Car: 05 subaru impreza outback sport, auto (2.5l) Pertinent Modifications: none Description of the problem: I'm starting to budget for swapping a manual transmission into my outback sport but i have a few specific questions that browsing NASIOC's FAQ page and various threads abroad didn't answer. Recent maintenance or modifications: not relevant Alright so I'm starting to budget for swapping a manual trans into my OBS but most of the FAQ and DIY threads I've found are specific to swapping from wrx to sti and vice versa. I haven't found any regarding outback sports newer than 01 and i haven't found any definite total parts lists. I'm also not clear whether or not there was any issues using an auto gauge cluster with a manual TCU or if there's any tuning/compatibility issues with running a different tcu with the ecu set for automatics. My last question is what years were drop-in compatible with an 05 and which transmissions were the one's regarded as "glass"
Well lets start with nailing down one or the other here. What are your future power plans for the car? That will be a deciding factor on if you choose to go with a 5 or a 6spd trans. Once that is decided that will make it either to nail down a list of items that will interchange and what will not. There are alot of parts that would need to be swapped to run a 6spd trans with your car. 5spd is significantly less.
power plans are negligible, I just plan to daily drive it until the body is too rusty to repair. I'll pick up a WRX or an STI down the road when I have more garage space for power. I'm already thinking 5 spd would be the better fit just off of your fewer parts comment.
it wouldn't be difficult. flywheel, clutch, transmission (including shift linkage), driveshaft, MT shift boot remove lines from radiator for the AT clutch and brake pedals from a MT as for the ecu, being an 05, you can flash it to an MT ecu.
I have a 5 speed with shifter linkages and crossmembers. Let me know if you're interested. http://mnsubaru.com/threads/fs-2002-wrx-stock-motor-and-transmission.44312/
No all the cross members and such are the same. Only other thing might be rear diff not sure on that one being it's a automatic could have a different final drive ratio.
I would sell your car and buy one with a manual trans if that is the only reason you want to swap to a manual.
I'll shed some light on this as I was recently considering a 6sp swap into an 03 auto 2.5ts winter beater I have because I have all the parts to do it. The mechanical portion of this is straight forward if you have all the parts. Basically bolt in. The wiring side is not difficult but requires some accurate changing of the transmission wiring to avoid CELs or loss of functionality. Avoid the standard NASIOC blow hards that will tell you they swapped it in 2 hours but then ignore the fact their ABS or TC doesn't work and the CEL is on. The wiring diagrams on these cars are very good so it wouldn't be difficult but it adds to the time required. I decided it wasn't worth my time on a beater. I would only bother if the car is special (rare color, sentimental, rust free, etc.) or you are doing a serious build and will have it pulled apart for other reasons anyways.
The idea was that when the time comes to pull either the engine or the trans for rebuild/replacement I would go ahead with the swap. The car is completely rust free and i'll be keeping an eye on the typical location to stop it before it consumes the panel. I generally estimate it'll take 1.5 to 2X the time someone claims to have done it in just to be realistic.
