Is the JDM 5EAT the same as the USDM 5EAT?

Someone told me that the JDM 5EAT is much stronger than the USDM 5EAT, in terms of the amount of torque it can handle, and I'm wondering if this can be verified.

 

I would appreciate any assistance as this would determine the size turbo I use and whether I upgrade the transmission.

If I were you I would go by the information and experience most of the 5EAT users have had/seen with their transmissions. If you go past Stage 1 levels, a minimum transmission cooler is a good idea. Anything over moderate Stage 2 levels or close to/over 300whp, better start saving for a VB mod.

In my research I've found out that our 5EAT has some parts coming from JATCO and they are assembled in house by FHI.

I personally believe, and I have no information whatsoever to back this up, is that the JATCO parts are the same found on the newer Infiniti G, which are rated at 300 crank hp or over. There are modded Gs out there that have the 5EAT handle the load just fine.

Someone told me that the JDM 5EAT is much stronger than the USDM 5EAT, in terms of the amount of torque it can handle, and I'm wondering if this can be verified.

 

I would appreciate any assistance as this would determine the size turbo I use and whether I upgrade the transmission.

who ever told you that was wrong. the USDM 5eat is a JATCO unit. when my tranny blew i had to wait for the unit to come from Japan.

jomamma, did SOA or the dealer tell you explicitly it's a JATCO transmission? Because upon contacting JATCO a while ago they told me what I wrote above. That they do not build the transmission, they send some parts to FHI and they assemble the trannies themselves. If they are in fact integral JATCO trannies, I'd be interested to dig up the model so maybe I can finally find out some concrete numbers as to what the torque load specs are.

Now I don't mean to be hung up on Nissan even though JATCO is a part of them, because I realize they build trannies for a lot more companies, but I don't recall any of the Nissan cars [this excludes trucks and/or SUVs] having a high stall torque converter, such as the one on our Legacies, which revs up to 3200rpm IIRC. So that, at least, I think, is Subaru specific.

the tranny comes as a complete unit. SOA doesn't rebuild the 5eat. they send it to Japan from my experience and what i was told by SOA. i was told by my tuner/dealer it's jatco internals. i've done a lot of research on the 5eat and keep coming up with jatco. IPT may have an answer as they've rebuilt several Subaru trannies

I've followed up with SOA and IPT as well, they were not able to give me a straight answer. If the tranny comes as a complete unit they should have no problem providing a part/model number. As it stands, JATCO and Subaru were unable to. Matter of fact SOA refused, they just told me something along the lines of "we don't provide that information".

If you have people "in the industry" you may have better chances at finding out.

This is the exact message from JATCO, complete with poor English

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your inquiry.

 

We supply the Automatic Transmission "parts" for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (called Subaru) And FHI assemble the parts into Automatic Transmission unit.

Subaru Legacy GT is equipped with a AT unit used our parts.

Yours sincerely,

etc

It's quite possible I've dealt with the wrong underling, but there you have it.

stay away from launching and the tranny will be fine. monitor fluid for deposits and change fluid every 3 oil changes. if you want to launch the car, it puts a tremendous amount of stress on the tranny. no vb will save it.

This is the exact message from JATCO, complete with poor English

 

It's quite possible I've dealt with the wrong underling, but there you have it.

pretty much what my friend told me. it's a Subaru case with jatco internals

Well thanks for "unclarifying" the issue for me, lol. I wanted to find out what specs the transmission was built to. Seems to be a very well-kept secret. What's more bewildering is that JATCO seems to only list trannies for FWD or RWD vehicles, not AWD.

If you had to wait for the stuff to come from Japan, well there is the opie's answer. I was doubting it myself that for some reason FHI would choose to go with a weaker tranny for the USDM or rather, beef up the JDM for some obscure reason. I will go on the record and say that people in the States are way more likely to tow stuff or otherwise load up the tranny. Then again, there's a metric crapton of tuners in Japan too, so ...

my current set-up is pushing about 153wtq more than stock (same dyno). if the tranny goes, it's my fault not Subaru.

I know and I will be following your 5EAT with interest. 333 at the wheels is nice.

I know and I will be following your 5EAT with interest. 333 at the wheels is nice.

just don't moosh me

Subscribed because I want to find out what these 5eat's can handle before I do much

I think we're more likely to find out wtf happened to Jimmy Hoffa before we find out what internals the 5EAT uses My money is on the same internals that the Infiniti G and Nissan Z use.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

I have a tranny cooler installed. I've done a VF37 Sti conversion.

I launch the car from time to time, but generally drive fairly easy.

 

I have gotten some slipping once or twice, so I think I will probably end up doing the VB upgrade.

Describe said slipping? What gears and how did it act?

Well, it sometimes slams into gear when gearing down to the lower gears in manual mode. It happens a bit in "D" but it is less noticeable. Its hard to describe, but you can literally feel and hear it when it changs gear. Its not consistent though, it just happens every so often.

I'd imagine if the clutchpacks were slipping it would slam into gear and slip under WOT shifts near redline, more or less consistently. I sometimes get that slam into gears when I upshift in manual mode and this depends on what RPM I'm shifting at. If it's at around 3krpm or above she'll "bite" into the gear, but that sure as heck is not slipping. The split second I hit the lever she goes into gear, no hesitation in neutral, no sloppy revving. I'd venture a guess and say that what you're feeling is somewhat normal but you know your car better.

Well, it sometimes slams into gear when gearing down to the lower gears in manual mode. It happens a bit in "D" but it is less noticeable. Its hard to describe, but you can literally feel and hear it when it changs gear. Its not consistent though, it just happens every so often.

I don't think it's slipping. with the manu-matic trannies, sometimes they slam into gear because people are up/down shifting at the wrong rpm. the tranny holds the shift till the right rpm is reached. check your fluid. if it feels gritty, the clutch packs are wearing. then again you are launching your car.

jomamma, did you feel yours gritty on the dipstick or you had to do a drain? I'd imagine if it felt gritty on the dipstick the wear and tear was quite severe.

my fluid has never felt gritty. i also change the fluid every 9k miles, along with diff. fluid.

I've had the car for a little over a year and I've done two transmission flushes since I bought it. I got is used though so I don't know how it was treated before.

I have to check that grit thing. The guy who did the flushes never mentioned any grit, but then again I didn't ask.

Slipping is very noticeable, you'll know when your slipping its like you know the car should shift right now, because it did so time and time again in the past when you were giving such and such gas at such and such gear and rpm. The slip is when it doesnt shift and the rpms shoot up almost to redline then it shifts very sloppily followed by a horrible thud, or doesnt shift at all. You'll know when your slipping.