Is the subaru 5 speed that bad
04-17-2003, 08:05 AM
#16
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Just for the record. My car is unmodded, and I drove a 1999 5sp Forestor extensively before buying my WRX. Also, Clutch dumps don't generally ruin synchros, and won't ruin a race needle bearing. However, if that bearing is bad, the tranny can be out of alignment which can destroy synchros, which may explain the problems in my tranny.
04-17-2003, 06:32 PM
#17
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mines fine...
my '98 L has 115K miles on it, just about ALL of those miles the car has been driven hard...i beat the **** out of my poor subie, and so far its taken all my abuse, the only problem my tranny has is reverse grinding when the car is moving in reverse at what i gues is about 10 mph, no biggie at all since i never really need to shift into reverse when the car is moving over 10 MPH in reverse, none of my synchros are bad either, and i shift hard and fast quite often...there are alot of different factors that could make ones 5 speed shine or shatter, like horsepower...my car has just 135 horsies and...i think about the same numbers for torque... and i drive the **** out of it, so eventualy it WILL die from abuse, but not nearly as long as it'd take a 2.5 RS to if driven like i drive mine, and damn....i cant imagine how quicly i'd kill the tranny in a WRX...but anyway, three factors that will roughly give you an idea of how suceptable your tranny is to wear damage are, 1) your driving habbits. 2) torque of your engine. and 3) production tolerances...every tranny is going to differ greatly (in machine standards)....so the BEST thing you can do is drive with more skill...you can drive hard and still go easy on your tranny, like..dont punch the gas, and let the synchros spin up before shifting, and do your best to rev match...heh...things i dont do often enough....but luckily i have a relatively low torque engine compaired to most of you guys....but i will agree, a stronger 6 speed would be REALLY nice....damn...i type too much
04-18-2003, 11:03 PM
#19
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not to offend anyone, but you cant go buy a brand new WRX, or car etc.. with like 1k mileage and redline the crap outta it, there's something called "BREAKING IT IN," a process where i see a lot of people not doing, but if your one who does it and your tranny still went, sucks to hear.. but yeah anyways.. my point is, break it in before doing anything crazy to it..
my 95 has about 160k on it and tranny still up and running well.. and i do redline this sucker once or twice, when i have to..
my 95 has about 160k on it and tranny still up and running well.. and i do redline this sucker once or twice, when i have to..
04-19-2003, 06:44 AM
#20
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yeah that may be what some of your premature breaking trannies have an issue with...the previous owner of my car was an old geezer who never drove past 4k rpm i bet, and he put a good 30K miles on it, thas i think triple what is said to be a good break in period for the engine and tranny, so i guess its safe to say one of the reasons mine hasnt broke is that it was well broken in
05-01-2003, 07:17 AM
#21
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Chalk me up in the problems with the clutch/tranny group. I have a 97 OBS and I started to have strange groans/vibrations coming through the clutch linkage at 36,004 miles. And the clutch was never as light and smooth as either my OLD 83 Mazda GLC or 88 Mazda 323GTX.
I had to replace the clutch in my OBS at 53K miles. Now I have 81K on it and it is slipping again in 1st and 2nd gear. My dealer told me there was some abnormal wear(I believe on the on the shaft the throwout bearing rests on) that they sanded down to smooth it out. About 3000 miles later, I now had a vibration in the clutch lever SO BAD that it rattles the clutch pedal in the passenger compartment. I took it to another dealer and they said I needed a new tranny case to fix the vibration.
I tried to get SOA to help me with this, all they would do is convince the original dealer to pull the tranny to look at it. And If the dealer (who lied to me about the warranty) decided he didn't want to cover it out of their goodwill money, then I'd have to eat the cost of them pulling the tranny.
Remember, this is on a 1997 Impreza Outback Sport with the 2.2L 137hp 4-cyl!!! Not the 227 hp of the WRX. From my understanding, this is the same tranny as in the WRX. Just seeing all of the posts about clutch shudder, weak synchros and now that there is a TSB for the clutch on 99-02 2.5L and 2.0L Turbo engines makes me angry.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love my car. I wish it was working properly. But I had to go to my original dealer (that was the deal SOA worked out with Subaru of New England - Regional Sub Reps) and SOA wouldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have to pay for pulling the tranny. I've told friends to avoid Subaru because of this. and if they absolutely MUST have a Subaru, ONLY get an automatic.
Sorry for the rant. I'm considering contacting the state attorney general's office over this. It really angers me that I was told there was no warranty coverage for the transmission after 36K miles when there was coverage to 60K miles (and the wear was found before this). When I finally confronted them about it (after the car was past 60K miles) they said it wasn't warranty work again.
I had to replace the clutch in my OBS at 53K miles. Now I have 81K on it and it is slipping again in 1st and 2nd gear. My dealer told me there was some abnormal wear(I believe on the on the shaft the throwout bearing rests on) that they sanded down to smooth it out. About 3000 miles later, I now had a vibration in the clutch lever SO BAD that it rattles the clutch pedal in the passenger compartment. I took it to another dealer and they said I needed a new tranny case to fix the vibration.
I tried to get SOA to help me with this, all they would do is convince the original dealer to pull the tranny to look at it. And If the dealer (who lied to me about the warranty) decided he didn't want to cover it out of their goodwill money, then I'd have to eat the cost of them pulling the tranny.
Remember, this is on a 1997 Impreza Outback Sport with the 2.2L 137hp 4-cyl!!! Not the 227 hp of the WRX. From my understanding, this is the same tranny as in the WRX. Just seeing all of the posts about clutch shudder, weak synchros and now that there is a TSB for the clutch on 99-02 2.5L and 2.0L Turbo engines makes me angry.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love my car. I wish it was working properly. But I had to go to my original dealer (that was the deal SOA worked out with Subaru of New England - Regional Sub Reps) and SOA wouldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have to pay for pulling the tranny. I've told friends to avoid Subaru because of this. and if they absolutely MUST have a Subaru, ONLY get an automatic.
Sorry for the rant. I'm considering contacting the state attorney general's office over this. It really angers me that I was told there was no warranty coverage for the transmission after 36K miles when there was coverage to 60K miles (and the wear was found before this). When I finally confronted them about it (after the car was past 60K miles) they said it wasn't warranty work again.
05-02-2003, 08:21 AM
#22
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I think the the tranny design for all the five speeds is the same. The final drive or the gear ratios are different between the different vehicles though. The tranny was improved for 1999, giving it a much better shift feel, but from what I can tell, the tranny in my WRX is the same design as the one in my parents' Forester. Shortline Subaru in Aurora, Colorado claims that they are only authorized to fix the tranny under warranty once. My mechanic, who only works on Subarus, has been seeing a lot of problems with the 5 speeds from people who drive normally. If you're in Colorado and need Subaru work done you should check him out. The place is Silver Star Auto on Parker and Quincy in Aurora, CO. Anyway. This isn't the first time that Subaru has sold a car with a bad tranny and screwed its customers.
The Justy with the ECVT had the casing sand cast, but not all of the sand removed. This led to them failing. It was actually cheaper in most cases to swap in a manual tranny rather than repair or replace the ECVT (Electronic Constantly Variable Transmission).
The SVX needs an auxilary transmision oil cooler or the tranny overheats due to apparently not being designed to handle the power of the 3.3L engine.
It seems we might want to consider a class action lawsuit if the problem continues. However, I am not a lawyer and have no clue how to go about it. Let me know if someone is trying it.
The Justy with the ECVT had the casing sand cast, but not all of the sand removed. This led to them failing. It was actually cheaper in most cases to swap in a manual tranny rather than repair or replace the ECVT (Electronic Constantly Variable Transmission).
The SVX needs an auxilary transmision oil cooler or the tranny overheats due to apparently not being designed to handle the power of the 3.3L engine.
It seems we might want to consider a class action lawsuit if the problem continues. However, I am not a lawyer and have no clue how to go about it. Let me know if someone is trying it.
05-03-2003, 07:30 AM
#23
Registered User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Posts: 34
Car Info: 2002 White WRX
Blew My Trans In A Week
I got a 2002 WRX sedan about 2 weeks ago. And I was stoped at a light. I put it into first as I see the other side of the traffic light turn yellow, and once the light turns green I go. I got to shift into second and my second gear just blows! What a loud of crap. I have the car for like 7 days! And I already blew the trans? I dont think so. So I have it TOWED to the dealership and they say its driver abuse! How can you blow a transmission in 7 days? Its not like I was sqeeking it into second everytime I would be stoped at a light! I got the car with 23000 miles. And I put maybe 800 on it before the damn thing blew! So im printing out all the bad stuff all of you are saying about the WRX transmission and going to show them it, and see what they say about it then. And if that dosent work im out 4100 bucks!
05-03-2003, 08:14 AM
#24
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Re: Blew My Trans In A Week
Originally posted by 4830DeuceWRX
I got the car with 23000 miles. And I put maybe 800 on it before the damn thing blew! So im printing out all the bad stuff all of you are saying about the WRX transmission and going to show them it, and see what they say about it then. And if that dosent work im out 4100 bucks!
I got the car with 23000 miles. And I put maybe 800 on it before the damn thing blew! So im printing out all the bad stuff all of you are saying about the WRX transmission and going to show them it, and see what they say about it then. And if that dosent work im out 4100 bucks!
05-05-2003, 07:13 AM
#26
Registered User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Posts: 34
Car Info: 2002 White WRX
My Rex
I bought the car from a ford dealership. They did a 100 point inspection on it, and then I took it to a Subaru dealership and had them do the 150 point inspection. It gota 100% on both. Plus the ford dealership said the the owner was a woman who traded it in for a fully loaded excape. So it sounded like a pretty sound deal. Im going to the pick up my car today, lest just hope I get them to put it under warranty! Wish me luck!
Oh, also when I ask if it would be covered under warranty the first time. They siad its usually from the driver abusing the car or transmission at the moment of it breaking. Is that true?
Oh, also when I ask if it would be covered under warranty the first time. They siad its usually from the driver abusing the car or transmission at the moment of it breaking. Is that true?
Last edited by 4830DeuceWRX; 05-05-2003 at 07:16 AM.
05-05-2003, 09:09 AM
#27
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Call Subaru of America. You can get the # from www.subaru.com. When my tranny had to be fixed the second time, they told me the it was still under warranty regardless of what the dealer said (see earlier post, synchros went bad at 22,500 and again 2000 miles after repair, told me they'd fix once).
Tell them your story and see what they say.
You might consider hiring a lawyer. That'd be cheaper than $4100. If you don't want to to do and Subaru won't fix it. I'd reccomend finding a good subaru mechanic to do the work. He'll be cheaper and probably do a better job since his business depends much more on his rep. than a dealarships mechanics.
You may also consider going the extra mile to buy a 6 speed.
OR
You may consider getting dog gears for 1st and 2nd. Much strong, noiser, and no synchros. Know what you are doing if you go that route. But that would be a good way to go if you ever plan to race or mod the car.
Honestly. Regardless of who drove the WRX. I would not buy a used one. I know how I drive mine. Hard. I don't expect any more tranny problems in the future (it was only sychros on mine that broke, probably from a bad bearing misalining things), but I know I will probably need a new clutch sooner than I should. A big problem with AWD is that it is very hard on the gears. you need to slide the clutch every launch and shift, never drop. In a 2WD car, the wheel spin takes most of the stress off of the gears. In an AWD car, there's no wheel spin so the gear get much higher stress under a clutch dump. As a result, I have burned my clutch on numerous launches, especially when I first bought the car and was trying to launch with some boast. Be aware of these easy abuses when buying any used WRX.
Tell them your story and see what they say.
You might consider hiring a lawyer. That'd be cheaper than $4100. If you don't want to to do and Subaru won't fix it. I'd reccomend finding a good subaru mechanic to do the work. He'll be cheaper and probably do a better job since his business depends much more on his rep. than a dealarships mechanics.
You may also consider going the extra mile to buy a 6 speed.
OR
You may consider getting dog gears for 1st and 2nd. Much strong, noiser, and no synchros. Know what you are doing if you go that route. But that would be a good way to go if you ever plan to race or mod the car.
Honestly. Regardless of who drove the WRX. I would not buy a used one. I know how I drive mine. Hard. I don't expect any more tranny problems in the future (it was only sychros on mine that broke, probably from a bad bearing misalining things), but I know I will probably need a new clutch sooner than I should. A big problem with AWD is that it is very hard on the gears. you need to slide the clutch every launch and shift, never drop. In a 2WD car, the wheel spin takes most of the stress off of the gears. In an AWD car, there's no wheel spin so the gear get much higher stress under a clutch dump. As a result, I have burned my clutch on numerous launches, especially when I first bought the car and was trying to launch with some boast. Be aware of these easy abuses when buying any used WRX.
05-05-2003, 12:49 PM
#28
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bethlum, PA
Posts: 555
Car Info: silver 2.5 tr 2006MT wrx
i have a 2.5 rs, mt, some one earlier wrote about clutch shudder, what is that from, and what can i do to make it go away, i do not burn out, i did the 1000 mile break in and ****, i changed the mt oil, and i checked it for metal bits, and did not see really anything at all(mt oil changed at 16000, along with rear df). is that shudder a bad thing. it feels like you have a front wheel drve car with bald tires pulling out on wet tarmac. it also does not do this all the time, sometimes it does it in reverse, into 1 and into 2nd. but only like when i first start the car, in the morning.
05-07-2003, 08:21 AM
#29
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LOL, gotta love dealers.
Dealer: "Well ya only get one rebuild."
Owner: "Really? Wanna show me what I signed that said I only get one tranny rebuild under warranty."
WTF is that. What if they f-up during the install.
Been trolling this board for a bit since my girl and I will probably be getting a WRX when we move to Australia. No new EVO's to even look at.
They don't pass the AU crash standards and mitsu of AU said at this time it wasn't worth changing some EVO's to AU spec..
Dealer: "Well ya only get one rebuild."
Owner: "Really? Wanna show me what I signed that said I only get one tranny rebuild under warranty."
WTF is that. What if they f-up during the install.
Been trolling this board for a bit since my girl and I will probably be getting a WRX when we move to Australia. No new EVO's to even look at.
They don't pass the AU crash standards and mitsu of AU said at this time it wasn't worth changing some EVO's to AU spec..
05-07-2003, 12:17 PM
#30
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Posts: n/a
You're exactly right about the what says only one rebuild, and what if they ****ed up on the install. They forgot to replace a shift fork and a race needle bearing on my first rebuild. And then made a big deal about having to get authorization to fix it again and how they won't fix it again. If my tranny wears out again (still don't race, still no mods) I'm hiring a lawyer.