing up left and right with steep mountains and spirited driving sloshing the fluid around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zosh Posted July 5 Author Share Posted July 5 @idosubaru My man!! You sound like you've been around the block a good bit with this stuff, thanks for the reply. Two buddies and I actually spent the first half of this year's weekends swapping a JDM EJ205 into my car. The factory USDM motor blew a head gasket finally at 256,000 miles and I thought a JDM swap was the cheaper/easier alternative... boy was that stupid idea #1. Everything went fine except one glaring issue that we installed the USDM intake cam gears slightly wrong so the car idles and runs terribly under 3,000 RPM... I wonder if maybe the aggressive jerky idling abused the already aging transmission then? The timing being off causing the motor to run like spoob is mostly presumptive though. I only point blame onto the radiator because of course we removed the radiator for the JDM swap, lost some fluid, then when we completed the swap and reinstalled the rad, we broke the coolant nipple on the top passenger-side corner, so I bought a new OEM radiator and through replacing that we lost more fluid. Like you said though, couldn't have been more than a pint! He convinced me it was the loss of fluid's fault because his girlfriend's much newer Crosstrek apparently went bad due to losing a bit of fluid or something like that... So probably my best bet is to just find the exact same transmission from an Impreza then? I definitely don't wanna continue complicating this car trying to match up the rear diff to the Legacy's trans. Hoping that along with fixing the JDM engine's timing is all that's needed to get this car right again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 Yeah a legacy won’t be the same final drive ratio is an Impreza. So the easiest is to find the right one. A diff swap isn’t hard but will add another $100 and effort making sure you get the right one some years are easy but not 02, not for me at least. I haven’t worked on that generation Impreza much and it saw a few changes If that’s not a turbo engine the small 2.0 might not like the taller legacy 4.44 gearing anyway. It’ll struggle more with one or more of mountain grades, pulling a load, and larger wheels. If you always drive alone, carry no weight or people or tow, don’t drive in mountains and don’t have large wheels/tires it wouldn’t be very noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 You could install the Trans and run it in FWD to negate the final drive issue. Also unsure about the torque converter but they should swap just fine. I’d be unconvinced the trans is fine and it’s only the torque converter though for how much labor that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 On 7/5/2024 at 10:09 PM, idosubaru said: If that’s not a turbo engine the small 2.0 might not like the taller legacy 4.44 gearing anyway. It’ll struggle more with one or more of mountain grades, pulling a load, and larger wheels Other way around. 4.44:1 ratio diff/final drive is the shortest ratio subaru make. If it was a change to 3.7:1 then it might struggle a bit. I’d be fixing the engine timing first and getting that running right. What symptoms are you experiencing that got you to the conclusion of a burnt out torque converter? I also find it interesting that many find the JDM engines not as good as the USDM units. They’re really same-same but made in a different location! If you’ve still got your original engine it could be a good time/move to swap the head gaskets etc and get it back in action - if your budget permits. Also check your trans fluid level with the engine running in Park or Neutral Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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