Well this is what happened. I was driving on the freeway and on 5th gear and all of the sudden it just slipped and heard a grinding noise. I thought i just accidently knocked it out of gear so i drove on when it did it again. At that point i thought i was just driving really bad so thought nothing of it. When i was driving home with my friend, i told him about the problem but he didn't believe me so i showed him and sure enough it did the same then. I was heading to the bar and almost there when i took the school st exit when the car just died out and felt like all four wheels locked up and a just skidded. Luckly i didn't hit nothing and no cars were there at the time. I tried starting up the car and putting it into gear to drive off but the car didn't move at all. Tried putting it into reverse but still nothing. I even tried to put it into neutral and pushing the car onto the side but i think all four wheels were really locked. I called the tow truck to come and tow the car to my friends house since he wouldn't be able to tow it to my house. Then two cops came and was asking all these questions. Luckly they were cool, one cop actually showed me a game on his labtop where you learn how to launch your car. That was pretty funny. Well now my car is not drivable at all and this really really sucks. If anybody has any advice please or can help me out in anyway please let me know. Last night was the worst night. My car broke down, lost in darts, spent my lunch money for next week on beer. lol Oh by the way i have a 02 wrx. Any help is welcome. Thanks in adavance.

 

Hopefully you havent modded anything, because you're still under factory warranty. Take it to them and have them fix it. I'm not sure what the problem is, but good luck and thats such a bummer! Keep us updated.

 

well i got a up/down pipe, exhaust, bov, fmic, mbc, turbo timer, maf hose, blitz sus intake filter. i don't think any of those things would void the trans warranty would it? not to sure if they would do it anyways.

 

yes and no, subaru will try to say that the tranny can't handle the added power, that it exceeds the design specs, technically under magnusson/moss the mods have to cause the failure for a void to be legal, but good luck.

 

You can try, but I'm guess that you will have some problems with SOA. Hey, its worth a shot, they can always say no.

 

i have a 03 wrx, i had the same problem(sort of) well my trans broke decelerating(second gear took a crap). i towed it to kaneohe subaru. they said if you have any kind of mods(anything that alters the stock HP) it wont be covered under warranty. they gave me one choice, bring it in completey stock(but i dont have the stock parts.) so i pretty much screwed and have to pay out of my a$$ for a damn trans. prepare to wait along time for the trans to come in, remember we are on a damn island so shipping stuff here sucks.( i have been waiting for almost a month- what a christmas i had this year!) well best of luck to you man.

 

how much did the dealer charge you? talk about a bad christmas, my tranny broke, my girlfriend moved to the mainland, friends went to vegas, borrowed my friend's car and parked it at my house and got it towed away, computer crashed. worst christmas i've had yet.

 

You have no basis for making a warranty claim on your transmission based on those mods. Your car is making significantly more power than stock.

That being said, your gearbox failure doesn't sound like the usual 2nd/3rd gear failures that are automatic denials. If your 5th gear let go, you might be able to convince them to warranty the work, by agreeing to have them tear down the gearbox and inspect it. You'll be risking having to pay dealer rates for repairs, but it's probably the only way to get warranty help. Good luck, keep us updated.

 

Your mods are grounds for denying the claim. What gearbox oil are you using? My 5th gear tends to grind at freeway speeds if I'm not really gentle with it. Try just using a lighter touch on it for a while. Slower shifts.

 

not too sure if i want take that risk of paying dealer repair rate especially when i'm completely broke. i was checking around to see if anybody had a tranny for my car lying around but it seems as nobody has one. i got close to buying one for $150 but the dude didn't have it any more. what bad timing. i've been without my car for over 2 weeks and it's killing me. i feel sick that i can't drive my baby. lol now someone else is looking for a tranny on the hawaii section. it's gonna be tough. wish me luck.

 

Have you had the problem diagnosed? Do you know what is broken exactly?

 

yeah they checked it out and all they told me is that my tranny seized up.

 

yo skynight

well they are going to charge me about 3 G's for a trans(grrrrr!). dude i know what you are going thru. i am pass going crazy its been like 4 weeks already. and i getting my car next year(HURRAY!!!!). dealers are only going to consider a warranty if the engine COMPLETELY stock(dont worry i called all around). i cant blieve they wouldnt cover it, i work at car dealer we cover everything-doesnt matter if it has aftermarket stuff or not. we give out GOODWILLS too. so if you dont have the stock parts-eithier get the stock stuff, or get screwed like me. next time i am going to do the f*cking trans myself. now i am in a white '05 impreza 2.5 RS wagon(frickin rentals are expensive). so if you guys see it, you probably see me crying haha. well hope you get your trans cover under warranty.

 

i would let the dealer handle it but i just don't got that kind of money. i also bought the car already moded so i can't bring it back to stock. i'm still stuck looking for a used tranny. i could get it from this auto recycler place and they only charge $700 for a used tranny of a 02 wrx. the problem is that there's no gurantee on any parts they sell. it's kinda like a junk yard. i just don't wanna take a risk of buying it and it not working. anybody got a tranny lying around?