382 replies to this topic

[Morgan]

Good stuff, mate! Hopefully there'll be no dramas tomorrow and she'll be back on the road

[JDWhiteWRX]

Well I got the clutch on and the car up and running today however the noise is still there. I can make it disappear by putting the dual range selector in neutral (center) and I can make it a lot quieter by putting it in low range.

I think I will just take it out again tomorrow then take it to NRG and replace whatever looks shagged inside. I'm at the point now where I have invested too much time and money on the current motor and gearbox to do the turbo swap any time soon. Once the noise is finally sorted I will just finish the sound proofing and install a real nice stereo system which will keep me happy for a while.

It was fun driving the wrx again this week, especially the day it rained, damn that Cusco LSD is a laugh

[cameron]

my noise has ended up being the rear gearbox bearings. the noise is amplified by the tailshaft thats why i thought it was the diff

[JDWhiteWRX]

my noise has ended up being the rear gearbox bearings. the noise is amplified by the tailshaft thats why i thought it was the diff

 

So did they remove the whole box or just the center diff to fix it?

[cameron]

mines booked in for the 10th october. they said it can be done in the car. but for me i need a clutch soon and they said it wouldnt be much extra in labour to just pull the whole box out to do the clutch now aswell rather than pull the whole box out again later.

subarugenuineparts.com was <1/2 of the price as im sure you know

[JDWhiteWRX]

On the floor in 1 hour, 15 minutes working solo. A new PB for me.

 

[JDWhiteWRX]

Also made a little trolley to get the gearbox out from under the car with ease. Total cost was $12 for the casters, the rest was leftover materials.

 

 

[Scuba-Roo]

Nice! I might have to do the same with some spare RHS i have. Probably better then dragging the box out

[Liberty]

Ha ha, awesome job man. Things are coming along very well. You seem to just adapt to any issue that comes up which is good to see.

[JDWhiteWRX]

Gearbox Rebuild
 
I spent a day with Nick at NRG Automotive diagnosing the gearbox noise and rebuilding the box. First we split the case and inspected all the bearings with involved removing pretty much everything from the case.
 
The main culprit of the noise was this bearing on the main shaft which holds it steady in the case.
 

 
Close inspection revealed severe pitting in the bearings inside and there was a fair bit of movement where there should not be. This bearing was about $90 to replace.
 
The next area which needed attention was basically related to this bearing failing and allowing movement of the shaft. The 5th/Reverse gear (its combined) needed to be replaced along with the associated thrust washer. Nick had a used one in good condition which he supplied for $70.
 
This is the 5th/Reverse gear thrust washer
 

 
Finally we suspected some noise coming from the high/low range gear which we had a lot of trouble removing due to the failed bits inside.
 

 
We replaced everything inside for $40 from All Drive Subaroo at Peakhurst since Subaru said they would have to order those bits from Japan. I did a quick drive over there at lunch to pick up the bits. They told me I needed "special tools" to fit those parts and tried to sell me a whole new gear set but I just smiled and left with the parts I needed in hand.
 
Everything else was washed and then re-assembled, all other parts were in good condition and the bearings were super smooth. I was only charged 3 hours labour minus the 5% wrx club members discount, so for what was basically a full gearbox rebuild actually ended up being quiet affordable.
 

 
Here is a couple of photos of the new solid flywheel and Exedy clutch kit (part # FJK-7374SMF)
 

 

 
I installed the gearbox today and started it up, you can imagine the relief I felt when the noise was completely gone! I took it for a drive and it works flawlessly, the car is super quiet and much nicer to drive now. I actually plan on using this gearbox behind the turbo motor when I get it so I'm happy to spend a little making sure its all good inside, the clutch would have needed changing too even though it wasn't the source of the noise, it was in pretty bad shape with lots of movement in the dual mass flywheel.
 
The whole thing still owes me a little under $3k, time to finish the sound proofing and install some nice car audio.

[Liberty]

Awesome work man. Apart from trying to sell you things you didn't need, how did you find All Drive Subaroo? Good guys? Know their stuff? They are much more local to me and I wanted to give them a go with my servicing just to compare pricing.

 

It's good to hear that all the hard work you've put in is paying off. Really exciting to read about your build so far. I wish I had access to a workshop...

[Adam]

That's bloody impressive, mate! Good work! Not often you see people tackle gearboxes!

[JDWhiteWRX]

I'm sure All Drive Subaroo know what they are doing and have created a successful business concentrating on Subarus. Would I trust them? ahhhh no.

[Liberty]

Opinions are always good to hear.

 

I've asked them for pricing on a few things before and they do seem to charge top dollar for it all, sometimes significantly more than ICHIban or any other place. It's one of the main things that turned me off. May as well go to a Subaru dealer if you're paying that much.

[Morgan]

Well done, mate! That bearing looks munched!

 

Love hearing a proper fix like this though. Nothing like that first drive after it's all back in and it's all smooth

[JDWhiteWRX]

My next door neighbour wants to sell me his 99 Outback with 290k km's on it for $1500. It has a slight clicking noise coming from it which is directly related to rotation speed, not engine speed, its an Auto.

 

Thinking about cleaning it up, fixing whatever the noise is and selling it but not sure its worth it, will need to check if the head gaskets are leaking first.

[Morgan]

You could probably double your $1500...

[JDWhiteWRX]

Yep or end up divorced

[Beckers]

Yep or end up divorced

 

Ha ha.

 

Yep wifes are like that, they just don't understand.

[Morgan]

Haha tell her it's a long term investment

 

That requires the garage

 

And your time

 

All the time