Forester awd in Brumby problems.

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My Brumby conversion went fairly well, got an EJ22 from a '91 Lib., L dual ratio gearbox as well as all the other little bits needed like new radiator, tailshaft shortened, gb crossmember mods, L series pedal box etc., repositioned low profile battery to where the spare wheel used to live and was going to use the L gearbox with adapter plate. Slowly everything came together and worked out and after reading up on all the really good info here at AUSubaru it is a lot easier than I thought.

Anyway, changed my mind halfway through after I came across a damaged '99 or 2000 Forester AWD DR gearbox in damaged condition for $250, it was locked in gear presumably because of being rear ended or maybe having the front shoved back, thought I could soon fix that so pulled it all apart with only minor repairable damage to a selector and shaft, chucked in another selector fork from the L and straightened the shaft in a press. It all looked good with no other visible damage.

After reading Alpine Raven's conversion thread about a lower low range ratio decided to give that a go as well so put the L gearbox to good use as a donor for parts. Well, not too hard but fiddly as expected, all together, everything else done, cleaned up, packed up and in the drivers seat! Finally yesterday I take the Brumby for it's first EJ motored outing. Woohooo!!! This EJ22 caper is worth it , the little bugger certainly drifts well in a grass paddock! Woohoo turned to other words and no go after about two kilometres when on an up change from second to third a missed change got fifth instead, where it has stayed permanently locked in gear.

This gearbox was locked in fifth when I got it and after repairs it seemed fine although maybe a little less crisp on the neutral (or fourth) to fifth change, put that down to just being stationary and th]ought it would get better after a run with oil in it. Nope,.... this is frustrating especially now as I don't trust this stupid gearbox and driving home locked in fifth is testing out the low down torque pretty well too. Got home somehow, had a quiet thinking time relaxing with a beer or three, braced myself and attempted to pull it out of gear. All that happened was to bend the gearlever back to the handbrake so now one more thing to fix. I gave up after that:mrgreen:

Where to from here? Well, another gearbox obviously and would like to reuse the lower ratio setup as well so open to suggestions. I really fancy the AWD with a rear lsd diff setup presently used and after looking at a gen 2 Liberty 4 speed auto I have in an RX Lseries it will need at least a 2" lift kit to fit. Very big gearbox that looks to weigh a ton. Sooooo,... Sportswagon Impreza? Liberty dr and just leave it alone, Forester maybe? I don't fancy making adapters up for another L gearbox but that would be cheapest option but would need to change tailshaft length, crossmember and mount plus clutch etc.

Has anyone had experience with this sort of gear lock problem before? Feels almost like an interlock ball problem or something. Actually, there is no play or feel at all. Rigid. Demised. Like the Norwegian blue parrot in the sketch by Monty Python.

Anyway, I'm open to suggestions.

Cheers,... Col.

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It looks like others have had problems with dual range gearboxes except the reverse of my scenario, this one won't select fourth and mine won't come out of fifth. Oh well:)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... EF:AU:1123

[El_Freddo]

Which shaft was straightened in a press? Painful that its stuck now as I'm thinking the only way to check it out is to split the gearbox again = once again painful...
Did you have it in 5th before it got stuck? If it was the first time it hit 5th before it got stuck I'd say the selector shaft was stuffed - particularly if it was the one straightened in the press. If it happened after already being in 5th several times I'm stuck for an answer. Sorry.

All the best with it.

Cheer

Bennie

[steptoe]

For those that have pulled these boxes apart - just how many square metres of bench or floor space was required to set things as they came off to enable easy reassemble?

[AlpineRaven]

I would say something has gone wrong with the shifter assembly or selectors etc - best pull the box apart to inspect..
Cheers
AP

For those that have pulled these boxes apart - just how many square metres of bench or floor space was required to set things as they came off to enable easy reassemble?

for me- comfortable - 2 squares... plus one small floor space for casing.
Cheers
AP

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[quote="El_Freddo"]Which shaft was straightened in a press? Painful that its stuck now as I'm thinking the only way to check it out is to split the gearbox again = once again painful...
Did you have it in 5th before it got stuck? If it was the first time it hit 5th before it got stuck I'd say the selector shaft was stuffed - particularly if it was the one straightened in the press. If it happened after already being in 5th several times I'm stuck for an answer. Sorry.

Thanks for the info., it was the selector shaft and the selector itself that was straightened, the little square bit that goes between the three shafts for the gears on the rearmost part. It was not in fifth previous to this , only 1st-2nd and went for 3rd but got 5fth. Now that you mention it I'm thinking it could be dicky still. The whole gearbox has to come out or alternatively the rear part, rear bit sounds easier to me;)

Thanks all, guess what I'm off to attack.

[El_Freddo]

That's the advantage to the AWD gearboxes - you can very easily drop the rear of the box off in one piece. Try doing that with an EA82 5 speed - IMPOSSIBLE!!! The whole thing has to come apart...

Sounds like you might need a new selector arm...

As for steptoe's question - I happily split a box or two on an 8 seat dining table sorta size... That's about how I did my last one The best bit is that one of the cases becomes the holder of the gearsets when you're not fiddling with them

Cheers

Bennie

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Okay, I think I've nutted it out now. The selectors look fine and are all lined up a treat, the gears all select beautifully too so has to be something with the rear part or the selector rod shaft. The shaft was bent when bought as well as the little spring loaded detent thing, not sure what it's called but it has the 10mm bolt holding it to the shaft. All these were straightened but now I think the actual selector that goes into the three levers must be out of alignment too, either that or the removable detent lever piece must be out of whack

Another gearbox I now have out of an Impreza (dual range, 3.9 ratio diff) is getting the back pulled off it to replace mine in the Brumby after doing a scrutiny of the parts. The reason I didn't replace the whole thing is because the diff in my Forester gb is 4.11 gearing with the handy for off-loading 1.59:1 low ratio L conversion as well as my rear diff being a matching pair. Tested it out on a steep hill and it was working well too until 5th jammed. or not as it turns out .... the selector rod had just jumped over the pack of selector shaft cutouts and couldn't get back into place:oops:

"the lounge room is not a workshop":D

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My suspicions were correct, it was the detent fork/ selector that had been bent and was straightened by me that was the problem area. Nothing wrong with the gears thankfully so after comparing bits and pieces have come to the conclusion that the detent arm is near critical for good shifting and feel. My straightening effort was off by about 2mm, doesn't sound much but was slightly crooked too, as well as that the shaft needed linishing to take out a couple of (very slight) high spots. It turns out the selector finger was going too far and jamming behind the spring loaded barrel piece, if I had reached down with a 10mm spanner through the shifter hole I could have got gears again to get home as it turns out. Used the good Impreza arm and fork though in the Brumby because that was in perfect nick. Wow, it now shifts with one finger on the lever! Beautiful feel too. Used the crappy straightened shaft back into the spare Impreza box with an L series fork and only getting 3-4, 5-R changes so it looks like another proper detent finger coming up in the future for that box:o

Every cloud has a silver lining as I found that with the engine jacked up to lower the gearbox rear to a workable level it gives a heap of room at the radiator, made the gearbox crossmember lower and now there is 25mm clearance to my little standard Touring Wagon zircon fan, enough room to fit the factory standard one back on the drivers side now too instead of an accessory one in front of the air con condenser.

Thank you to all who offered helpful advice, it's very much appreciated and saved heaps of time, effort and expense too.

[steptoe]

Great to hear. In such little time too.I look forward to the day I get to do a non MY box and get it back together again successfully. I get it now, the lounge room is not a workshop but the dining room is coz the table is bigger!

[AlpineRaven]

That's the advantage to the AWD gearboxes - you can very easily drop the rear of the box off in one piece. Try doing that with an EA82 5 speed - IMPOSSIBLE!!! The whole thing has to come apart...
Cheers

Bennie

Thats correct, if the box is still attached to the engine, but you gotta find that 10mm bolt in the transfer case then you're able to take whole casing out! Easy job if you blew up the centre diff
Cheers
AP

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This is a photo I took yesterday to show the difference between the Impreza selector shaft and the dodgy one previously installed and straightened to show how a little tiny misalignment can throw everything out. It looks like a lot but when you see the scale from the ruler it isn't much at all.

Others have said that the EJ22 should have been installed from the factory by Subaru, (or at least in the '89 on models when the EJ became available) I can see why after driving mine today. Accelerating up decent hills in fifth where before it would have lost speed in top gear or had to go back a gear is good stuff. The sound is a bonus too:mrgreen:

http://www.ausubaru.com.au/attachment.p ... 1276513594