Do you know what really grinds my gears?

"thejustache" (thejustache) 05/24/2017 at 10:30 • Filed to: None

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I’ve reached many assorted emotions while wrenching on my vehicles over the years. Fear, Confusion, Disillusionment, Joy, Peace, what have you. I think I’ve reached a new one: At this point I kind of just want to yell and kick things.

I’ve had my ‘05 Outback XT for about a year and a half now, and it’s been largely great. I did all the preventative maintenance mods, and apart from wear and tear items my long commute didn’t seem to phase it. For the past few months I’ve had a new job and a much shorter commute. Everything seemed good.

Long story short: about a week ago I started getting a whining noise from the 5 speed transmission that sounds like a bad bearing. Great. Not long after second gear starts getting sloppier and sloppier, with significant movement in the shifter. The last day I drove it you could get it to pop out of second gear by decelerating. Not good, but so far no grinding or noises besides the bearing sound. Wanting to spare worse damage I immediately rented a car and took one last drive to a very highly recommended transmission shop the next town over. On the phone they seemed very reassuring, they’d be happy to look at it, they probably could replace just the bearing and get it working again without needing a full replacement.

This morning I got the phone call from the owner of the shop.... he said he took a look at it and his shop won’t do it. “It’s a turbo model... I think it’s going to be a pain.... we don’t do many standards any more.” Ok, well fine. Wait, you won’t even quote me to drop in a replacement? Any advice on what the problem could be? Can you recommend any place else to take it? No?

I’m at a loss here. This is my only car shared between me and my wife, and while my commute is shorter these days it’s still 30 miles a day! Who do you call when the so called “transmission expert” in town won’t look at your transmission??? What do you at this point? My best plan now is to spend the few grand I have in savings on a second car and drive that while saving up to replace the trans myself. I’ve done a lot of backyard wrenching stopping short of engine or trans replacement and I’m pretty confident I could do it... but I know it wouldn’t be a weekend get it done and go back to work thing. I love cars but man, they tick me off sometimes when you least expect it.

sony1492 > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 10:43

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The exhaust system will probably be the hardest part about dropping the tranny

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 10:48

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Wow that’s messed up. What’s the difference to them whether it’s auto or manual? They are a transmission shop, they should have the ability to handle it. Given this, I wouldn’t even trust them with an auto, haha.

And turbo’s? TURBO’S! Are a problem? Those aren’t even attached to the trans, does the downpipe/exhaust combo cause them problems?

This shop is your only option?

MonkeePuzzle > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 10:58

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I too had a subaru that developed a whine in the trans, it was indeed a bad bearing, and when it failed it trashed my trans.

what I found was that subarus are so common that replacing the trans with a used one was cheaper than having someone else do a repair.

thejustache > sony1492 05/24/2017 at 10:59

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Having taken it off before, I agree... it’s pretty much 1 solid length of welded pipe to the cat at this point. I was able to get it off and back on in my backyard though. I would expect it could only be easier with a lift and a real shop!

thejustache > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 05/24/2017 at 11:05

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I agree... I won’t be using them again. That said I honestly feel like he just didn’t want to deal with it so he was making up a bunch of excuses hoping I’d give up and go away. Which honestly worked!

Actually writing this post jogged my memory about a little 2 bay shop I passed on a back road once with a bunch of subarus out front. I street viewed it and found a number and called, and it’s a father/son team where the son works primarily on Subarus. I explained my situation and he knew exactly what I was talking about. I’ll hopefully be bringing my car over there later today... even though he probably can’t rebuild it I’d feel better about him putting a new transmission in than a shop that talks like the other one did!

thejustache > MonkeePuzzle 05/24/2017 at 11:08

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Yup.... finally found and called an independent shop near me that specializes in Subarus. They said they wouldn’t rebuild it but could probably swap in a working one for not that much. I think I’ll take whatever option gets me driving again the quickest!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 11:21

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Awesome! Glad you found a shop that seems to know their Subaru’s!

“can’t rebuild”, that’s a bummer, is there some magic going on in this 5-speed that makes these tough to deal with? Or is it just not worth rebuilding vs the cost of replacing?

sony1492 > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 11:23

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I’m guessing you already considered getting a cheap junkyard tranny as a stopgap.

thejustache > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 05/24/2017 at 11:27

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I think it’s more the later. The shop I just talked to said they have a guy the can send them to for a rebuild, but it’d be $1800 vs. $1100 for a used one with a warranty and a significantly quicker turn around time.

MonkeePuzzle > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 11:27

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if it weren’t your only mode I’d say its a job you could do yourself, but yeah, paying a shop to just replace it is likely the best option.

side note: if they already have the trans off, its probably only a couple of hundred more for a new clutch, rather than the typical 5 or 6 hundred because of the labour. might be worth inquiring about that at the same time

thejustache > sony1492 05/24/2017 at 11:30

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well, that is sort of the route I’m taking now.... used transmission and I found a small shop that knows Subarus that will put it in hopefully by the end of the weekend. I just figured a shop that does transmission repairs could tell me something about my transmission... but they wanted nothing to do with it.

thejustache > MonkeePuzzle 05/24/2017 at 11:37

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Yeah, if I had a second vehicle I would attempt it myself. I’ve replaced the transmission mount before so I had the whole thing hanging down and it wouldn’t have taken much more to get it out. I considered it, but I would have had to buy a cheap second car and I’d rather do that when I find something I want rather than having to make a quick choice! I did ask about replacing the clutch because while it never slipped it always felt kind of weird to me since I got the car.  

sony1492 > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 11:44

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Glad theres a solution

Justin Hughes > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 11:53

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Yeah, when I had Miata #1's engine replaced the guy offered to put in a new clutch for no additional labor charge, just parts. It’s definitely a good “while you’re in there” job - cheap insurance, and it takes literally no extra time.

uofime-2 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 05/24/2017 at 12:59

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eh on turbo subarus you have to pull the top mount intercooler to get to a bunch of stuff you need to pull the trans. (mounts, grounds, slave, starter, ect) not really a big deal in the scheme of the overall job

uofime-2 > sony1492 05/24/2017 at 13:01

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ehhhh, you have to pull the drive shaft and break loose the front LBJs, and pull the front halfshafts. On a rusty old car that can be a pain

uofime-2 > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 13:02

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specialty shop and used replacement are the correct answers! As long as you get one from something with a matching final drive in the front diff to your rear diff any subaru 5 speed from the last 15 years will more or less do.

thejustache > uofime-2 05/24/2017 at 13:17

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Yup, that’s the route I’m going now. Found a shop that specializes in Subarus, they found me a used trans with the right gearing in the front diff and it’s going in the next couple days. I just had to freak out for a second and clear my head!

TahoeSTi > thejustache 05/24/2017 at 14:51

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There are STI drivetrain upgrades on Craigslist and eBay all the time...

I’ve had 4 transmissions in my Mustang I just buy them used for $200 and put them in at this point.

The factory transmission blew at like 90k, the rebuilt one after that lasted 10k miles (rebuilds suck they just fix the broken stuff nothing else), then I bought a used beefed up rebuilt one after that lasted 10k miles before it chipped the hardened 3rd gear....turns out a common issue on that gear set.....The $200 used craigslist buy is still going strong and shifts better than any other one had.