Need some good advice

[SubaruLegacy43]

Hey everyone, I have a 1992 Legacy LS Sedan with 213k miles. The little EJ22 is still chugging along very well, but im afraid i cant say the same for the transmission. When i bought it, it had a terrible case of torque bind, as well as the 16 power light flash. I learned just to live with this. But recently, the poor thing started to leak. Bad. So bad that the whole underbody of my car is coated with ATF. As of right now i cannot tell where the leak is coming from. So my question to you wise people is, Should i attempt to fix the leak(s) and the troublesome clutchpack/duty solenoid issues? Or just shoot for the 5MT swap. Im partial to the swap because id love to have a stick shift again. But is it more trouble than its worth for a car i paid $300 for? I absolutely love the car but the issues need to be fixed. Thank you so much for your time and opinons.

[James614]

Is the car solid otherwise? Like, does it seem like it will fall apart any day now? Is it rusted so bad that you wonder if it'll survive another winter? The price of the car is pretty irrelevant, if you like the car and it seems like it's in good shape other than the trans, I would say go for the 5MT swap, especially if you miss having a stick shift.

It's actually a very straight-forward swap. If you've ever dropped a trans before you will have no problem with it. The hardest part for me was actually installing the pedal box under the dash. Make sure you read the stickies, they have pretty much everything you need to know.

[SubaruLegacy43]

Is the car solid otherwise? Like, does it seem like it will fall apart any day now? Is it rusted so bad that you wonder if it'll survive another winter? The price of the car is pretty irrelevant, if you like the car and it seems like it's in good shape other than the trans, I would say go for the 5MT swap, especially if you miss having a stick shift.

It's actually a very straight-forward swap. If you've ever dropped a trans before you will have no problem with it. The hardest part for me was actually installing the pedal box under the dash. Make sure you read the stickies, they have pretty much everything you need to know.

The car has no rust whatsoever. I honestly couldn't tell it had that many miles on it when I got it. I'd say the car is very solid. The only issue is that I'm 18 and have never dropped a transmission before. I am confident I could do it but I need to make sure I do it right. I am mainly concerned about the wiring, and getting the clutch in properly. But if you say it's fairly easy then I feel a lot better about it. Thank you so much for your insight.

[ride_child]

yea everything you need to know should be in this forum. if not, check out nasioc, on there i found a complete walk through on how to drop the trans and put a new clutch in. it was for an impreza, but its nearly the same. but if you get in a tight spot feel free to ask, maybe there is a more experienced member that lives near you that you could bribe with beer and or food.

[wtdash]

Hi,
Swap if you choose....but did you replace ALL the ATF in the trans yet? Not just a drain and refill as they gets less than half of the ATF (10 qts total) out.

-If not, try that first to help w/the TB.

-You could have a leak from the pan, but may also be leaking from the rear separator plate or main seal, which would show up on the trans. I'd take the time to clean it well and then find the leak.

GL,
Td

[SubaruLegacy43]

I haven't attempted to replace the fluid yet. I've checked it and it looks to be at a proper level and looks nice and pink. Another issue I've been expiriencing is upon startup, it seems like I have to "warm up" the torque converter before the car will move while in gear. It can Rev up to almost 3k before even moving the car. Very strange

[wtdash]

Does the POWER light on the dash blink 16 times when you startup/turn on the car? If so, there are codes stored in the TCU. Search on here how to retrieve them.

Td

[SubaruLegacy43]

Does the POWER light on the dash blink 16 times when you startup/turn on the car? If so, there are codes stored in the TCU. Search on here how to retrieve them.

Td

Yeah it does blink 16 times. I checked the codes a while back and it was one of the shift solenoids. I can't remember exactly which one.

[wtdash]

Sorry...I missed that in the original post.

There is a 'Duty C' solenoid that will cause TB if it has failed. Should be CODE 24.

One way to test if the TB is mechanical OR electrical is to put a fuse in the FWD holder by the pass. strut tower under the hood. If the TB goes away the Duty C is working and the issue is mechanical (need to R&R the rear transfer clutches).

If no change w/the FWD fuse in, then it's the Duty C and it needs replaced....which is actually about the same as doing the clutches....the Duty C is INSIDE the rear portion of the trans with the clutches.

There are posts on here and the USMB site describing more about both the transfer clutch repair and the Duty C. I did both in an afternoon on my '90 wagon. The trans does not have to be dropped to do either of these but the exhaust, driveline, and related stuff does.

Td

[SubaruLegacy43]

I actually tested that a while back and the issue went away when the car was in FWD mode. I've seen how-to's on the clutch packs. Thank you very much for helping out!

[Legacy777]

When you checked the transmission fluid level, was the trans temp up to normal operating temp, engine running, and did you slowly cycle the gear selector from park to 1 and then back to park before you checked the level?

[SubaruLegacy43]

When you checked the transmission fluid level, was the trans temp up to normal operating temp, engine running, and did you slowly cycle the gear selector from park to 1 and then back to park before you checked the level?

Yes I did. It looked to be at, if not, above the full line.

[SubaruLegacy43]

Update: I am picking up a 5 speed wagon tomorrow for $450! Swap should start this weekend. Does anyone know the time it should take to swap?

[Legacy777]

It depends on a lot of things IMO. Do you have a garage with good tools and have good mechanical & electrical knowledge? I'd honestly plan for at least week if you include the removal of the components from the donor car and getting all the electrical stuff done. Take a look at my journal of the work when I did my AWD & 5spd swap. You don't have to deal with the AWD part, but dealing with the pedal box does suck as well as getting the 4EAT out of the car.

http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/swap/journal.html

[SubaruLegacy43]

It depends on a lot of things IMO. Do you have a garage with good tools and have good mechanical & electrical knowledge? I'd honestly plan for at least week if you include the removal of the components from the donor car and getting all the electrical stuff done. Take a look at my journal of the work when I did my AWD & 5spd swap. You don't have to deal with the AWD part, but dealing with the pedal box does suck as well as getting the 4EAT out of the car.

http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/swap/journal.html

Thanks for the info. I've become very familiar with tha write up haha. But I'm sad to say the donor car I was planning to buy wouldn't start after we traveled 100 miles to see it. So I'll have to baby the poor 4eat until I can get my hands on another donor.

[Legacy777]

That sticks, but yeah I think getting a good donor car is important.