5MT Transmission Failure(s)

I'll check to see if the shop still has my 45k '09 5MT. Bad input bearings. Needs rebuild, but it would be easier to rebuild mine professionally or on the weekend, then swapping it in, than being without a car waiting on a rebuild.

If it will shift with the car off, but not on, it's because the clutch isn't fully disengaging. Because you have been driving a car with a broken or improperly installed clutch, you broke your tranny.

If it will shift with the car off, but not on, it's because the clutch isn't fully disengaging. Because you have been driving a car with a broken or improperly installed clutch, you broke your tranny.

 

Most likely. When you do manage to figure out a solution to the transmission issue youre going to need a clutch and a TOB...

Update on my tranny work. Had a bolt shear off the pinion ring of the front LSD and punch a hole in my case yesterday on the freeway. Took me a few seconds to realize it was me doing all the smoking and burning then I got it off the road and stopped as quickly as I could.

 

Hopefully just need to buy a replacement case but don't know if there was any internal damage yet. Shouldn't be with how much oil I left on the side of the road.

 

Nearly exactly same type of failure as I saw last summer. Mine just did have one very neat hole in diff casing with bolts threads sticking out. I haven't open up tranny yet but I have open diff not LSD.

I can tell you in 3 seconds if you have the center diff bearing issue. I think I'm the MD expert now as well .

 

In all honesty I could probably tell over the phone.

 

I believe I have the bearing issue on my 06 LGT, as I can hear a squealing noise at highway speeds. My shop put it on a lift, and used a stethoscope to locate it to the rear of the trans (it's loudest there). But before I go spending money just for the bearing replacement, I want to be sure everything else is ok. For starters is like to ensure the diff is good. Can you or anyone else tell me how to check this?

 

Beyond that, is there anything else I should check to make sure I'm not throwing money away into an old trans? I don't race, but I do drive hard sometimes. Car is stage 2 and has 120k miles. No other issues to report (knock on wood).

 

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where does one go for a more robust 5 speed? do any of our vendors provide the service?

I know there's lots of talk about swapping out for WRX boxes and Spec B 6-spds, but what about when someone (like me) just wants a more robust internals in the box we have to handle more HP?

They don't break that easily so you don't need an upgraded one. If you think you need a stronger tranny, sti 6spd.

They don't break that easily so you don't need an upgraded one. If you think you need a stronger tranny, sti 6spd.

 

Launch twice. Guaranteed to break. Pretty flimsy, in my book.

Learn to launch. It's not a Mustang. (edit: Or a honda)

 

If you're breaking 5MT's that easily you'd just be breaking axles in a 6MT.

 

The 02-05 WRX owners swap in LGT gears as a major upgrade.

Learn to launch. It's not a Mustang. (edit: Or a honda)

 

If you're breaking 5MT's that easily you'd just be breaking axles in a 6MT.

 

The 02-05 WRX owners swap in LGT gears as a major upgrade.

 

If you can't rev to 6k and sidestep the clutch, it's weak.

so no knows of a place that's building more robust internals for our 5 spds?

Having lost my 5MT at under 45,000 miles at stage 2 in a babied LGT--in that I bought it stock at around 33k miles, went stage 2 maybe 8-9k miles later & stage 3 3k after that, never launched, shifted "normally," rev matched on downshifts, didn't engine brake regularly and never at high speeds--I'll say with confidence that if the 5MT isn't weak, then it's at least failure-prone. I don't race my car (although I miss AutoX days & I'm always looking for another chance to go), and my stage 3 tune is mild on stock fueling. The stock transmission should have held up, and it didn't. If I hadn't already been in so deep on mods, I would probably have scrapped the car. Instead, I put more money in & went with a 2010 STi 6MT. I'm now counting on my current configuration to last me to at least 100,000 miles, which is something the 5MT couldn't do.

If you can't rev to 6k and sidestep the clutch, it's weak.

 

Go back to your 2wd.

 

 

There's people with 6MT's that break them at stage 2 and only their grandma drove it. Some are gonna break, yours did.

 

Overall, the 5MT is almost as strong as the 6MT.

 

 

I learned to drive stick on my 5MT 10 years ago and now it holds 450ftlbs. I was not and have not been nice to my transmission. They're not weak. Not like the 02-05 WRX 5mt and diff.

Edited March 12, 2014 by mwiener2

Overall, the 5MT is almost as strong as the 6MT.

Anecdotal evidence would suggest otherwise...

What evidence? 10 people on a forum is not evidence.

What evidence? 10 people on a forum is not evidence.

Uhhh, yes, that's exactly what it is... anecdotal evidence.

 

If there are 10 (or whatever) stories to suggest that "the 5MT is as strong as the 6MT," then let's see them.

 

My point is, there are more stories of 5MT's breaking for whatever cause than there are stories supporting your view. In the end, the stories are all we have to work with, unless are some legitimate test results out there.

 

Are there? I'd like to see them, too.

so guzzimut id get a set of PPG gears

very strong

you wont break them

but also pricey!!

i'd rather have a ppg 5 spd that an sti6

but thats just my preference

i agree with mweiner

you cant drop the clutch at high rpms and think your not gonna tank them

he's right if thats how you wanna drive go back to rear wheel drive or your crap-tastic honda

the only reason my 5spd broke was a failure that couldve happened to anybody

all the teeth on the gears looked great and i def race around alot without being nice to her....

Go back to your 2wd.

 

 

 

I learned to drive stick on my 5MT 10 years ago and now it holds 450ftlbs. I was not and have not been nice to my transmission. They're not weak. Not like the 02-05 WRX 5mt and diff.

 

Pissing contest? I've ONLY ever driven a manual transmission car. TWENTY YEARS. 20. TWO-OH. This one's the first I've ever broken. That makes it the weak one, and no I have never babied a single vehicle.

 

Then again, this IS the first turbo car. Still, 250chp? That shouldn't be enough to break a trans.

 

I say they should find a better way to keep the guts in the center diff. That flimsy locking ring is a f***ing joke. If not for that I'd have been fine.

So even if 20 people on the forums had blown trannys..... that's 20 out of 100,000. Sounds like a massive failure rate to me.

 

 

I'm sorry YOUR car broke. The 5MT is not weak.

So even if 20 people on the forums had blown trannys..... that's 20 out of 100,000. Sounds like a massive failure rate to me.

I'm sorry YOUR car broke. The 5MT is not weak.

 

OK, man. I'm not trying to rustle anyone's jimmies. And if you think the number of 5MT failures is 20 out of 100,000, that's cool. I'm sure every one of them is posted on legacygt.com. It's probably SOA procedure to document them here.

 

The fact that a thread exists called "5MT failures" on this forum is evidence (by the literal definition of the word) that the 5MT has experienced failures. Failure rate? No idea. If you have some test data to back up your point of you, let's have it. All I have is this forum & my own experience.

 

I'm questioning the statement that the 5MT is as strong as the 6MT when there's at least a little evidence to the contrary, and less than that to back it up.

 

Going grade school & saying "your car broke, nyaaaaah" is, well, pathetic. My car's not broken... I've got a 6MT.

The 5MT's are not weak. You can argue you this to death, but you're wrong.

 

There aren't the failures to back up this claim. Even if you tripled the count of damaged 5MT's, it's still a very low failure rate.

 

The 02-05 WRX's would fail in stock cars. Those were weak. There are HUNDREDS of reported cases of those failing.

 

The 06+ WRX shares the same transmission, and they aren't complaining about them being weak.

 

I'm trying to stop another internet farce before it becomes forum legend. They simply aren't as weak as you want them to be.

The 5MT's are not weak. You can argue you this to death, but you're wrong.

There aren't the failures to back up this claim. Even if you tripled the count of damaged 5MT's, it's still a very low failure rate.

The 02-05 WRX's would fail in stock cars. Those were weak. There are HUNDREDS of reported cases of those failing.

The 06+ WRX shares the same transmission, and they aren't complaining about them being weak.

I'm trying to stop another internet farce before it becomes forum legend. They simply aren't as weak as you want them to be.

I think I've found the problem... it's simple reading comprehension... so, quick check: Try and find anywhere in my last few posts where I've said the 5MT is weak. The closest I came is to say it's more prone to failure than the 6MT.

 

I don't even want them to be weak, as you claim. I'm just asking for some evidence that the 5MT is as strong as the 6MT. And as much as I ask, I just keep getting anecdotes about 5MT failures. Hmm. Sensitivity may be playing a larger part of this than I'd imagined.

 

So I've got it. It's alright. I don't think I can learn anything else from this discussion. I'm good, thanks.

The evidence that they are almost as strong as the 6MT is the lack of broken 5MT's.

The evidence that they are almost as strong as the 6MT is the lack of broken 5MT's.

...he posted, in the "5MT Transmission Failure(s)" thread.

 

 

Facts, hyperbole, or otherwise... the irony here is unmistakable.