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My Transmission is TOAST (4eat). reccomendations?

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:36 pm
by SubaruNation
hey guys, really sad news for me.

I have no 3rd or 4th gear in my car, and i can't go above 40mph.

Basically FML because the car was running PRISTINE, and just amazing over the last 2 days, i had just finished a ton of work on it and the irony that the tranny died is just terrible, yet still funny :)

I am looking for some pointers on how much i should pay for myself to do it, or have someone else do it.

Also, should i put a WRX 5spd in the car or just swap a L 5spd into it?
Can i put other subaru 5 spd's in the car also? like a 2.5rs or a Forester or something?

any help would be greatly appreciated because driving 25mph everywhere sucks ass right now :cry:

thanks again guys,

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:27 pm
by Saskatoon Subaru
just a question cause this has happened to me, check your tranny pan and make sure it hasn't been dented inward. my pan got bent in making the filter press against the pan unable to suck in tranny fluid and like you i could go nowhere fast, took the pan off pressed it back out, and it was good to go.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:40 pm
by DLC
You can swap any transmission in there as long as you have the right gearing in the rear. I think your car should have the 4.11 final drive, so a Legacy GT/2.5RS would be ideal. The Forester and Outback can have the 4.44 gearing, which would be awesome for making it feel quicker, but it would be terrible for fuel mileage on the highway.

The advantage to finding an L 5MT is that the clutch setup is simpler (cable versus hydraulic), it's probably a bit lighter all told, and you can probably find a few in a local yard far cheaper than the newer units, even with similar miles.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:02 pm
by log1call
Are you sure it's not something you have done while working on the car? I can't think of anything that could cause those symptoms, in fact, if you asked me I'd say that there was nothing you could do other than missadjust the gear shift cable that would cause that, and adhusting the cable would probably stop it going into park or something anyway.

Those boxes normally give plenty of warning if the clutches are worn out. If there is an electrical fault it should flash a light and jam in third. Seems a bit strange it packed up so abruptly.

Not really a job for an amatuer, although they can be done at home. There are a few critical measurements and there are a couple of simple spring compressors that are needed to get clucth packs apart, but nothing that can't be done with threaded rod and a bit of iigenuity.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:31 pm
by SubaruNation
yeah, i have 1st, 2nd, Park, Neutral, and Reverse.

when i shift into third or drive, it just acts like it's in neutral and wont accellerate, just rev :(

where do i check for the bumped pan thing you are talking about? if it was something simple like that i would be stoked, and finding a 5mt around here is going to be tough because freerange loves buying all of them up and using them.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:43 pm
by SubaruNation
also, im getting 0 CEL's and i have not messed w/ anything related to the cables.. unless they snapped and i just don't know that they did yet.

although i got a CEL for 2 seconds when i was washing my car on friday??

when it was spraying my car either underneath or on the front or from the back.
..drive through car wash

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:52 am
by wtdash
Zach,
Check your tranny codes HERE.

Look underneath your car by the tranny's drain plug. If it's dented it should be fairly obvious....I dented mine and it broke a sensor wire - lost my TC lockup 'til I fixed it.

I agree w/'log1call'...unusual for it to just 'die'.....although that's apparently what happened to my '93 SS donor...it was working, they parked it, and the next morning it wouldn't move. :?

All '91-94 turbos are 3.90 diffs - 5MT and Auto.

I'd also go search on USMB..lots of tranny info there.

Td

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:54 am
by ericem
Here's the better question. Did you check to see if you have any transmission fluid ? lol! Check the dipstick with the motor running. Maybe a valve is stuck, or maybe you broke the wires going to the transmission!

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:03 pm
by SubaruNation
i checked the fluids and i don't think that is it. the dipstick had plenty of fluid on it :(
I checked underneath the car and there were no visible dents at all on the tranny pan, which i assume is large and square.

FML i need a 5MT stat.

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:08 pm
by SubaruNation
what is r4equired to do a WRX transmission swap?

is something like that a possibility?

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:45 pm
by SubaruNation
I just checked my TCU codes according to one of the posts above, and i got nothing. just the normal power flash ever 1/4 second. Wtf.

What do you guys recommend i do?

I have an automatic tranny replacement that freerange will hopefully help me out w/, and i found some parts cars for less than $700 i could use the 5mt's from.

Or i could talk to a tranny shop here locally and ask them to put a wrx one in, which i would take out a loan for.


Opinions??

not being able to drive over 40mph sux bad :cry:

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:00 pm
by ericem
Put the auto replacement in!!

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:04 pm
by asc_up
I'd say toss in the auto as well. It's the cheaper option that will get you by for right now. Taking out a loan for a transmission transplant just doesn't sound like a great idea to me. Plus, it'll be a direct swap in and you won't have to go around and source parts.

I really don't know much about the auto transmissions, but maybe doing a complete tranny fluid flush would help clear out some gunk or something that could be in there blocking a valve.

Wish I could be more of a help to ya Zach :(

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:04 pm
by wtdash
asc_up wrote:I'd say toss in the auto as well. It's the cheaper option that will get you by for right now. Taking out a loan for a transmission transplant just doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
BIG +1

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:53 pm
by log1call
Hi,
I was just rereading the thread and I noticed that the car had been fine for two days after being put back on the road and then it played up. I hadn't realised that before. I had thought it was found to be crook when the work finished and it was started. I must read more carefully!

So, it actually failed in service, which is a bit different.
It may be something that can be fixed with the pan off.

Have you done a stall test SubaruNation? Looked at and smelt the oil? Checked the oil pressures as per the manual?

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:55 pm
by log1call