Liftingtheengine Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hello as indicated in my title i am attempting to replace a tranny on a 1996 legacy wagon, i have a jack and jack stands but no lift to speak of, I've had a few friends who are professionals give me some pointers and the friend who i am starting this ordeal with has done several swaps on a '86 trooper i helped with those too. If we have to lift the engine we are burly enough to lift the thing by hand and other than some large things like a cherry picker we have all the tools between us to take the whole thing apart i'm just wondering if anyone has advice and links to share to help a young mechanic out, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivant Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I haven't done one myself on a subaru, but have done plenty on other cars. chevs and pontiac's. The hardest was a Mitsi GTO. It was a bastard, mainly due to all the accessories that had to come off. It took me days. When you start, you can't even see the trans. The good thing about a Subaru is that there is plenty of room to work and they are not cluttered up with accessories. You should be fine. Just take your time and having a friend to help will be a godsend when it comes to the heavy lifting, something I never had when I did mine. I took all the boxes out by myself. The gto gearbox weighed 60 KGs, a right heavy little bastard it was. I wouldn't think the subaru trans will weigh that much. I found resting it on a wheel under jack was a help when having to move it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 harbor freight has an affordable trans jack you might consider. it will make the install much easier. you don't have to have it, but at 50 plus, i would not consider the install without it. make sure you buy a matching trans. some match, some do not. and please read up on seating the torque converter before you begin. it is not hard to do, but failure to do so will destroy your new trans. search ''torqueconverter''. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmedic Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Typed this up and put it in another thread. I'm too lazy to type it again, so copied/pasted: Try to pick up a 4EAT, then decide if you want to do that on your back underneath the car while trying to line it up on the engine studs. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. I do a lot of stuff in my driveway, but when it comes time to change a Subaru AT, I farm it out to the trans shop across the street. They're just too damn heavy. But if you do wanna tackle it, it goes a little something like this: Topside: -Disconnect battery. -Pull all bolts/nuts on RH side of trans. -Remove top starter bolt and disconnect electrical connections from starter. -Unhook electrical connections to trans and front O2 sensor -Remove pitch stopper bolt and swing pitch stopper out of the bracket on trans. -remove any superfluous brackets for airbox, etc. -Remove ground strap to trans Fun bit: -Unbolt converter from flexplate. Only place you can do it is through the little black plug at the back of the engine near the throttle body. It's a tight fit with the manifold in place. I do it with a flex head ratchet wrench. If you don't have one, you will hate your life unless you pull the manifold. There are 4 12mm bolts, they come out easy once you break them loose. Small blessing, I suppose. Underneath: -Jack car up, place securely on stands -Drain trans, and diff if you're feeling froggy. -Remove y-pipe. -Disconnect axles. You decide how you wanna unhook the outboard end. . .I always do the pinch bolt on the ball joint but I don't live in the rust belt. I get chastised for doing it that way. -Remove exhaust shield so you can access driveshaft. -unbolt driveshaft flange from rear diff -Unbolt driveshaft carrier bearing and remove driveshaft. Have a pan ready at the tail end of the trans to catch any ATF that will no doubt try to soak your head once you remove the driveshaft. -Remove remaining bolts on left side of trans and starter nut. -Disconnect fluid lines to cooler at trans. Get your trans jack ready. Don't have one? I would hate to be you. -Support the trans, remove rear trans crossmember. -Slide (wrestle) trans backward to slide off studs on block. Might have to go topside to break it off the dowel pins first. - Lower trans down - Realize the trans is too tall even with the jack all the way down to roll it out from under the car. Curse your life, then try to: a: slide the 200 lb trans off the jack without damaging it, or b: raise the car up high enough to clear the trans. Hope you've got some really tall jack stands, or temporarily lift the whole front of the car with an engine crane. . . that's how I do it, when I'm a glutton for punishment. Made it this far? Do all of that in reverse. Actually, the reassembly typically goes faster than removal because you don't waste time trying to break fasteners loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babybaluga32 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I did a 4eat to 5mt back to a 4eat by myself with a normal jack. Was it fun? No. Did it work? Yes. Would I do it again and use a normal jack because it's all I have? Yes. Was it the worst car related experience i've ever had? Definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liftingtheengine Posted December 1, 2013 Author Share Posted December 1, 2013 So we did this the hard way, we couldn't take the exhaust off at the engine which made this a real pain. After a weekend spent on a concrete floor in November in Minnesota freezing and getting covered in ATF, busting knuckles, bolts and generally losing our minds my friend and i got everything back together and the wheels don't turn... Called our mechanic buddy and went over everything and it looks like we got a lemon from the salvage yard... And to top it off i could have been doing this to my 93 impreza instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmedic Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Dude. . . that sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivant Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 So we did this the hard way, we couldn't take the exhaust off at the engine which made this a real pain. After a weekend spent on a concrete floor in November in Minnesota freezing and getting covered in ATF, busting knuckles, bolts and generally losing our minds my friend and i got everything back together and the wheels don't turn... Called our mechanic buddy and went over everything and it looks like we got a lemon from the salvage yard... And to top it off i could have been doing this to my 93 impreza instead. It looks like it doesn't matter what country you live in, those buggers in the wrecking yards will sell you anything after telling you that it's ok. Then don't want to know when it comes to a refund. No good going to the cops either, they're only interested in traffic duty these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 the piick n pulls here have a bit of a warranty, they will trade out the part for another. ive had parts that i returned and ended up with store credit because they just didnt have any other subarus to get another part from. the 2nd gens are pretty rare in most yards, but the impreza wagons are everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal71919 Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 There's lots of stuff I don't mind picking up at a salvage yard but a transmission isn't one of them. I understand sometimes your budget can be a major factor but I'd rather but that from a part out. Good luck sorting that out and don't let it discourage you from wrenching on your own car. I have a ton of learning experiences like those under my belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooln30 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Wait, your pulling the trans via pulling the engine/trans? Why? Why not just remove the exhaust after the first cat, the exhaust shields, front axles then the driveshaft? Although pulling the engine and trans together is pretty easy on Subarus, I pulled mine earlier this year it only took me 3 hours, it seems like I big waste of time and money. Because of the fluids you'd have to replace by pulling the engine. I don't know anymore. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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