Speedo and gear boxes

marvellous_matt

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Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
23
Location
Central Oztralia
HI,
Long story short the speedo has stopped working on my 04 forester X with 165k on the clock. Unfortunately it is not the speedo sender unit($190), so I believe it must be the nylon gear with in the gearbox that drives the sender unit. SO it is a gearbox out and spit open job, more work than I am prepared to undertake I think.

I do want to change the gearbox oil and see if there is anything in there that might confirm my suspissions. Ive found what I think is the oil drain plug however it has a funny star shape in there and im not sure what I should use to open it. Any one have some suggestions?

I also want to confirm that the volume of oil in a manula is 3.5 litres. I have 4 L and Im along way from the shops if this is not enough.

thanks for any help you can offer.
Matt
 
Why not just remove the sensor and inspect the drive gear and the sensor. How did you determine it is the not the sensor. Also how about the spedo head. The very very last thing I would condem is the nylon gear in the transmission.


nipper
 
Hi there,
removed speedo sender unit, attached drill and spun Drill in reverse, which made the speedo in the dash register. This was suggested by friendly Subaru/Range rover mechanic in Town last week. He suggested that he has not come across any faulty speedo sender units, however has had to replace a few nylon gears, particulary with cars that have been towing/working hard.
cheers Matt
 
Cannot help you with your speedo problem, but had to giggle when you said Subaru/Rangie specialist. Talk about opposite ends of the reliability/ ease to work on spectrum.
 
Ive found what I think is the oil drain plug however it has a funny star shape in there and im not sure what I should use to open it. Any one have some suggestions?

Meant to answer this when you first posted...then I forgot, sorry.:(

Gear box drain plug takes a Torx T70 wrench, they can be somewhat difficult to find. Usually you'll find up to a T65 no problem, but as soon as you get to the 70 they become elusive.:twisted:
 
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T&E Tools used to have them- probably still do- in 1/2" drive
 
gearbox oil volume?

Thanks for the info on the torx. I have only used baby ones for taking little electrical bits and pieces apart. I dont know how I can source one of those.
If I am able to get the plug out, can some one confirm the oil volume is 3.5L? its a my05manual x. the owner manual is a little confusing, I have a 4 L bottle here, but its 490 km to supercrap Auto if I have the volume wron, and thats a long way to drive with a dry gearbox!
cheers Matt
 
Best way to test the nylon gear in the gearbox would be to remove the speedo sensor, this will expose the shaft of the nylon gear - it has a groove in it that an appropriatly sized flat head screw driver (a short one would probabily do it) would be able to access, once you've got it in the groove gently try to turn the shaft with the screwdriver. If it doesn't move there shouldn't be a problem with the gear - if you can move it the gear is either cactus or has some how fallen off. If this is the case, its gearbox out and gut it on the bench - the speedo gear cannot be accessed any otherway, unlike the old holdens...

Hope its a speedo cluster problem, I reckon that would be easier to sort and probabily a lot cheaper too.

As for oil I thought they were closer to 5 litres - hang ten, got my haynes manual beside me...

Ok I got it wrong - its 4 litres for the 4wd 2.0L and 2.2L powered units and 3.3 litres for a 2.5L powered gearbox, that sounds a little backwards but it is the info I've got here that is relevant for liberty, outback and forester. Rear diff takes 0.8 litres...

Cheers

Bennie
 
HI Thanks for your response.
I removed the speedo sensor as you described, and when I placed a short handled flat screwdriver in the slot I was only able to get it to turn about 1/4 of a turn(maybe less) easily.(I may have only tried this in a clockwise direction) As you suggested I was hoping this indicated the nylon gear was intact and engaged with what ever runs it. HOWEVER I then put a drill on the speedo sender unit and spun it forward/clockwise. To my relief the speedo did not register so I patted my self on the back and got ready to order the speedo sender unit, until I boasted to my big brother who pointed out that I should have tried the drill in reverse. The next day I tried this and to my shock the drill in reverse made the Speedo in the dash register. So I can only determine that the problem is in the deep, dark, expensive to have a look see: gearbox.

I’m hoping that by changing the oil I may find further(if I need it) evidence that the nylon gear is broken or missing bits. When I checked the oil level it was a little bit above the full mark, and appeared clean.

I wonder if anyone has a exploded parts diagram for the manual gearbox? That might help me understand what might be going on in there.

That friendly subie/rangie mechanic suggested jacking one wheel up and spinning it while feeling for the shaft of the nylon gear rotating, however one wheel doesn’t do the trick, I must of misheard/misunderstood, and the prospect of me under the car with 4 wheels in the air is bit tricky.

I think I will arrange a GPS to check my speed for the moment, perhaps if I can last a few more thousand kms (but its hard to count them with no speedo!) I will have the gearbox removed and see if the clutch needs replacing at the same time.

once again thanks for the responses, I hope someone else may benefit from my learning!
Matt
 
I have an exploded view but would have to scan it. I do have these though:

p7011055.jpg


p7011047.jpg


Pretty easy to do - the rear casing on the EJ gearbox will come off in one piece, no need to pull it all to bits like the EA unit. Then the Gearbox casings split, you can see the speedo gear, the case in the second photo is the L series unit, note the larger gears on the low range in the casing.

If you're going to this extent, you should shove the L series low range in at the same time - you'll love the offroad experience it'll give you.

There's a pretty good write up here: https://www.ausubaru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13511 Being a 2004 model you may have to shave a little bit off the crown wheel for the larger gears of the low range to fit with clearance...

Cheers

Bennie
 
great Photos Bennie, I do have a further and some what important question for you, while splitting your gearbox why do you need a tube of liquid nails on the bench?:lol:
I am trying to see how the nylon gear is driven, its hard to line up.
I like your suggestion about better off road gearing, however my wife is lining up a pathfinder with decent suspension so my subie is likely to have an easier life from now on. I did find one of the tracks out here (near kings canyon/Watarrka NP) a bit challenging a few weeks ago, after doing it in a hilux where low 1 is quite a bit lower.
I dont think I will be dropping the gearbox by my self out here. Its a bit new to me, too much of a jump from working on my old Japanese motorbike, and maybe a bit heavy.
cheers Matt
 
Hehehe... yeah its a big job. The liquid nails - thats what I hold my subi together with :D :D Kidding - I've just got a very un-tidy flat bed truck tray to work from cos other parts of the shed are already used...

I was thinking how you could turn it a quater turn before you felt friction - are you sure you had the screw driver in good and proper? Otherwise it could be that one part of the gear is worn off creating a flat spot that doesn't operate the speedo.

It'll be a bugger of a job just to replace the nylon gear - I haven't heard of these flogging out in newer subi's. Ruby Scoo (my L series) has done over 400,000km with the same gearbox. I've had it since 297,xxxKm and have never replaced the oil... I did chuck a litre in there to get rid of a whine that developed on the last 4wd weekend in june but that's been it.

All the best with it!

Cheers

Bennie
 
fixed

Speedo finally fixed.
5 days at subie dealer in Alice, its been a nightmare to organise as I live 5 hrs away from town, and have needed to be here for a whole week.
Nylon gear was stripped. think it may have got too hot. Dealer/mechanic was helpful and explained lots of things. recommended putting in synthetic oil in soon, after the gearbox proves its self to be back together ok. Might be something for others to consider when getting gearbox oil changed.A few bearings were changed too, were showing pitting. So $1000 labor to replace a $17 part(plus gaskets/seals,and new bearings, about 400)
but very glad to have speedo and cruise control back!
cheers Matt
 
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