can an l series gearbox in SF forester?

idw

idw

Forum Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2012
Messages
1,092
Location
out bush
Car Year
2000
Car Model
Rusty nissan
Transmission
Auto
Does anyone know if an l series gearbox will fit an ej20 engine in the SF forester?

or besides matching diffs what else might be needed like an adapter plate tailshaft etc? I've got the option to get a box pretty cheap but depending on all the other work might not be worth it.
 
Wouldn't it just be easier to swap the low range?
Not sure what the front diff ratio is in a L series but im guessing it would be different to a foz. That would be a real mission to change as anything with diffs is a bit of a pain in the donkey.
How much are you going to pay for the box??? If its cheap and you decide you don't want it ill take it off your hands :ebiggrin:
 
$250 in qld, Going part time 4wd has its perks
 
I'm thinking if it could be done there would be a very large amount of work. Adaptor plate, custom tailshaft, modified linkages, etc. Thats if the input shaft matches which I dont think it does (but may be wrong).

If you're serious I can give you the number of a great Subie gearbox builder who can tell you if its possible & how much he would charge to do it. PM if you want....
 
Pffft. I have 3 L-Series boxes sitting at my house.... I thought about this but I don't really want to change to FWD onroad with 140Kw in front of it!
I do understand what you mean about the perks.

Your best option to do this is to put the EA insides into an EJ 4 bolt housing and bolt the rear locking 4WD part to the back. You'd need a custom tail shaft(~$500+), a 3.7 or 3.9 matching diff depending what the box has and you may aswell get one with an LSD($600+).
You'll need to be handy with a grinder as all the linkages and 4WD lever are different and will have to cut holes in your Foresters Body.

Now don't forget that due to the gearing of an L yuo'll be doing 3500rpm at 110km/hr so forget about fuel economy! It's doable but at the cost it'd probably be the same as getting the low range put in your foz or dong an engine conversion!

Personally if I were you just put the L low range in your AWD gearbox. I found that since changing from the 2.0l engine to 2.5l my car is so much more capable and the standard SF low range is adequate. Since I have 60% more torque under 2000rpm than the 2.0l I can take off in soft sand like you would on a normal hill. You don't need to ride the clutch, drop the clutch or anything. Just drive out and all 4 wheels will spin. You then have endless power so if I plan it while at 1500rpm it'll spin all 4 so much that my revs will go all the way to redline.
I have found over rocks and the likes that I can pretty much idle over most stuff and it is alot less likely to stall. I believe in a SF Forester this is more beneficial than changing from the decent 1.447.1 low range to the L's 1.598.1 low range.
 
EDIT: It has been done to an SF Forester by a guy whole called his forester the Forester Ranger.

Now we all know I do some pretty hardcore s**t in my Forester, hell I'm lucky it's still in as good'a condition as it is considering. lol
I reckon if I find it adequate then it's more than enough(my opinion). But I will say that after doing over 130,000km of driving in my Foz with a piss pour 2.0l piece of junk the low range doesn't feel low enough. It's really quiet amazing what power can do to a car!..
 
Last edited:
I thought there would be all that work. it's be easier for me to pick up a w/f sg at auction and do an engine convertion or get a half cut

And taza I've driven a 130kw corolla lift back (almost bought it instead of the forester actually) slot of fun when it wasn't torque steering off the road :lol: . What sort of improvement has the 2.5 done to your ability to climb? My only real problem with the SF is running out of oomf climbing, was why I was looking at the l series box and low range, I'M still interested in it for the gear set into my box
 
Hi idw, you can start by installing a 1,59:1 and a good LSD (Quaife or Cusco) into your box and if its not enough, do the 2,5 swap like Taza did...or the other way round !
But sure you'll have a better Foz, i'm very impressed by the 1,59:1.
 
I would do the LR swap, a few people have done it & been very happy. While you have the box out add an oil feed onto the low range to protect it on climbs where all the oil runs to the back, causing the LR to overheat.

I'd love to do a EJ25 swap or even a EJ22 swap :biggrin:

I'll prob just wait till mine dies lol :lol:
 
Well hill climbs are easy now, except for the open diffs being an issue but that's go nothing to do with power or gearing..

I can do hill climbs with 40psi in all tyres in 1st gear high range that I couldn't do even with a run up bouncing off the rev limiter in 1st low range. These are boggy sand hill climbs that are steep and long.
I can get to the top while doing around 4000rpm all the way up and when near the top I still have power at my foot and haven't ran out of puff.

I do alot of highway driving and with the old 2.0l overtaking would sometimes be an issue. When coming upto a road train or 3-4 cars I'd always use 4th gear, every time. I'd usually need a run up to get past (full load, head on wind and sometime up hills/inclines). I can now pull faster and hard in 5th gear at all speeds above 80km/hr than i ever could in 4th gear with the 2.0l

Over all very pleased. I might one day consider doing the 1.598.1 low range swap but for the time being it isn't a issue for me at all.
 
^ ^ Gidday NL

Not so sure that this happens. A gear box doesn't so much have oil lying around in it as it is immersed in a fog of oil droplets thrown everywhere by the rotation of the gears. Same with an engine crankcase. Can't see that this would be any different with the gearbox at an acute angle. After all, we are hardly talking about covering a footy field here ... :lol: :biggrin:

Not making any kind of black & white statement here, just thinking out loud about how oil behaves in a gearbox. In my '68 LC, the transfer case managed to pump all the oil "uphill" into its main gearbox through a buggered seal between the two. The bottom of the TC must have been a good foot below this seal, and well below the filler plug.

That happened driving on the flat from Brisbane to Adelaide.
 
The oil feed was something recommended to me by the person who built my gearbox. Something he had also done to his own gearbox, because he has replace a few blackened low range gearsets. They're also about the only component that fails off road if you hunt around long enough to find some reported gearbox failures.
 
Disregarding fwy and hwy driving, I probably spend equal time if not more in LR. I can't see an oil feed being anything but a good thing.
 
^ ^ Cannot argue with practical reality, mate.

That's certainly worth knowing, regardless of what contributes to it, or how.
 
When i was looking at a low range set at a wreckers that "oil feed" in the older box looks like its there only to throw oil behind the bearing (i didnt buy that set as mr harcourt wrecker wasnted $300 bucks for the gearset alone). I would mimic the feed putting the lr set into my awd box just so i dont have to find out it does something to hard way. But i doubt its needed the awd box takes a much thinner oil almost a tranny fluid, where the l series box from memory took a 80w90 gear oil. The thinner oil probably doesnt have as much trouble lubricating the box and center diff. But as i said I'd hate to find out the hard way :lol:

Well anyway I'm in two minds to buy this box or not, dont really want to pay to courier something from qld i can probably find closer in melbourne. Even better I'd be nicer if i could get just the gearset and not the entire box. It is a cheaper option then a 2.5lt (which is probably a future upgrade depending on cash in the next year might even get an sg and have the sf box reco'd to put in) and my clutch is almost due, i can also tackle the leaking front diff seal while im at it, its a slow leak but even a drop on the exhaust cat is smelly as all hell.
 
I'f your still looking to do this I'd recommend putting in a used EJ22 block. You'd get massive benefits from that, much more than changing your low range. I find my ability to crawl was greatly increased just from changing the engine as I can crawl along at 1000rpm without stalling as easily as it would from the 2.0l engine. The torque just allows it to withhold it's rpm better at all rev ranges.

Venom said:
The oil feed was something recommended to me by the person who built my gearbox. Something he had also done to his own gearbox, because he has replace a few blackened low range gearsets. They're also about the only component that fails off road if you hunt around long enough to find some reported gearbox failures.
Click to expand...


Very interesting information Venom. 1st gear was very easy to break in my first gearbox... Now I have found with my current one(45k km on it) which was fully reconditioned is that the syncro's are crunchy in gears 1-4. Maybe it's my driving style but they are definitely not smooth.
 
Last edited:
idw said:
$250 in qld, Going part time 4wd has its perks
Click to expand...

Stick that. Head to a pick a part (closest being cambellfield) on a 50% off gearbox day, keep an eye on their website for weekly specials. You should be able to get a box for $250 at normal price - but you have to pull it out yourself!

taza said:
Pffft. I have 3 L-Series boxes sitting at my house.... I thought about this but I don't really want to change to FWD onroad with 140Kw in front of it!
Click to expand...

Why not, drive it properly and you'll be set. I had 110kw or something in a lighter body. Drive it right and you won't have a problem.

taza said:
Your best option to do this is to put the EA insides into an EJ 4 bolt housing and bolt the rear locking 4WD part to the back. You'd need a custom tail shaft(~$500+), a 3.7 or 3.9 matching diff depending what the box has and you may aswell get one with an LSD($600+).
You'll need to be handy with a grinder as all the linkages and 4WD lever are different and will have to cut holes in your Foresters Body.
Click to expand...

No need to cut the body up! Just mod the linkages to fit the hole in the trans tunnel. This will allow you to return everything to stock if/when needed.

taza said:
Now don't forget that due to the gearing of an L yuo'll be doing 3500rpm at 110km/hr so forget about fuel economy! It's doable but at the cost it'd probably be the same as getting the low range put in your foz or dong an engine conversion!
Click to expand...

Don't forget the gearing in the L series box is for 23 inch tyres. With 26 inch of the forester tyres you'll be pulling about 2900 rpm at 100 and 3250 at 110km/h.

taza said:
Personally if I were you just put the L low range in your AWD gearbox... I believe in a SF Forester this is more beneficial than changing from the decent 1.447.1 low range to the L's 1.598.1 low range.
Click to expand...

True, if you've got the 1.19:1 low range go for the L series 1.59:1, while you're at it ditch your centre diff for a DCCD centre diff - Venom can share more about this mod. Also while the gearbox is open you should seize the opportunity to fit a front LSD ;)

If you've got the 1.447:1 low range just go the DCCD centre, unless you're after all the crawl you can get - like me!

Ratbag said:
A gear box doesn't so much have oil lying around in it as it is immersed in a fog of oil droplets thrown everywhere by the rotation of the gears. Same with an engine crankcase. Can't see that this would be any different with the gearbox at an acute angle.
Click to expand...

While this is true Ratbag, while on a steep long climb the low range gears are up very high doing a lot of work and heating up in the process. There's just not enough oil floating around to help out in this situation. If you're soft roading no worries, but anything harder I'd be looking into this mod. My last low range whines now when ever it's engaged.

On a side note: If you're in Macedon, we should catch up sometime, my pero's joint is near Cobaw and it's my old haunt :twisted:

Cheers

Bennie
 
Makes sense to me, I know a lot of people who drag race. It's a common problem for the front main engine bearings to run dry on drag runs due to the front of the car lifting up and the acceleration forces pushing the oil inside the sump back. While you aren't going as fast I hope! they these hills i'm such there is ample opportunity for all the oil to drain away to the rear of the box on long climbs.
 
El_Freddo said:
On a side note: If you're in Macedon, we should catch up sometime, my pero's joint is near Cobaw and it's my old haunt :twisted:

Cheers
Click to expand...

My parents place is also in Macedon. Im thinking an awesome Macedon area drive sometime soon :ebiggrin:
 
Cobaw claimed my old exhaust! The forest dust thought I needed a bigger one it was helping me. There hasn't been much at pinch a part lately, an l low looks like the go in the future, never done my own gearbox work but IM happy to give it a go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top