transmission interchange

[daddycoolj]

OK, 95 OBW 2.2l AWD auto, reverse goes out 4 days ago, tried the trans fluid "cocktail" so far no good results. I guess its time to start looking for another trans. which transmission will work out for the swap, year model or part #?

 

Next, is a "kitchen table" rebuild something to consider? I don't have auto trans experience but I'm not afraid to take much of anything apart to fix it.

 

I know there are a lot of us experimenters out there that have tried something like this so sound off, good or bad results.

[idosubaru]

there are a few auto trans things that are easy to dig into yourself but unfortunately this isn't one of them. i would highly recommend against it for quite a few reasons.

 

the last person on the board that tried to rebuild himself ended up with lots of problems, you can look up his recent AT rebuild thread, he couldn't figure out what went wrong.

 

subaru automatic transmissions are fairly robust though, so it's usually a good option to just get a used one and go at it. much quicker than a rebuild! since they don't fail very often, the demand is low and prices are low as well so it's not hard to get one at a very reasonable price.

 

i'd want a known good one (try the parts wanted and for sale forum here) or one from a yard that is known to have come from a wreck or low mileage. wrecked cars pretty much tell you the trans was good and the wreck is why the car is in the yard.

 

i have a 96 Legacy auto trans with a blown front diff, you can have the remains of the trans if you want to use it for parts and try this yourself. it ran and shifted fine before i pulled it out of the car with 120,000 miles on it. it had front diff noise.

***edit*** oddly enough I'm supposed to be driving through Knoxville this coming week, so i could conceivably drop the trans off on the way.

 

as for interchange, the only definitive way to tell is to get the exact same car/engine/trans/trim model as yours (small market), or match the final drive ratio. Subaru is a bit ambiguous on auto trans and final drive ratios, makes it hard to swap auto trans. They EASILY interchange, they'll bolt right up, plug right in, just need to make sure the final drive is the same as yours.

 

an AT you're talking about will almost positively be a 4.11 final drive.

 

another option is to get ANY auto trans and just get the rear diff to match the final drive. they're easy to swap out.

 

getting a 1995-1997 would be easiest as the bell housing did change in 1998. they can still be made to work rather easily, particularly considering you're not too scared of mechanical work, but the 97 and earlier do save you a step.

[johnceggleston]

the 95 leg 2.2 auto has a part number TZ102ZAAAA. you can use any leg 2.2 trans 95 -98. the critical position is t 'letter A' after the second Z. as long as it's a letter and not a '2' the final drive will match.

 

so if the trans part number starts with TZ102Z... and then a letter, it will work and match you final drive ratio, 4.11. if the 7th position is a 2 it's from a 2.5L car and the final drive ratio is 4.44.

 

ps: the last 2 positions only indicate the model of subaru, leg =AA, gt = CA, outback = BA. they do not indicate a mechanical difference in the trans.

[john in KY]

What if the "2" is a "3"? Asking because the spare 4EAT I have has A3BA as the last four.

[johnceggleston]

What if the "2" is a "3"? Asking because the spare 4EAT I have has A3BA as the last four.

 

the trans number you have is actually a TZ102ZA3BA. this is from an impreza, it doesn't have a 2 right after the second Z. it's probably from a 93 with a 2.2L engine, but i can't be sure.

 

i didn't study imprezas, and although i'm pretty sure it has the 4.11 final drive and will work in your car, i'm not 100%. so if you are paying someone to swap the trans my advice is to not use it without confirmation. if you are doing the swap your self, it's your time and your risk.

 

if you do some reasearch here you may be able to confirm the final drive: look under 'train'

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/

Edited April 5, 2009 by johnceggleston

[idosubaru]

pretty much any EJ trans should work from any EJ22 engine. the EJ25's often (always?) came with the 4.44 final drive. all EJ18's and EJ22's came with 4.11 didn't they?

 

i'm just not sure if the 90-94 EJ stuff was different, i know the engines are OBDI, not sure if the trans are any different, but i thought they were easily interchangeable as well?

[Gloyale]

pretty much any EJ trans should work from any EJ22 engine. the EJ25's often (always?) came with the 4.44 final drive. all EJ18's and EJ22's came with 4.11 didn't they?

 

i'm just not sure if the 90-94 EJ stuff was different, i know the engines are OBDI, not sure if the trans are any different, but i thought they were easily interchangeable as well?

 

92-94 automatics are 3.9, so wouldn't work.

[idosubaru]

92-94 automatics are 3.9, so wouldn't work.

awesome, thanks GL. other than final drive, do you know if they'd work?

 

for an easy swap you'd want any impreza or legacy 1995-1997 that is 4.11 final drive. which should be any EJ22 (or EJ18) auto trans. the EJ25's will be 4.44's.

 

actually if he's willing he can essentially use ANY transmission if he's willing to swap his own front diff onto it. you could get any EJ trans and swap your front differential on it, which guarantees it to match your rear diff. i believe GLoyale even posted a great write up for swapping front diffs?

 

i'll be driving through knoxville Thursday if you wanted that trans i mentioned earlier.

Edited April 5, 2009 by grossgary

[idosubaru]

this guy has a rolled (wrecked) 1997 Legacy Outback. entire car for $600, might be able to get the trans cheap in Knoxville, TN. 423-562-9185 just saw it for sale, don't know anything about it.

 

it will be the wrong final drive a 4.44 so you'd have to swap your front diff or the easier solution would be to swap in the rear diff to match. otherwise it's a plug and play operation.

[johnceggleston]

here's a link to the TZ102ZA3BA TRANS, used from dec 93 - june 95.

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/type_24/automatic_transmission/at_transmission_assembly/

 

if you click on the part number, and scroll down to usa usage and click it will show you what cars got the trans.

31000AC770

 

here's a link to the front diff in the same trans, dec 93 - june 95, item # 1 gear set.

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/type_24/train/differential_transmission/

 

again, click on the part number and then usage.

 

i'm wrong so often and most of what i know i learned here, so i'm reluctant to make absolute statements. but it looks like late 94 and certainly 95 impreza had a 4.11 final drive. but it all depends on when they stopped producing 94MY and started producing 95MY imprezas.

[john in KY]

Did some research on my own also. Transmission was removed from a 96 Impreza Outback with the 2.2. My research suggests the 96 should have the A4AB. The A3BA was used in the 95 Impreza so I'm guessing the 96 got a left -over 95 transmission. Guessing the A5BA is a 97 transmission.

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

John