THSCC Forums

What are the symptoms of this need for a $2500 rebuild? Might be something simple - you never know until you get a second opinion... and a third, and so on. What did they say was damaged?

The 5spd manual is an easy swap, btw.

And no, it was not caused by the manual shifting.

The symptoms in this automatic transmission are severe shifting delays and a coolant leak. (I checked the fluid levels during the delays and the level was fine, so the shifting delays weren't caused by being low on fluids.)

Jakes Transmission in Durham says they took the pan off and found that the solenoids were bad, and the torque converter was overheated. The leaking they attributed to the front pump seal and bushing taking too much stress.

As for a fix, I'd love to be able to just put a used manual transmission in there.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

Sounds like a dang good excuse to start investigating what a Trans swap takes.....

No way I'd put $2500 back into an auto for a, what, $5k car?

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

Edmunds says trade in, $3,393, private party, $4,377, dealer retail, $5,432.

Is it better to look locally for parts like this or online? Obviously I'd need to find someplace locally that can install a transmission in a Subaru. Any suggestions?

_________________
"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

All I need to do now is find someone who agrees with you The first place I called said it was much more complicated and expensive to put a manual transmission into a car set up for an automatic transmission and they wouldn't attempt it.

_________________
"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

Just a heads up, I wandered all over LKQ today and I didn't see a single Subie on the lot.

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~ RallyX VP 2009 ~
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
'92 Prelude
'76 Celica

Maybe my idea of easy is different from their idea of easy.

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t86304- ... -swap.html

on page two, he says the total was $850.

I'd be happy to help you with it, but I've only swapped 5 speed transmissions in my garage, and an auto is larger and a lot heavier. Wouldn't want to try that on my garage floor.

My mom's Forester automatic had a fluid leak and was shifting weird when it was leaking, and we had Southern States check it out. All it needed was the gasket around the pan, and it's back to normal. The fluid never got low during the leakage, but it was shifting really strange - delays & sudden downshifts. Sounds like yours is more complicated.

I'd go to www.subaruforester.org and post your info in the transmission forum to see if anybody has any advice on cheap fixes. I'd try nasioc, too.

i have a transmission at work. i got a few numbers of local guys that would be willing to swap them out. One has a shop over of hey 98 in durham outher is more expensive and in cary.

Call me

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[color=#FFFFFF][/color]http://www.usedmiatapartsonline.com for all your used miata parts needs
http://www.wagnersauto.com for your salvage needs
2000 miata se Estreet,going to rally
2004 mazdaspeed miata bsp #77
shifter kart also(someone buy this $1500)

Update: Jeremy's fixing me up with a used automatic transmission, and the plan is:

1. Put in good used auto transmission in Forester.
2. Replace KYB AGX with cheap struts
3. Sell Forester
4. Purchase a rally-able car for what I can see the Forester for, probably in the $3.5K-$4K range.

_________________
"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

Buy my old Legacy from Brian. Seriously it is everything you would need in a rallycross car for $1,100.

Glad to hear that Jeremy could hook you up with a good used auto.

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

x1,000,000!!!!

Seriously - Keith and Brian did very well at RallyX with the Legacy, and it sounds like it has been very reliable for them.

If it was available when our GL-10 blew the 2nd engine, we would have bought it instead of the Audi we have now.

It is as light (and sometimes lighter) than later-model Imprezas and WRXs you see at the RallyX. Other than a base model (Brighton?) Impreza and our old GL-10, it's not heavier than the other Subaru's you'll see at a THSCC event. And the drivetrain and I think most of the suspension parts are interchangeable with the Imprezas. I really like a light, non-turbo car for RallyX, with great suspension. That Legacy has all of that.

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91 RallyX Audi Coupe Quattro
89 A-Team Astro-van demo derby winner at 2011 NC State Fair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MrZqwENRqU)
Broken 89 Subaru GL-10 RallyX turbo wagon - need to sell it and all my parts cars

Well, the old Legacy is tempting. How does the suspension on the old Legacy compare to the KYB AGX struts on my Forester? Are the KYB AGX's worth keeping, and would they even fit on the Legacy?

I know the description says STi suspension, but wouldn't that be too stiff for rallycross?

_________________
"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

Ask Kevin Allen's opinion on this. AFAIK, the STI struts, unless worn out, would be equal or better than the KYBs you have.

I don't think the suspension is too stiff for RallyX, judging by how well the Legacy did whenever they competed with it. But I'll quit promoting the car for Brian.

If it has STI springs, if you found them too stiff, you could replace with OBS springs or something. But the struts themselves are definitely not too stiff - you want a bunch of damping like that.

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91 RallyX Audi Coupe Quattro
89 A-Team Astro-van demo derby winner at 2011 NC State Fair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MrZqwENRqU)
Broken 89 Subaru GL-10 RallyX turbo wagon - need to sell it and all my parts cars

THE OLd leggy would be the way to go it could be a track car also if i am not mistaken

_________________
[color=#FFFFFF][/color]http://www.usedmiatapartsonline.com for all your used miata parts needs
http://www.wagnersauto.com for your salvage needs
2000 miata se Estreet,going to rally
2004 mazdaspeed miata bsp #77
shifter kart also(someone buy this $1500)

I installed the suspension off of an 04 STi. The only modification needed to make them work was swapping over the rear top hats to the Legacy stock top hats on the struts. The springs are ideal, if I remember correctly Kevin ran the STi springs with standard WRX struts as you have a bit too much damping with the STi struts.

They worked really well and I played around with disconnecting the rear sway bar. I had the front bar disconnected all the time. No rear sway worked really well at Kevins but I needed the rear sway at OCS to get the rotation on the clay. Not sure why.

I have no clue what Brian has done with those setting since he bought it over a year ago. I never had a single reliability issue with the car in over 2 years of owning it. The car does have the rear seats removed and a bolt in roll bar installed in it so it is time trial legal as well.

_________________
2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles