818Rasmus E Modified

[Mitch Wright]

Nice work, now I have an option to my 3/4 4130 tub shaft I plan on fabing up.

[Rasmus]

Intimidating.


This is the first time I've ever cracked open a transmission. Awe, wonder, and excitement mixed with a little bit of sick. And there's no shiny metal bits in the bottom. Getting the speedo gear in looks straight forward. LSD's gonna be a learning experience.

[Hindsight]

From what I've read, the diff swap is fairly easy. The tricky part is checking the lash. I'll be following your steps closely since I will be opening my case as well.

[MrDude_1]

While that cover is off... I'll just leave this here...http://www.subarugears.com/Casing.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXEUSVSpGHg

[Rasmus]

I'll just leave this here...

I like the way you think Dude.

As much as I would love to do that, I probably won't. I'm worried about losing mounts for the transmission, compromising the structural integrity of the transmission case for the two remaining mounts, plus I need to keep several mounting holes for the cable shifter. I've also learned that trying to cut weight by shaving cast aluminum is low reward for the large amount of time invested.

[Tamra]

The LSD install was not as bad as we thought it would be, although it was time consuming (probably around 8 hours total to open the case, sand blast the case, install the lsd, set the lash, and close it up. We posted links in our donor thread here to where we found other forum members "how to's." The Subaru factory manual is also great with diagrams showing the grease contact patches and how to adjust to get the right back lash.

[Jaime]

Keep your eye on the bearing at the gear end of the pinion. If you bolt the cases together and the pin on the bearing isn't in it's home, you could do some serious damage to the case halves.

[Mechie3]

I cut that back piece off. Forget how much it weight. You do need to figure out something else. There's a guy (D Clymer?) on the Vanagon webside that has a chopped down rear with a plate welded on it with two studs for mounting. It's $400 though.

[Rasmus]

Ring gear came off the factory open differential easy.


Right side bearing pressed off easy. Having trouble getting the left side bearing off. I don't know how to do it without destroying it.

[D Clary]

Buy a new bearing, life is to short.

[Jaime]

http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,cata...NAL_30208.html

[Rasmus]

Got the hypoid gear ring side bearing off the open differential without damaging it. Thanks Andrew. Cleaned and installed both bearings on the torque biased differential. Quaife brand.


Correct garage door springs arrived. Installed! Works! It's glorious.

[longislandwrx]

plus you are left with a free meat grinder! BBQ in Vegas next spring!

[Pearldrummer7]

uqfr2Xx.jpg
Just my $0.02- Careful with those shims (highlighted in your photo, attached). They bend very easily and if they're off you might not have good engagement on the pinion gear.

[Hindsight]

Very cool! Any reason you wanted to re-use the bearings instead of get new ones since they are so cheap? Timeline, cost? Maybe new bearings would require more lash adjustment?

[xxguitarist]

We re-used them since OEM is around $60 ea.
Still had to adjust the axial position of the front LSD, but since the ring/pinion are the same, the shims at the end of the gear shaft were good to go.

[Rasmus]

I reused them because they looked fine. Races weren't discolored from heat. No pitting. No scoring. Just the normal marks you see on a bearing race. The bearings themselves looked good too. No pitting, scoring, or rainbow colors. While I could have spent $45-$50 for two new bearing sets, I didn't see a reason to spend that money and wait for the delivery. I also repacked and reused all my wheel bearings.

Plus Andrew reused his so I gave in to peer pressure.

[Hindsight]

Guess I am obligated to do the same then, that is, if my Quaife ever arrives. I ordered it in June.

[FFRSpec72]

You forgot to put back the endcap on the steering shaft (where the seal is) :-(

[Rasmus]

You forgot to put back the endcap on the steering shaft

Thanks for helping me out with something I may have done incorrectly, but you've got me at a loss. Got a picture of what I'm missing? I don't know what that is.

[Hindsight]

On mine there is a white plastic piece that looks like it covers the 1" large-diameter section of column in the pic above, right where it exits that rubber bushing. Maybe it's a year-specific thing? I can take a pic of mine when I get home this evening.

[FFRSpec72]

On mine there is a white plastic piece that looks like it covers the 1" large-diameter section of column in the pic above, right where it exits that rubber bushing. Maybe it's a year-specific thing? I can take a pic of mine when I get home this evening.

Yep that's the piece, I don't have a picture with me to post, not sure it does much except keep the dirt/water/etc. out. I have seen these on 2002/3/4 models, not sure about later models. It may have fallen off or been removed.

[Hindsight]

Mine's an 07 so definitely is there on the later models. Will post a pic tonight.

[Santiago]

On mine there is a white plastic piece that looks like it covers the 1" large-diameter section of column in the pic above, right where it exits that rubber bushing. Maybe it's a year-specific thing? I can take a pic of mine when I get home this evening.

Also have the same on mine - damn thing does pop off rather easily though; it's just lightly pressed in there. Mine is an 05-07 column, so should be same as Hindisight. I'll post a pic of it if it's any different though.

Honestly, I was planning on removing it anyway...none of the FFR cars seem to run it.

Best,
-j

[Hindsight]

Might save 5 grams of weight by removing it but gain 3 grams per year in grime

[MrDude_1]

Might save 5 grams of weight by removing it but gain 3 grams per year in grime

If it does, you can utilize the WD40 and rag weight reduction system. With the R-version cowl installed, can you still reach there easily?

[Rasmus]

Hows my tooth engagement look?

[Hindsight]

Looks pretty good to me. Did you have to adjust anything at all?

Here are the pics of the bushing:

[Jaime]

Hows my tooth engagement look?

I switched to yellow because it's hard to see the pattern in Prussian Blue. What's the other face look like?

[Rasmus]

Here's a better version of the ring and pinion engagement pattern.


Drive Side


Coast Side.

[Rasmus]

Looks pretty good to me. Did you have to adjust anything at all?

Here are the pics of the bushing:

Thanks for the pictures of the bushing I'm missing. My donor didn't come with that.


As far as the Ring and Pinion, no, I didn't adjust anything. I just dropped the output shaft and differential back in after swapping to the T.B. differential and checked the pattern. I feel like I'm really lucking out with this transmission. Everything just seems too easy. I'm suspicious, I'm missing something.

[xxguitarist]

Did you use Dykem?
We used a non-drying blue grease. Lets you get a lot of rotations, and not have the odd double wear pattern?

Also, just to double check, you torqued down the transmission case halves & the bearing plate at rear for the pattern?

[Rasmus]

Yep, Dykem, the 'normal' kind.

[Rasmus]

Figured out what the Factory Service Manual wanted me to do, to measure the ring gears backlash.


I just couldn't figure out where they wanted the roller ball to go. Plus it didn't mention that I need to 'lock' the pinion down to measure the backlash.


My rig.


Backlash: 0.008"-0.0085". Glad I measured too. Factory limits are: 0.0051"-0.0071" so I'm running a little sloppy. Reads like the FSM made a typo:

Each time holder rotates one tooth, backlash changes by 0.05 mm (0.020 in).

0.05mm = 0.0020". So if I adjust by one tooth total, backlash should drop to 0.006"-0.0065".

[Hindsight]

It doesn't look like you torqued down the transmission halves though..... did you? I don't see any bolts above. However, I also don't recall if the Shop Manual tells you to do that but it seems like you'd need to.

[Rasmus]

It doesn't look like you torqued down the transmission halves though..... did you? I don't see any bolts above. However, I also don't recall if the Shop Manual tells you to do that but it seems like you'd need to.

They're only six bolts holding my transmission cases halves together for this measurement. With maybe 20 ft-lb. The two "big ones" that surround the output shaft's bearing right near the pinion and the four that hold the back of output shaft to the back of the case near the shims. FSM didn't read that I needed to torque to spec the case halves before measuring, but that section of the FSM is seriously lacking in detail.

Moved the backlash adjusters half a tooth tighter each. For one tooth total. I found I could do half tooth adjustments if I just flipped the locking tab over.


Backlash measured at 0.006" now. Which is right in the middle of the FSM's spec (0.0051"-0.0071"). Nice. As far as 'feel', with the 0.008" I could feel the ring gear clunking into the pinion when I turned the output shaft with my hand. With 0.006" I can't feel it clunking.


Updated Drive-side tooth engagement pattern as a result of tightening up the backlash.


Updated Coast-side tooth engagement pattern as a result of tightening up the backlash.

[Hindsight]

Great info. I agree on FSM. Did you need the special tool to turn the backlash adjusters?

[Rasmus]

Did you need the special tool to turn the backlash adjusters?

No. Which is just bizarre to me. I'm getting so lucky with this transmission, I feel like it shouldn't be going this easy. Like I'm wasting all my hotroding luck on this one part. All I did was get one of my blunted screwdrivers with the most tip surface area, put that on one of the teeth and gave it a few small taps with a 5lb dead blow. 4 taps and I'd moved it 1/2 tooth.

I'm gonna torque to spec the case halves around the pumpkin. See if the backlash changes. Good thought there Hindsight. Let's see.

[Scargo]

How can you call it a frikin pumpkin? It's in a transaxle. JK. Relax...
The manual is seriously deficient in so many ways. I was trying to diagnose a center diff issue and read this wonderful Subaru English technical-speak:
"In MANUAL MODE, as the operation amount of DCCD control dial (driver’s will) is prioritized, the control that increases/decreases the engagement power of solenoid clutch LSD is performed."

I made an adjuster by just bolting two 1/4-20 bolts in a long plate to act as a wrench on the side-plates.
Don't forget about how it "feels" VS pre-load and the eventual thermal expansion of the aluminum VS that of the steel.

[Jaime]

Did you need the special tool to turn the backlash adjusters?

This $10 tool from Amazon works excellent for turning the side adjusters:

41D1h2ha1HL.jpg