Time to order some transmission parts...
 

I have been doing some reading on NASIOC about what parts I should buy for my repair. From talking to Dylan(DS1 Motorsports), he said that I only need to buy 2nd drive gear and a new main shaft. I told him that my trans. has 89k on it and that I have the early MY04 (that has since been "improved" with the following parts.)
I don't know enough about the transmission to know if those parts are completely necessary and Dylan doesn't seem to think so.
I also read something that suggested replacing some or all of the bearings. Again I know nothing about this.

Any input would be appreciated

Necessary to get it going, I wouldn't say all of those parts are needed, but I would say they're HIGHLY recommended, as they're updated and seem to be in the spirit of keeping any trans damage like this from happening in the future.

My trans stripped off reverse teeth, and all of the bearings, as well as anything else that showed wear from the metal bits floating around in the fluid, were replaced. Pretty much, ALL of the trans internals were replaced.

BUT, at the same time, I can understand not having the $$$ to go nuts...

I didn't really think about getting metal parts stuck in everything. The next thing I need to do is find a shop to put all of those things in there. I have a friend who works in the shop next to A1 transmission and he said that they should be pretty reasonable when it comes to price. Cory do you have any recommendations?

+1 on what Cory said. If you just suddenly stripped a gear and immediately stopped driving the car around, then you're probably cool for replacing just the busted parts. But if the car was "iffy" for a while before the gear finally went, or if you drove it w/ the damage, I'd be worried about the longevity of the gearbox's bearings and other bits over time.

It all boils down to how long you plan on keeping the car... if it's gotta last another 150k miles, you'll probably want to bite the bullet and rebuild it completely, but if you're only looking for 30k out of it, do it the cheap way and then it's someone else's problem... which isn't cool and reduces the selling price of the car, but hell, times are friggen tough these days and rebuilding gearboxes is expensive.

You really won't know how bad things are until you can get the case cracked open and have someone that knows their shit look at everything. A possible option is to buy a second WRX tranny w/ a different busted gear on the super-cheap, then just pick all the best parts from both boxes to rebuild you one working box... but that's only cheap if you can do the work yourself since labor tends to be the most expensive part of transmission repair.

Yeah, I can't do the labor myself and I would like to think that I will have the car for another 100k since there is absolutely no reason I would want something else. IMO it is one of the best cars to have where we live. If it was a coupe I could have the excuse that it doesn't work with kids but, the four doors make it workable for now. Its also paid for and gets decent gas mileage with more power than most other cars can offer off the shelf.

I drove the car for a maximum of 4 miles in 1st gear after the break. I imagine that was just long enough to disperse the metal bits everywhere. I guess I will find out when I open it. On a side note, how much does a dry 5mt weigh? I don't have a tranny floor jack so I am thinking about just taking it out by hand.

I don't know what the tranny weighs, but it isn't light. When I helped my friend with his from his 03, it was a bitch rolling it around under the car just to get it on the jack, but he got it out without a jack. PM bluestreak and ask if you can borrow his tranny jack. He's my roommate so I know he has one and he's not using it, but I don't wanna do the leg work for you haha, and it's easier without a middleman. If he doesn't respond let me know and I'll talk to him.

I wouldn't try it by hand... adding a crushed hand and a trip to the ER to the cost of the replacement isn't worth the risk.

At the very least, cobble yourself together a wooden brace that you can use with a normal floor jack that would help lower it, and protect it in the case it falls. But really, get your hands on a tranny jack if you can.

Trans jack is the best way, but it can be done by hand... it just isn't what I'd call "fun."

There's a few reputable trans shops in town, I've heard good things about Arrow, and A-1. I'd try calling around, and seeing who sounds confident about the job, and check out some prices.

or you can bring it down to my shop and have Tom rebuild it. Hes rebuilt mine twice already and has hundreds of tranny rebuild under his belt.. hell, i can prolly even have him do it on the side for even less

Why'd he have to rebuild it twice? :huh:

Is this him?
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:P

+1 for Tom... IIRC, he was the guy that did the latest rebuild on the SVX's transfer clutch giving me my AWD back!

haha!.. nope..slightly different tom..ha!

To take that out yourself, you will need: tall jackstands, some way to lift up on the front of the motor, and a tranny jack. Trying to do it by hand even with lots of help is asking to break something. Can't those be rented?

I would totally be down with that. If you could ask him for me when you get a chance that would be awesome. I will probably be getting all the bearings and synchros just to be safe. Send me a PM after you talk to him. Thanks

The car is already up in the air with most everything unbolted. I was just asking about a tranny jack or doing it by hand for the actual removal. I will probably give bigrobwoots roommate a ring to see if I can borrow one.

SOoooo. I have everything unbolted and unhooked, trans. jack in place, and I have been trying to pry the tranny off the engine for like 15 minutes. WHY is it not coming off?

Most common mistake is not removing the pin from the clutch fork. If you did that, you either forgot one of the 8 bellhousing bolts, or you're just a really big wuss. :p

Yeah, if it's only separated like 1/4", it's the fork pin. Big allen cover on the driver's side, thread a #10 machine thread bold into the pin and pull it. Or something like that.

Yeah I did that right after I removed the starter. I can't even fit a putty knife between the engine and the tranny. Kevin, you and Dean both asked if I have 8 bolts. I do not, I have 6 bolts and 2 nuts. Does the 5mt and 6mt have the same number? Here is a picture of a 2.0 that "I think" looks like it only has 6 bolt holes. http://www.whiskeytangofoxtrot.net/h...h/IMG_3091.JPG

If all fasteners are removed, and the pin is out, and the fork is pulled up out of the clutch, and the tranny mount is removed, and the driveline is removed, then in theory the tranny will come free. The front of the engine should be pulled up with a crane to change the angle and allow the tranny to slip off easier.

Take off the flywheel bottom cover and hit the tranny with a dead blow hammer. The car isn't old enough for the dowel pins to be seized. Scott has had the 5MT out and might know how many bolts. Don't you have a shop manual? The '02/03 one is in the forums or archives somewhere.

I can't believe you are not getting any separation top or bottom with all the bolts out and lifting and lowering the back end of the tranny. That just doesn't sound possible with the leverage it has over the height of the bell housing.

You have the linkage disconnected? But that wouldn't keep it from moving at all... :huh::?::huh::?:

This trans was removed around a year ago to do the clutch so I would have thought that it would just slide right out. I released the fork, removed the half shafts, removed driveline, unhooked shift linkage, 6 bolts and 2 nuts from bell housing. Also, I don't have the flywheel cover anymore since we did the clutch install. I will take a video if I need to but, I am prying this thing like a madman. I have no clue what the holdup is.

Put a jack under the front of the engine and slowly raise it so it tilts back towards the gearbox. It sounds like you're just putting a lot of tension on the two studs and the threads are gripping too much.

Didjagetit?

No. I have a jack pushing up the front of the engine and I have tried all angles and it will still not slide out. I dont want to spray anything with WD40, should I? Cory, come over and get this taken care of and I will buy you lunch.

Did you bang around on it with a rubber mallet?

VICTORY
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:cool:

About time.

This post goes along with the Way Out West track that's playing on last.fm right now way too well.

What was the problem?

ibjuice

It was just really really stuck on there for some reason. After about 30 min of messing around with the tranny jack I just took it out and tied a strap across the gap so it wouldn't fall on my face. Then in anger I bench pressed the tranny, banging it against the bottom of the car about 25 times.

Still it didn't come off but, I made enough of a small gap up top between the engine and tranny that I could fit a huge pry bar in it. I had just removed the 02 sensor from Austin's exhaust so I was in the zone and ready to do WORK. Then it became one of those home videos from Yosemite where a black bear begins to pry the door off of a dodge caravan to get at the half eaten bag of pecan sandies on the back seat. It was pretty epic due to the lightning storm in the background.

For anyone who wants to know, a dry 5MT is around 123 pounds.

What a fantastic description, I felt like I was there! Haha, you should be an author :lol:

:lol: Nice work.

UPDATE
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/thumpyJ/gear.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62.../mainshaft.jpg

So basically second gear was toasted like I thought. I would probably have my transmission back and fixed today but there was a bit of a snafu with the parts that I had ordered. My transmission is an early 04 which means it was put out right before several synchro updates made mid year. So when I was ordering parts online I ordered the updated parts so they could be installed and bring my transmission current. Well it appears that my transmission was broken once before I bought the car and the updated multi-piece synchros and hub adapters were already installed.

The damage list included
3rd gear synchro having chunks broken out of it
2 gear and main shaft toasted
several bearings also toasted

The guy at A1 asked how long I have been driving around with it in this condition because I guess the wear shows that my transmission was damaged some time ago before 2nd gear recently exploded. So I ordered the remaining synchro, seals, nuts, c clips, and bearings that should all get here monday. Now I just need to call subarugenuineparts.com to see how bad I'm going to get raped on restocking fees if they decide to take the parts back at all.

At least there is some progress. Those gears look great! :lol: Good luck, I have heard nothing but great things about that site, I am sure they will work with you.

If you are buying the right stuff, hopefully they will be good to you. Let us know and add to the review in that forum. Clean those parts up and keep them on your desk as a reminder to be nice to the new stuff.

Are you putting LW Shockproof in when you put it back together?

I am going to frame it and hang it on the wall with a Fast and Furious quote.
You almost had me? You never had me - you never had your car.

I still have the 4 qts of oil that I had tried to sell ages ago so I think for the sake of my wallet I am just going to throw that in for now and see how it goes.

I am sticking the transmission back in today and for the life of me I can't remember where I connect that ground wire to the transmission. Anyone?

Bracket goes on the top bolt just to the left of the starter, and the ground cable bolts to the bracket with a 12mm bolt.

Ok. I know the one you are talking about. The ground wire that I am talking about is connected to the firewall on the passenger side of the pitch stop mount and then it should connect to the transmission somewhere.

It goes to one of the case half bolts on the driver's side of the tranny.

So, I was plugging everything in and I am a little confused by something. I started to plug in the 3 plugs on top of the transmission and I noticed that there are only 2. Leaving me with an extra plug. Could my transmission have come back to me with 1 less plug!?!?!?
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...90706-1359.jpg

That looks like the lead to the other O2 sensor.

I like the way this part sounds... does that mean you're about to have a driveable car again?

That is exactly what it is. Thanks Kevin. I was about to lose it, thinking that I would have to take the transmission out again.

My car should be up and running tonight. How long is gasoline good for? The reason I ask is because the car has been sitting for a while.
EDIT: Holy Crap! My car has been down for 7 months!

I've had mine start on 1.5 year old gas. You'll be okay, just get it over to a gas station to top off with fresh 91 and try to stay out of the boost for the 1st tank if it was pretty full w/ old gas.

Congrats, Joel! It's good to know I have a friend who will fix my transmission for me when it breaks. :D