Technically Speaking
- Author: Wayne Colonna, Technical Editor
- Subject matter: Subaru transmission parts
- Issue: Preventive measures
The pump shaft on a Subaru transmission is keyed to the converter (Figure 1) and held into place with an inner circlip (Figure 2). Those who are familiar with this know to carefully pull the converter far enough out to clear the shaft from the transmission.
The converter and shaft can then be placed onto the bench (Figure 3) and with the use of a couple of picks (Figure 4); the inner circlip can be compressed releasing the shaft from the converter (Figure 5). Oftentimes, one ear of the circlip will break off when compressing it (figures 6, 7 and 8).
Once the transmission has been rebuilt, the shaft needs to be put into the converter and secured by this inner circlip. The problem arises when no one can find a good clip to use. A new one now needs to be ordered and the task to finding a part number takes a little time. Once ordered, you sit there two or more days waiting for it to arrive. Max Deese from King’s Transmission is all too familiar with this situation. After taking the time to locate the part number, he now keeps at least 10 in stock and when he uses up 5, he orders 5 more. The part number for this inner circlip is 805343020 and costs about $2.50 (Figure 9).
Another part that Max likes to keep in stock is the turbine shaft speed sensor. It seems to break frequently at some point in the R&R process (Figure 10) – particularly Subaru’s using the 5EAT transmission. Keeping this sensor in stock is another preventive measure to avoid a loss of time ordering it and then waiting upon its arrival. The part number for this sensor is 31937AA071 and costs about $60. But with a little shopping you may find it closer to $40.
