My donor's transmission is broken, any advice??

[Pearldrummer7]

Hey all, new to the forum. I have an 818R on order and am excited to build it! I got my donor for a great price, and knew it had a broken-ish transmission when I picked it up.
Some quick specs:
EJ257/205 hybrid motor
forged pistons w/ Eagle rods
VF39 turbo (probably going smaller than this)
all out of a 2002 sedan WRX


The trans: I think it's a bent 1-2 shifter fork. I can't get it into first at all, and rarely into second. Pull style Phase 2 trans. Anything I can do to fix it? I'm handy, but I've never taken a trans apart. Is this DIY material? Or look for new transmission material??? Any help would be super appreciated!

[Frank818]

I can't help you fixing it, but I can help you changing it.
I have a complete 2003 TS 2.5 tranny for sale.
If you ever go down that route and don't mind getting it shipped from Canada, let me know.

[Somerset Subaru]

Where are you located? I know a very good transmission builder.

-Adam

[Pearldrummer7]

I can't help you fixing it, but I can help you changing it.
I have a complete 2003 TS 2.5 tranny for sale.
If you ever go down that route and don't mind getting it shipped from Canada, let me know.
Hey, I tried to make my name "Frank818" but it was taken! Go figure. Where in Canada? I'm not far from the boarder, actually, and I have a friend with a truck.


Where are you located? I know a very good transmission builder.

-Adam

I'm in Oswego NY, right on Lake Ontario!

[Frank818]

Yeah some jerk took "Frank818", that happens. :)

Oswego? Ah, you're close to Ontario. That's 4h away from where I am, in Quebec.
I am 45mins away from the border on the 87, and a bit less than 3h away from the border on the 81.

[Pearldrummer7]

Well, Frank, I'll let you know if I am in need of one! I went to school in Potsdam, NY, which is close to the 87 boarder, so I could get a friend from there to drive it back I'm sure.

I am not picking up my kit for a couple months so I'll see if something falls into place by then! Thank you for the offer, though!

[taco20]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DUf9NzVRWySE&h=FAQH2XPqt
Hey check out this video. I just repaired a buddies 06 wrx 5 speed with this problem and I could be your problem to. Parts were not that bad and all you need is a press and a few sockets. Took me less then a hour to fix once he brought me the lower shaft. The manual works real good when taking it apart so you should be able to do yourself or at least pull the trans apart and then take the lower shaft to a shop and they should be able to install the parts.
Good luck

[Pearldrummer7]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DUf9NzVRWySE&h=FAQH2XPqt
Hey check out this video. I just repaired a buddies 06 wrx 5 speed with this problem and I could be your problem to. Parts were not that bad and all you need is a press and a few sockets. Took me less then a hour to fix once he brought me the lower shaft. The manual works real good when taking it apart so you should be able to do yourself or at least pull the trans apart and then take the lower shaft to a shop and they should be able to install the parts.
Good luck

Wow, great video. This might be what I end up doing then! It's not hard to put it all back together? I wasn't aware that you could do a transmission rebuild without specialty tools.

What did you replace? The gear itself and the synchro? Maybe the fork is okay after all...

Thank you!!!

[STiPWRD]

You may want to take apart your trans to see what is broken. There's a chance you could fix it up for cheap by replacing a few parts, depending on what they are. Worst case, you can buy a replacement trans. I too had never worked on transmissions before but after doing some research online (there are a lot of useful info out there) I was able to replace some seals and bearings - its not that bad. If you have to replace gears or take apart your input or pinion shafts, you will most likely need a hydraulic press.

[Pearldrummer7]

You may want to take apart your trans to see what is broken. There's a chance you could fix it up for cheap by replacing a few parts, depending on what they are. Worst case, you can buy a replacement trans. I too had never worked on transmissions before but after doing some research online (there are a lot of useful info out there) I was able to replace some seals and bearings - its not that bad. If you have to replace gears or take apart your input or pinion shafts, you will most likely need a hydraulic press.

That seems to be the most logical course. It's tought to diagnose without going in there to see. I just get scared because of all of the "you can't DIY transmission rebuild on a WRX" I've seen on other forums. I have a while to break things and buy a new one before the kit gets here anyway :D Thanks!

any good manuals/walkthroughs that anyone can recommend? That would definitely convince me entirely to buy the press and separate the case.

[Pearldrummer7]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DUf9NzVRWySE&h=FAQH2XPqt
Hey check out this video. I just repaired a buddies 06 wrx 5 speed with this problem and I could be your problem to. Parts were not that bad and all you need is a press and a few sockets. Took me less then a hour to fix once he brought me the lower shaft. The manual works real good when taking it apart so you should be able to do yourself or at least pull the trans apart and then take the lower shaft to a shop and they should be able to install the parts.
Good luck

Hm, I replied to this and the reply didn't show up. Weird!

Thanks for the advice; this video is great. I think I'll go ahead and try to find out what's wrong with it. I figure any shop will do it for cheap if it's a small, isolated task (like repressing one gear or redoing a synchro). You really didn't need any special tools to "balance" the gearset or anything? I'd love to see a walkthrough of what someone does for this.

[STiPWRD]

I used this thread to get acquainted with taking apart the trans:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/87305-easy-transmission-front-seal-replacement/

Originally, I just wanted to replace the front input seal but since my trans had 150k miles I ended up also replacing the trans axle seals, selector seal, and all the bearings on the input shaft. I took the input shaft as a whole to a local shop and they replaced the bearings for me. Then I cleaned off the old silicone on the casing and reassembled all the shafts. Getting the transfer case and selector back on can be tricky, I suggest putting it in 4th.