Cannot get the torque converter on far enough.

Is there a trick to this? One of the notches in the torque converter shaft has a t-slot at its bottom end; is that significant? Does that round circlip sit around the torque convert and then you insert the TC into the transaxle? The flex plate mounting bosses are still a good 1/2" away from the transaxles' mounting surface. I remember it being closer, like 1/4" or less.

 

Tom

Got it. What a bitch.

yup their a huge pain in the ass, i tried once for 4 hours with it in the car, never got it, finally put the old one back

Glad you got it, your probably one of the lucky ones to get it on without ruining the seals or pump.

Glad you got it, your probably one of the lucky ones to get it on without ruining the seals or pump.

 

Well, we will see about that. As it turns out, my replacement transaxle did not come out of a 96 like mine, but a 98. I thought they were the same so I decided to use the torque converter off of my 96. Wrong! The input shafts are different lengths.

 

And these Felpro Valve Cover gaskets suck. They are shrunk down below what they need to be to fit in the groove of the valve cover. Tried 2 sets just to make sure, and yup, the Felpro VS 50555R is a piece of crap and does not fit the 96 2.5. Ordered a set from Subaru for 12.95 apiece; will be here Wed or Thursday. Edit: Got the new Subie valve cover gaskets (rubber seals) today and they fit perfectly. 13.00 bucks apiece. However, the original cause of the massive leak, that lead me to order new seals was not the outer valve cover gasket, but the spark plug well gasket. THEY WERE MISSING!!! It's hell to get old and forget the simplest of things. And I actually took a memory course once; don't remember how I did though.

 

Tom

The input shafts are different lengths.

this is surprising. are you sure?

how different is the length?

 

this is the first i have ever heard this.

 

EDIT: i don't believe this is accurate.

3 part numbers for the shaft below. click on the usage info to see what cars the part was used on.

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/info/31409AA000/

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/info/31409AA030/

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/info/31409AA010/

Yes they are different lengths. However, I did not pull the (supposedly) 98's transmission out, so I am going on what they said. The difference in length was all in the tip that went into the torque converter, about 1/2 to 3/4". Since I had already replaced the C-Duty Solenoid in the 98's extension housing, AND I had already installed the transaxle in the 96, I just used the input shaft and torque convert from the 98 also. Between the two shafts, everything looked exactly the same except for the longer nose on the 98's shaft.

 

Another difference between the two was the Manual Lever Position Sensor Switch, which monitors where you have moved the transmission lever to, but the plugs were the same. I am hoping that won't be a problem.

 

Tom