Awd to fwd 98 outback

Bundo · Post by **Bundo** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 10:00 pm

Has this been done?

I like my 98 ej25 wagon. I know nothing about Subaru but like the car. I don't need to use awd. So I see I have two options.

A fwd only gear box or a gear box that can disengage awd.

Has anyone in Brisbane got a fwd and wants an awd?

Can you get a gear box like the old grungy ones that disengage awd?

Any help???

niterida · Post by **niterida** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 10:30 pm

Bundo wrote:Has this been done?

I like my 98 ej25 wagon. I know nothing about Subaru but like the car. I don't need to use awd. So I see I have two options.

A fwd only gear box or a gear box that can disengage awd.

Has anyone in Brisbane got a fwd and wants an awd?

Can you get a gear box like the old grungy ones that disengage awd?

Any help???

So you are going to spend up to potentially $1000 to devalue the car to the point of almost being un-sellable.

Are you mad ?

If you don't use AWD it doesn't matter but it will be there to save your bacon in slippery conditions. The only slight advantage of FWD is less fuel consumption but it probably wouldn't be enough to make it worthwhile.

If you must have FWD sell the Outback and by another car.

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:33 am

That would seriously have to be the stupidest question I've ever heard on a Subaru forum, go trade it in on a Hyundai.

poprock1 · Post by **poprock1** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:17 am

d_generate wrote:That would seriously have to be the stupidest question I've ever heard on a Subaru forum, go trade it in on a Hyundai.

Ditto:rolleyes:

Bundo · Post by **Bundo** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 7:43 am

Ok thank you for the answers.

I don't play on dirt with this car. I have a rally car for that.

The car is not worth much. So value won't drop much.

Fuel economy is really bad. And I mean I fill up twice on a weekend just to drive local with the kids so not hard or fast.

If I could by a wagon with the same comfort as the Subaru same power and in 4 cyl I would trade it.

I do not believe a question before you start a project is stupid. This is why I asked the question to get feed back.

I would swap the parts with someone who wanted to go from fwd to awd so the cost would not be great.

Once again thank you for your feed back

78sti · Post by **78sti** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:12 pm

auto or manual?

if it is auto you can just put in a fuse that makes if fwd. Autos generally have 100% drive to the front anyway and the rear is drivin by a clutch.

I dont think this will solve your fuel economy problems though.

If manual you will need a early lib fwd gearbox.

But seems like a very silly idea, do you know what the fuel economy is?

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:16 pm

Come on d_generate, we don't want to start another showthread.php?t=18783

Yeah i had both AWD and FWD cars and fuel economy isn't that big.
Its not a stupid question but i think 99.9% of people here prefer to upgrade to AWD as it offers so much more advantages.

To convert to FWD you could just drop an early Liberty box that are pretty cheap these days and i guess remove the tail shaft and leave the rest in... Not sure if that wouldn't cause problems..

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:17 pm

If its an auto, like it was said by 78Sti, the easiest thing is to do that fuse thing or put a switch in the cabin so you can flick from AWD to FWD at any time. I know its been done before but not sure it it causes any damage.

Hope you don't convert it to FWD...

damo666 · Post by **damo666** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:10 pm

Ive got a FWD box you can have.....

niterida · Post by **niterida** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:47 pm

Is it a gen 2 or gen 3 outback ? If its gen 3 then you will lose thousands in resale. If its a gen 2 then just stick a fuse in the little fuse holder under the bonnet just in front of the drivers side of the windscreen - hey presto FWD.

Bundo · Post by **Bundo** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:56 pm

I get about 300 klm per tank.

It's a 5 speed manual.

My v6 commodore gets better fuel economy.

This is about the same as my old monster port 13b but that was more fun.

When I slow down to a stop in the Subaru the car jerks to a stop. It feels like the gear box finding up. That's where all this started from.

And yes I would be interested in the gearbox in canbera if it is the one I need. Incase I go ahead with thie " stupid" conversion.

I always wanted an early suby with the awd kit as a rally car but never got there.

I have a 74 lancer rally car as a play car.

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:08 pm

Doing the fuse trick is supposedly not too good in the long term for auto's, thought about checking afm or oxy sensors for poor economy cos I seriously doubt you'll save more than 5% on your fuel bill by changing it over to fwd.
Probably better off chucking a 2L in it instead as the 2.5's are much worse on fuel

Bundo · Post by **Bundo** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:16 pm

Thanks for the tip. I will get the sensors checked. I think the knock sensor is no good but will also chech the rest.

Post by **yarney** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:53 pm

When it's running good you should get over 400km a tank a good service will do it wonders.

Jan

ScubyRoo · Post by **ScubyRoo** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:03 pm

My '97 outback (manual) get's 575km to empty with a mixture of hwy/city, average of 10L/100km.

Fully (over) loaded with 5 people, heavy trailer and mountain terrain the worst fuel economy I've had was 16L/100km, which still gives me better fuel economy than you. Best I've had was 8.9L/100km with little load in the car and hwy all the way. This isn't much worse than what I would get with my EJ22.

If you're only getting 300km to the tank it's not AWD chewing up your petrol... something else isn't right. The basic scans and service items are easily done yourself to save $$$ if that is an issue.

Check to see what engine codes it's showing (look in the electrical section on these forums for detail instructions) and replace the offending sensors. At the same time replace air, oil and fuel filters, flush oil and coolant and replace with good quality fluids, get injectors cleaned and change spark plugs and leads to good quality units. Run on 98ron fuel for at least 4 or 5 tanks.

Do the above and you should a) have a far more responsive, quiet and more lively motor, and b) see an improvement in your fuel economy. I keep closely (or better than) to the service intervals and the motor is a happy one.

As strange as this sounds, have you filled up at a servo, reset the odometer and driven till empty (with a jerry can of course!)? Subis are notorious for reading empty on their gauge with another 1/4 of a tank of fuel left.

Good luck!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:25 pm

Bundo wrote:I get about 300 klm per tank.

I hope Steptoe isn't reading this... I reckon all hell will break lose if he reads another statement like this. Litres per hundred KM is usually the best method of working out how your fuel economy is going.

As for filling up twice a week, I could fill up 15 times a week - but it would probably only be about 5 litres a time - hence not a good indicator as to how much fuel you're actually using to a set number of Km's...

Bundo wrote:My v6 commodore gets better fuel economy.

This is about the same as my old monster port 13b but that was more fun.

Your V6 commodore has a larger fuel capacity thus "a tank" is larger for the same number of kilometres which means that your subi would be the better on economy.

These points aside about the amount of fuel used - what you should be focusing on is not changing to front wheel drive as 1, this will cost $$$$s in custom fabrication and 2, you will most likely find the new handling of the front wheel drive beast very poor at best. Subaru has stuck with the AWD setup for a reason.

As for the poor fuel economy, as others have said, check your codes for sensor issues. I would also check/replace your spark plugs and air filter, cheap to do with great results if they're the issue. If you can, also check the compression of each cylinder. With the sensor codes I would be poking at the oxygen sensor first, then probably the knock sensor or the temp sensor.

My missus' VT commodore can get about 900km from a tank (just had a huge service plus new fuel pump), my EJ22 L series can manage 600km with the way I drive it - both situations are highway k's. The difference is that the VT has an 80 litre tank and my L has a 60 litre tank so works out about the same until you go to pay for a full tank from very very empty - like what we had to do after running out of fuel on the westgate bridge the other week (damn incline!

).

Think about this a little more before jumping into the drastic end of things. If your outback isn't worth much, how much would it cost me to take it off you?

Cheers

Bennie

Bundo · Post by **Bundo** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:59 pm

I don't know where to start with that.

I have had some one offer to help with the codes and help with this.

As for the comparison to the vt. The vt cost me $80 a week to run to work and back. The Subaru costs over $120. I don't know the klm just know it is a lot more.

As for doing the mod the reason for the question was to see if it would take much. Is it a bolt in conversion. I was told the car was tuned properly. I am now starting to doubt this.

I thank all who have commented I have taken some positives from this and looks like I will stay awd.

The last mod I did was efi motor into an older car. I did not have all these sensors. This is a learning curve. And I learn from asking "stupid"questions.
Thank you all.
I will

niterida · Post by **niterida** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:42 am

If your VT uses $80 then the Subie should use about $60 to do the same distance so there is something drastically wrong with your car - get the O2 sensor, fuel injectors and fuel pressure regulator checked first - hopefully one of those will be the culprit.

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Awd to fwd 98 outback

Awd to fwd 98 outback

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