ccarbaru Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 84 GL 5-speed and speedometer quite on freeway. Later pulled and checked cable and it wasn't even broken. So I inserted the inner-cable back into the housing and instrument cluster and with a friend pulled the cable out at the trans housing.. so with a slow speed drill we twisted it up to see needle on the speedo cluster still working. Bad feeling it's some sort of broken drive gear inside the transmission housing. Unfortunately, due to a ongoing leak I was really low on gear oil at the time it turns out as well. What may be involved in this project. Any access panels to it? Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVIL_NTT Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Not sure of how to fix, but I thought I would share my speedometer woes. I was going through dealing with a semi functioning speedometer needle on my '82 GL right up to last month, where the needle actually fell off of the panel and is now loose in the instrument cluster. Before it fell off, it was making an awful "the most annoying sound in the world" noise. I tried switching out three speedo cables and it still kept making the noise, gradually kept reading an incorrect speed until it was always pointed at 80mph no matter how fast I was going. The odometer and tripometer still work normally though, and I don't have to turn up the radio to keep myself from going mad. I am interested to see if there is an easy fix (other than pulling the dash and swapping clusters.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 You will have to pull the tranny and split it open. Probably not worth the time/effort. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccarbaru Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 Oh wow.. not what I wanted to hear.. is removing/replacing gear from the access hole if you had long surgical type plyers an option? Wonder if I'd be better off finding/pulling a good tranny from that era GL..? Never even pulled one before.. not sure what I'm in for. Did a TBelt on my 2.2 legacy that went well :-\ Regardless, thanks for the insight GD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 i have quite the opposite problem to evil_ my speed omater works fine but odo and trip don't:-\ get a gps - might be easier than pulling the tranny:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenley Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 (edited) You'd be much better off replacing the whole thing, rather than splitting the case. I've got a really nice dual range 4 speed with 130k miles i'm not going to be needing any longer, seeing that you're local... you may be interested. I also know of two FWD 5 speeds in the Carson City PAP (If they haven't been crushed yet) If you need a hand pulling one, i'll be heading there sometime in the next two weeks for a transmission, myself. /Pete Edited September 15, 2009 by Greenley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Being you have a FWD 5 speed you can replace it with any comparable transmission from '81 through '89 as well as from the '90 to '94 Loyale's. They never changed the 2WD 5 speed in all those years. The gear is, unfortunately, not accesible without splitting the transmission open. If you don't have experience doing this then you are MUCH better off just finding a good used one (this is not a common failure if they are kept filled with fluid). Check in the wanted section of the board - someone will probably give you one for free. They are entirely undesireable because everyone want's the 4WD's. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccarbaru Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Dont know what I was thinking when I posted 5 speed instead of 4 speed... so used to my MT 5sp. 90 Legacy Actually the GL is a 4wd hi-lo range 4 speed trans. So yes Greenley I'm in Reno. I might be interested in your trans.. is it compatible with a 1800cc motor non-timing belt? GD thanks again for your insight..yes splitting the trans is something I really don't want to deal with; has had a major leak as well not sure if it's an interior seal either:-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenley Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Let me know if you want to check it out while it's still in an operable state. It's an excellent EA81 D/R transmission with no shifter slop, no leaks or grinding. J/Y crapshoot price is $140 + core, so how 'bout $150 ... It's coming out of an '84 wagon, so it'll be plug 'n' play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Your best bet is to simply upgrade to the 5 speed D/R from an '85 to '89 EA82 then. bratsrus1 (Jerry) makes a nice kit for $100 that will make the conversion very easy. Then you just need to install the EA82 driveline or have your's lengthened and it bolts right up. They have better gearing, better linkage, better syncro's, and it will look 100% stock in the interior - only difference is the extra gear. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenley Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Man, you're killing my game here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Man, you're killing my game here Well - this section of the site isn't about selling people stuff. And if he wants to go the plug-and-play route you are offering him a good deal on a known good tranny.... It will be twice that to do a proper 5 speed swap... but totally worth it. It's hard to exagerate how much better the 5 speed's are - I'll just mention that the 5 speed introduced in '85 is the gold standard - all future Subaru 5 speed's share this same design to this day. They have no trouble going half a million miles - the 4's rarely last much past 200k without syncro issues and the linkage issues alone are worth the trouble to do the swap. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccarbaru Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Lot's of valuable information here for sure.. so cool of GD and Greenley. :)Would like to see the stock trans for sure & at least drive it/check it out. Man, I thought about this years ago always wondered the possibility of upgrading the trans being the later models went to the 5 speed but without the later timing belt motor. Are there clutch and clutch linkage cable issues with that upgrade? I remember some years ago of syncros being shot in all these GL 1800 engines I was looking at trying to find my 84 which I later found by accident, etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Are there clutch and clutch linkage cable issues with that upgrade? You use the same clutch cable you have now. The only thing that changes is you move to the EA82 flywheel and clutch assembly that match the 5 speed trans. The flywheel bolts up like stock but you do have to grind a couple small areas on the EA81 bell housing to clear the flywheel - 5 minutes with a die grinder and it's done - really not a problem at all. The mounting holes for the flywheel are larger on the EA82's but it doesn't cause a problem - you just center it up, bolt it down tight, and it center's on the crank with a C-face anyway so there's no real alignment issues. Some folks have cut small sections of steel or aluminium tubing to bush the holes in the flywheel but most have done nothing and never had an issue. The starter has to be shimmed out a tiny bit - generally done with a washer under each mounting ear. Then the only thing left after that as far as mods go is to weld in the carrier bearing mount or have a single peice driveline (your stock unit) lengthened by a few inches as the 5 speed's are considerably shorter than the 4's. If you get Jerry's kit for the swap it will bolt-in with the above small modification and look 100% stock on the inside of the car. All you will notice is the better gearing and the extra gear. You don't even have to change your knob if you like it the way it is. It sound more involved than it really is, and a ton of folks have done the swap now. I've done several myself and the last one I used Jerry's kit and it went much quicker than the times before where I've fabbed the mounting myself. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccarbaru Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Hey thanks again GD for the detailed info. I'll keeping an eye out for one of those transmissions in this area I'm thinking; maybe a ea82 sube that needs other work but good trans? At some point soon would like to see more about that kit, etc. Project could get pushed till end of the year too.:-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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