legacycentral bbs

First off, big props to Josh(Legacy777) for the write-up and especially the wiring info! He was a huge help. I probably wouldnt have even attempted the swap without the wiring fixes in the write-up.
what a ton of work! it took about 6 8 hour days, 2 spent pulling stuff and ther I still have some interior reinstallation to do, but I drove it around and it shifts great. I got pretty lucky with bolts, only broke 2 on the 4eat trans mount. I was expecting way more since the car is from indiana(salt country) and there is quite a bit of undercarraige rust. removing the 4eat was waaaay harder than putting the 5mt in. much cussing involved, and almost dropped the trans on my fingers. that would have felt good. first off, it was really stuck to the block. I ended up tapping a razor blade into the trans-block interface(used 3, they kept shattering), then a broken off knife blade, then finally a screwdriver. this way was totally clean, no scarring of the metal on either side. I also pulled the lower engine studs by double nutting them. also, the 4eat is HEAVY. I'm guessing its close to 200lbs. conversely, the 5mt was a snap to put in. I did it by myself with a floor jack and a specially made platform for the trans. A real trans jack would have made it even easier. everything else was pretty straightforward, though some things were a pain in the ass such as the pedal cluster and especially the cruise computer.
I do have one issue, I took everything out with a key in the ignition, and now the key wont come out. can I send a signal to the key interlock solenoid or something? or can I manually pop the interlock lever.
I bet one of my roommates $5 that I would finish the swap, looks like he owes me $5. Its great to have a clutch again.

Congrats on the swap. It's definitely an undertaking

The 4EAT is a friggin mammouth beast compared to the 5MT. Removing the auto was a complete pain in the ass.

As for your key interlock issues.
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/swa ... #shiftlock

Remove the computer. It's pretty much straight up under the dash if you're looking up from lieing on the floor.

I already removed it, hence my confusion.
looking at this diagram,
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/fil ... ck_sys.jpg
it seems there is a spring for the interlock lever, but I cant tell wether it pushes the lever into the key or holds it away. Im thinking it must push the lever into the key since the solenoid has no power and I cant get the key out. either that or the whole shebang is broken somehow.

Any resolve to your problem? When I finished the swap using the swap write up, everthing went smooth and to my surprise fired up first time. Idles down as before. Faster than before! Soooo worth it! Props to Josh. Down with 4EAT's!

i too have done the swap and went off the swap page... but the wiring thing didn't work too well for me, so i wired in my own switch on my dash, it's so cool. thanks for the swap info tho, it helped alot.

I can't wait to do this, too!

I may be the only one that did this but, you need to put the (hydraulic pedal box in my case)clutch switch for the starter relay in the very top hole of the clutch pedal. Otherwise if it is installed in the lower hole it will start while the pedal is out. Doh! If I did it again I would try to put the switch on the pedal box before installing it in the dash. Its a bugger to do anything up in there. No room for a wrench to tighted it down.

i didn't do starter relay, i just went without all that stuff, to save time. works great for me.

yeah....put all that stuff in before hand

I think I did mine afterwards though because i didn't want to break those switches.

I think it's better not to have the clutch "safety" switch. I like being able to turn the starter motor with the clutch engaged if I need/want to.

Just a couple weeks ago it came in handy. I had swapped fuel pumps and only had maybe a cup of fuel in the tank, and ran dry several meters from the gas station. I used the starter motor to get the car into the station. You can also use it to get your car out of an intersection or other dangerous place if your engine for some reason dies.

It's also better, I think, to start in neutral with the clutch engaged, avoiding putting strain on the crank bearings when there's no oil pressure.

You just need to be aware of it, when others drive your car.

Is this swap always so difficult. I need to do one on my car and I'm trying to feel out if it's worth it or not.

trust me... it's completely worth it.

I found this old thread because I had the same problem as in the first post.

I think it was caused by removing the 4EAT stuff with it in neutral, locking the key in the ignition.

Solution: use a small flat screwdriver or similar tool to manually release the key interlock solenoid. Through a small opening on the underside of the steering column cover there is a small orange tab that can be moved over (to the left) to free your key. I didn't even have to turn a screw.

AWD_addict wrote:I found this old thread because I had the same problem as in the first post.

I think it was caused by removing the 4EAT stuff with it in neutral, locking the key in the ignition.

Solution: use a small flat screwdriver or similar tool to manually release the key interlock solenoid. Through a small opening on the underside of the steering column cover there is a small orange tab that can be moved over (to the left) to free your key. I didn't even have to turn a screw.

Just want Thank you for posting this with the pick as tonight OUR 90 L wagon had its brand new key get stuck in it brand new ignition switch.. did it the dark of the car just put flat head up in the hole and moved it left and the key came out nice and easy.. Will have to see if my shop will have any who can look at it tomorrow if not its going to have to be deal with on Monday .. Now the show just replace the whole ignition switch back in Sept/Oct so I am going to say it not going to cost much on fixing this if they want to keep me.. but I hoping it won't be too costly.. as i thing the ignition switch isn't the problem now ..

CC