Brendan's STi 6MT Swap

So it begins today. As many of you know, one of my output shaft bearings is making quite a bit of noise. So I am beginning the process of removing the transmission for further investigation. Today I just started by getting the car situated on jack stands and draining the trans fluid. I posted a pic of the drain plug below. What are all those weird specs on it you ask? You guessed it, those are all little chunks of metal. So I would say there is definitely a problem. My plan for the transmission is as follows.

1. Remove and disassemble transmission.

2. Find out what the heck is wrong with it.

3. If it is just the output shaft and carrier bearings I will be replacing those and reassembling everything. Since the control arms are coming off too, I am going to replace the ball joints and bushings at the same time.

4. Now here is where it gets tricky. If I open the trans and find anything wrong with the gears or other main components I will be replacing it. Not with another one of ours though. If I find major problems I am going to buy a used old forester to drive around and begin the process of a full STI driveline swap. Secretly I am kinda hoping that happens:cool:, but we will just have to wait and see.

Stay tuned.

Well that doesn't look good, but I am secretly hoping you have to do an sti swap too, lol. Just curious what your plans are for making that happen?

I know too much metal shaving off is not good, but I would expect to see some unless it's been a relatively short time since the last transmission fill. Sorry if you mentioned it recently but how long since your last drain and fill?

Dang...good luck buddy. As one who had a share of unique and mysterious issues arise, I'm wishing you the best in a quick, easy, and low-cost resolution (I had a drink with dinner so please take my optimism with a grain of salt )

Shadow: Changed the fluid about 7k ago. Trust me there were some chunks on the drain plug. Its no bueno.

 

FL: Plans for the STI are as follows. Buy a junked STI and figure it out as I go. I get Brembos that way too.

Edited January 5, 2017 by BBPeik

Shadow: Changed the fluid about 7k ago. Trust me there were some chucks on the drain plug. Its no bueno.

 

FL: Plans for teh STI are as follows. Buy a junked STI and figure it out as I go. I get Brembos that way too.

 

I like it!

 

I think using one or both original ej25 mounting holes and one upper and one lower bellhousing bolts would be sturdy enough to make a tubular subframe to mount to our chassis.

subscribed

Here for the winning!

Subbed!

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Good luck. I see a lot of welding in your future.

When I bought my welder I had a hard time explaining to my wife why I needed it. I guess now I have a good excuse.

If you're interested in a solid 2003 Forester X (4EAT) with 145k miles on it, we're selling our daughter's. It will get you around without issue for several months but will need shocks and possibly brakes eventually.

Thanks Joe,

I will let you know when I get to that point. That is a great offer.

Spent a bit of time this afternoon on the car. Have the top side of things all set. Pulling that giant IC was a pain though, it is crazy heavy and I did not want to scratch it. Starter is out, slave cylinder is out, and all the top transmission bolts are out as well. Also managed to pull the center section of the exhaust and the heat shield that is between the exhaust and driveshaft. I will more than likely finish pulling the transmission on Saturday. I will keep you all posted.

Ok, so today I got the transmission removed from the car. What a royal PITA. I curse whatever man decided to put those stupid mounts on the transmission. Overall, everything went great though. Everything came out great except for three of the bolts on those mounts. They are fine thread and you can only get to them with a wrench. The worst part though is that you can only get a 1/4 turn at a time. Those three bolts took an hour. CV's and drive shaft look great and everything is nice and clean, so other than the transmission all is well. Basically though it is not too difficult. Not sure I would recommend this for everyone though. Next step will be to crack the trans open and see what is amiss.

So I just did a little easy prelim investigation. I pulled the front diff carrier bearing races. The picture does not really do them justice, but they are scratched as hell. That is where I suspected the noise to be coming from so at least this points to my suspicions. I have not pulled the bearings themselves, but I am sure they look much worse.

What is the part number for that engine support brace, looks a little different than the one in the FSM? Lol, I love it!

 

Not so sure I am excited about the diagnosis though, the front diff carrier support...crap that means its gonna be a long road for all of us eventually.

Yep, figured I would make a custom engine support. Seems to work real good considering.

 

I am not too excited about the bearing issue either. I am sure the bearings themselves are much worse. Who knows how much metal wandered around inside the transmission either.

Well I pulled the center diff housing off of the back of the transmission today. Many scratches were found, main shaft bearing was really good, but it was replaced when Subaru did the center diff. The magnet in the pic was clean when I put it in the bottom of the center diff housing. There are many chunks and slivers of metal on the magnet. So folks it is not looking good. Looks like an STI swap is what is going to happen. Might as well, it will cost the same as fully rebuilding this transmission. This news gives me both a yippee and an oh crap feeling all at the same time.

So I just finished tearing down the transmission. Turns out that both front diff bearings were bad as I suspected, but the real noisy one was the bearing at the back of the center diff. When you spin that rear gear it is noisy as hell. Mind you this bearing was replaced 20k ago when they replaced the center diff. Very disconcerting for any of us with a lot of power. Mind you most the time I drive like a grandpa and I pretty much baby my car driving wise. It is not like I race all the time. This transmission is a weak link for sure.

The last picture is the bearing that is the most noisy.

I hope you come back and say the STI trans swaps right in, and we all should go out and get one. Done.

From what I can tell the STI is not exactly going to swap right in, but it will fit. If it fits then the rest I can fab up and all should be good. This is going to be a long road though. I am hoping to have my car back by summer.

Watching as I am now on 142k.....

From what I can tell the STI is not exactly going to swap right in, but it will fit. If it fits then the rest I can fab up and all should be good. This is going to be a long road though. I am hoping to have my car back by summer.

Make jigs for anything you fab up, or CAD drawings for CNC reproduction. It will put this one step closer for the rest of us who end up needing to fab stuff for the trek down this path.

 

I can help with CAD drawings since I use CAD every day.

I can send you beer!