4EAT Transmission Experiences

First of all, this is not completely 'SVX', but is truly SVX related and a little long, but very 'educational'.

Many of you may recall that I bought a '94 Subaru Touring (Turbo) Wagon from Chicago on an eBay auction last April. Disappointingly, after I got it home, I found several conditions needing upgrade/repair, including 2 front axles (3 of 4 boots torn) and some transmission woes.

I decided to replace the 4EAT transmission due to a lack of 'RWD' (something non-functional in the traction control clutch) and less-than-optimum shifting. After doing some research, I determined that the transmissions 'rear of the differential' were identical in SVX's and turbo-Legacy's; the front differentials have different ratios (3.55 vs. 3.9).

I bought a recently rebuilt transmission from Astralbody/Victoria who was in the process of finishing her 5MT swap. Her old transmission had a failed front differential (4 teeth gone in the ring gear) so it was an ideal candidate to replace what I needed upgraded. (Important note- Bear in mind that the front diff failed within a few thousand miles of the rebuild) I bought her transmission and brought it to a local transmission shop I thought to be reputable to perform the swap. They would mate my front diff and torque converter to the 'fresh' transmission/traction clutch assy. This would obviously require them to disassemble the front diff and a few other pieces in order to accomplish the total swap.

Overall, the Legacy shifted and ran pretty nice after the swap. After a few weeks and few thousand miles, though, I started to detect a buzzing/whining noise that was on/off throttle sensitive. At first guess, it seemed like a resonance from a heat-shield or something. A little later I started experiencing some clicking/knocking noises reminiscent of bad CV joints. I was a little dismayed considering I had two fresh, new axles on the front end. Could one of them have failed already?

I was out with my wife making deliveries on a Sunday about noon (I use the wagon for 'courier' service for airport/airline delivery of lost/delayed luggage). The clicking was getting a little more noticeable and I turned to my wife and said, "Remind me to check the CV's when we get home.". Two seconds later- BANG!!!!. First thought- a completely busted axle joint. We limp to a downtown gas/service station (Bobby & Steve's, if you know the area) and park it. Now we have to make arrangements to get an alternate vehicle so we can finish my deliveries and some means of getting the car home. We contact my son-in-law who goes over to our house and grabs my custom tow-bar I originally built to tow my '85 Subaru behind our motorhome years ago and 'ferry' the wife's Land Rover Freelander down to us so we can finish the job.

We complete our run (and almost got T-boned that afternoon) and return to the station to hook up the Legacy and tow it home.

Upon inspection, I discover that the axles are just fine, but there seems to be something 'loose' in the diff- the axles stubs 'wander' a little more than they should- something is obviously 'trashed' in the diff.

The next day I tow it back down to the transmission shop who promise to 'work with me' on effecting the repairs. About a week and a half later they finally get it apart and announce that the ring and pinion are 'history'. (Gee, they remind that the previous transmission also had a front diff failure- maybe this transmission is somehow 'cursed' or there is a problem with the transmission that leads to diff failures..... ) They announce that they will look for replacement parts or units to determine our options. I'm not a happy camper to say the least............

I check back with a guy that offered to sell me a freshly rebuilt '93 Turbo Legacy 4EAT he had available (shortly after I had already made arrangements with Victoria). I made contact with Mike via the Subaru Legacy BBS- similar to our SVX forum here. The good news is- he still has it and he's in Buffalo, MN on the outskirts of the Twin Cities. The bad news (at least for me- after already having paid for another transmission-) is- he's asking $800 for the unit (I paid Victoria $450 for hers). We settled on a price of $720 and had him arrange for delivery to my home the next day.

I brought the 'new' assembly down to the transmission shop later that day (Monday) with instructions for them to do the 'new' swap. (They hadn't come up with any good sources for parts/units all this time.) Finally on Friday they call and advise that the car is 'reassembled' and ready to go. Oh, and by the way, they thought that 'only' $350 should be what I owe them to 'fix' the car.

The original charges were about $500+ to do the swap and then about $250-300 extra to do the 'parts swapping'- about $800 total. Bear in mind that they put my 'old' transmission in the back of the wagon BEFORE they decided to test drive it- he 'hops' on the throttle (you gotta love a turbo...... ) and manages to slide the 'old' transmission rearward into the rear hatch door. This punches a hole through the rear hatch fascia and dimples the sheetmetal on hatch exterior. That cost them $200......

All that week I had time to think about what had transpired. My original differential was doing just fine previously; I had a fairly 'freshly' rebuilt transmission...... Logic told me that the only thing that could have happened was that they didn't put the diff together correctly when they made the swap. Discussions with Mike and a few others made it obvious that Subaru differentials have different and difficult gear alignment set-ups. This generic, 'used to working on domestics' transmission shop apparently just set up the diff the way they are 'used to doing it', even though I supplied them with my SVX factory repair manual for reference. It was obvious they never even bothered to check the factory spec's. After some 'discussion', they finally saw it 'my way' and let me take the car home at no charge. I figured they, at the very least, owed me the labor considering I was having to cover the cost of a 'fresh' transmission.

My best guess is that the 'Ma & Pa' transmission shop that originally did the 'rebuild' on her transmission made the same error. In fact, the problems I was experiencing with the traction control clutch assembly in my 'original' transmission were only partially alleviated with the transmission I got from Victoria. I think the transmission shop did little or nothing in 'rebuilding' the TCA of that unit. I say that because the 'new' transmission I got from Mike has a wonderfully smooth and transparent engagement of the traction clutch. We have a steep grassy slope on the back of our yard and the 'new' transmission allowed me to climb that hill without even a hint of slip. The previous transmission allowed me to climb the hill, but didn't engage until a little slippage occurred. Better that the original, 'defective' unit but not as nice as the 'properly rebuilt' transmission.

My sage advice to you, my fellow Subaru/SVX'er is- if you are going to buy or have a Subaru transmission rebuilt- take it to a qualified, experienced shop that has many, many, many Subaru's already 'under their belt'. We've heard of too many unfortunate incidents of 'multiple' transmission failures, when the most likely cause is that of a poorly done, inexperienced rebuilder.

By the way, when I got the swap done (both times), I did a 'backyard' ATF flush with Mobil 1 ATF. I plan on having this one around a long time.

Best regards,

-Mark

[NikFu S.]

I'm taking her back this week to have it checked out. Sounds like I might have a similar problem.
Thanks fer the heads-up.

[PatrickB]

Originally posted by mark10t

I bought a recently rebuilt transmission from Astralbody/Victoria who was in the process of finishing her 5MT swap.

i recently purchased the whole car..

[Chiketkd]

No problems with the 4EAT here. My original trans had approx 100K on it and still shifted perfectly. Sold that and put in a '96 Impreza Outback Sport 4EAT and there have been no problems with that either...

-Chike

P.S. I added Lucas Oil trans additive to both transmissions as insurance. It definitely seems to be worth the $8.

[Ron Mummert]

Your elaborately drawn post, Mark, reminded me of the old joke - "Other than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

Ron Wilkes Booth.

[Chiketkd]

A HA HA HA HA HA! That was too funneh!

-Chike

Originally posted by Ron Mummert
Your elaborately drawn post, Mark, reminded me of the old joke - "Other than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

Ron Wilkes Booth.

[NapaBavarian]

Look


In


My


Locker

Ewww!

Even my transmission (front diff) didn't look that bad!

-Mark

[NapaBavarian]

What are you doing with the old SVX traney??? Is the main case still good???

[svx_commuter]

Mark, I agree with what you said. I found your Post to be very informative. If I tried to write that it would take me at least a day.

[Subafreak]

I wonder did they bother to replace the pinion seals that go bad and allow the gear oil to sling into the tranny? That is the #1 couse of bad diffs in the Suby trannys. If they didn't change the seals in the tranny you got from Vicky then it was just gonna do the same thing over again.

I doubt they replaced any seals.

I have my 'old' turbo-Legacy trans, diff, etc. and the (sorta) rebuilt SVX trans, diff, etc. along with a bunch of extra parts that Victoria threw in like the starter, shifter, etc. that were 'extra's from her 5MT swap.

FYI- the diff cases appear OK, but many of the gears are trashed. I'd have Mike's Dad maybe inspect before any finalized sale.

BTW- it appears we might have a source for another terrific local Subaru mechanic- Mike and his Dad run a shop apparently in Buffalo (MN). Mike's Dad was an 'ace' Subaru mechanic at Morrie's before he went 'solo'. This feedback came from Scott Putnam (www.subaru.net) who was the fleet manager at Morrie's before he 'jumped ship' to got to work at Bloomington Subaru.

I'm open to offers on virtually any/all parts.

Anybody need something?

-Mark

When it rains, it pours......

Out making deliveries last night and just happened to be glancing at the speedometer when it.... QUIT.....

Now I gotta figure out if the speedo failed (no odometer or cruise control either), or the 'good 'ol transmission shop' managed to leave the cable pickup loose enough that it popped off.... or.....

Am I having fun yet?

-Mark

anyone ever thought of swapping one of the newer subie transmission in there? i'm thinking of the auto trans that come with the new legacys. i think they're a 5EAT, with Sportshift control (buttons on your steering wheel). just a thought.

[Rotorflyr]

It would sure be interesting to see how the 5EAT Sportshift would work in the SVX, as well as how much moding it would take to make it fit (as well as how much it would cost to have someone who know's what they are doing, do it!)