6spd Oil Seal Replacement

[Legacy777]

I'm not sure if I've seen a write up on this, either for the 6spds or 5spds. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. On the 6spds, the bearing cap size is different between the passenger & driver sides. The driver's side bearing cap is just shy of 4.5" in diameter, while the passenger side is just shy of 3.25" in diameter.

NOTE: Only do one side at a time to help avoid the possibility of having to readjust the front diff.

The Subaru book calls for a special tool to remove the caps. You can make one out of a piece of pipe and cut notches out. The measurements I took....the pipe would need to be around 4.335" in diameter for the driver's side and 3.200" in diameter for the passenger side. I was going to make something, but decided not to bother. I just removed the retaining clip and used a hammer and punch to get the caps to turn. You need to be delicate enough to not break the tabs, but forceful enough to move the cap.

The caps will usually start to move pretty freely after about a half a turn. Make sure to make a mark on the case and cap so you know where to return the cap to. I used a punch and put two small divets in the case and cap, and also put some different markings around the case & cap with a marker. Then you just need to count the number of turns until the cap comes off.

What I did was always brought the cap back to the same spot before checking if it would come out. For me, six turns was the last turn before it could be removed. I probably could have removed the cap somewhere between the sixth and seventh turn, but I kept rotating until the cap was on the same starting marks for the seventh turn. This way I knew exactly where to start when I installed the cap.

Once removed the oil seals on the six speed can be pressed out from the front side. I used a 32 mm socket to remove the old seals and install the new ones. It worked quite well. I also replaced the o-rings on the outer bearing caps. The old ones looked ok, but I didn't want to take a chance and have them leak. Just to note, since the bearing caps are different sizes, the o-rings are different sizes. The parts book has the wrong number of o-rings listed, so you need just one of each.

Then I just installed in reverse order and counted the number of turns. The last 1/4 turn of the bearing cap can be a little difficult, but again you need to be forceful enough to turn the cap, but not too hard to break the tabs. I cracked one of the teeth on the driver's side.

I also replace the rear tail shaft oil seal. This wasn't too difficult either, as long as you have oil seal puller. If you don't have one, get one. They are cheap at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool and make this job MUCH easier. This is another seal, like the rear crank seal that is not meant to be installed all the way until it can't be driven in any further. It needs to be installed to just flush or a few mm beyond the edge of the tail snout. Otherwise the drains to allow the oil back into the trans will be blocked and the seal will leak.

Here are the part #'s for the oil seals & o-rings on the 6spd.

LH Front Oil Seal: 806730042
RH Front Oil Seal: 806730041
Tail Shaft Oil Seal: 806735210
LH Front Bearing Cap O-ring: 806900150
RH Front Bearing Cap O-ring: 806984040

Here are some pictures from the work:

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... pdswap/06/

[JDMSLIK]

Bravo!
Hey man I'm a journeyman tech of about 10 years now. I spend a ton of time searching forums for various cars. By far this is the best forum I've seen. Just saying Josh your doing a real good job. Actually last month I used your 5 speed swap sticky, thanks eh.

Just one little note on the above how-to I'd politely add. On all jobs I like to eliminate all possibility of possible screw ups so when performing an axle seal replacement I like to do one side at a time. Helps to avoid the possibility of having to re-adjust the front dif. Just a good idea I stick with.
Anyways thx again for the extra work and the above should be stickied for sure.

[Legacy777]

Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate it!

Yeah, good note about only doing one side at a time. I only did one side at a time, but forgot to add that above. I'll do that now.

Thanks!

[entirelyturbo]

Is it true that if you don't know what you're doing when you do these, that the front diff can fall out of mesh with the pinion gear, then you would actually have to take the transmission out and crack the case to realign it? I had a Subaru mechanic tell me that once.


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[Legacy777]

I don't know if it can come out of "mesh", but it can move around a little bit, so I definitely wouldn't suggest moving the trans around a bunch.