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Blew my 07' trans...maybe start a club?

24K views 119 replies 12 participants last post by  turmic 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Back story: Bought the car 2-years ago from the dealer with only 20k on the odometer. Didn't even get a mile off the lot, and the brake pedal pressed to the floor. Turned around, went back in and demanded they fix it. The lead tech told me I am "...not used to performance brake calipers" (funny - considering I also drive an 06' Evo IX and VW R32 which both have monster brakes). After convincing him to take a look, the master cylinder was bad.

Fast forward to 55k miles, heard a funny noise like the exhaust was rubbing in the rear. I found that odd considering I have the Kart Boy 15mm hangars. Turns out, my rear diff exploded. Thankfully, SoA covered that.

Now at 67k on the clock, and was coming out of the parking garage at work. Shifted into 2nd heard a loud *clunk* and moving forward, sounded like someone threw a fork in the garbage disposal. I somehow made it home (I work 33-miles away by the way...), drained my trans, and found this little gem on the trans. plug -
Finger Nail Hand Fashion accessory Thumb


Now here is where I sit as of today -
Vehicle Auto part Automobile repair shop Car Engine


...and here are the goodies either installed or waiting to be installed -
Auto part Yellow Clutch


Yellow


I decided to go with the PAR gear set (1st-gear straight cut and 2-4th are helical) for 2-reasons:
  • Highly recommended by the gents @ AndrewTech
  • Was available immediately - PPG had a nice wait list

I have scheduled a road-trip this Thursday (September 22nd) to drop off my trans. and hopefully get it rebuilt same day from AndrewTech.
 
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#2 ·
I'm glad that I don't have the busted trans mod. If you start a club that is just sad lol. Thats too quick of a turn around...I kid I kid. Because me and John have waited months at this point. :p Add pics of the trans being taken apart if AndrewTech will allow such things. ;)
 
#5 ·
If you have a full size trailer you're in!

man_show, what is taking so long with building your trans? I had to call AndrewTech every other day to nail down a day. Not going to travel 3-hours for nothin'!
 
#6 ·
What held up man_shows build? IAG and they had to wait for the Aussies to send IAG the Albin gears first. So, that is what held him up a bit.

Sandra are you upgrading the front diff or leaving it stock?
 
#7 ·
Yeah, I don't blame you - 3 hours one way is a fairly significant trip.

My issue began on Memorial Day.

When my car broke down, I had it towed straight to IAG that night - they were already closed. I pretty much just dropped it off in their lot and left it there which I'm sure they weren't too terribly happy about. They must have had a number of other cars to finish working on before they could get to mine which probably set me back several weeks right off the bat. When they finally diagnosed my issue as broken 3rd and 4th gears, I opted for a set of Albins helical gears since they're considered to be some of the strongest available and I wanted to minimize the chances of this sort of thing happening again since my next step power-wise will be a bigger turbo. Unfortunately, IAG didn't have a set in stock, so they had to order them directly from Albins in Australia and when they tried to do that, the rep was supposedly out of town. When the gears were finally ordered, Albins must not have had a set ready to ship out (I've been in contact with them directly and they told me it could take up to 8 weeks for them to create a fresh set). The most recent news I heard from IAG was that the gears are currently on their way here, but they still have to travel half way across the world and make it through US customs. After that, IAG has to schedule a timeslot for everything to be put back together. I expect it will be another week or two.

At least I've had about 4 months to save up and prepare for this monster bill :eek:
 
#8 ·
Sigh - well customs seems to have f'd me as well. They have been holding up my PAR gear set for the past 2-weeks. My trip wasn't a total waste, I guess. I got to meet with Sam and Andrew from AndrewTech and discuss my concerns and goals. They re-assured me that the reviews I have read about PAR are true, but they have re-designed their gear set and are trying to come back into the market as heavy hitters and I should not be worried. The PAR gear set is rated to hold up to 650bhp which is ~200 over what PPG claims. They showed me a sample gear set compared to my OEM and these things were BEEFY!

Anyway, here are the pics of the destruction. I was somehow able to isolate it so only 2nd gear was jacked like I originally thought -

Case open:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1083.jpg

Damage:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1086.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1087.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1084.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1085.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/BoostinChick/WRX/TransRebuild/IMG_1082.jpg
 
#10 ·
Hrm - this is directly from their site: Par-Engineering - Gearsets (Subaru)

Subaru 5MT 650hp Synchromesh Engagement - $3,850 AUD (plus GST)

With the advancements in engine tuning technology and increases of modified vehicle's engine outputs rising quickly in power and torque, it became apparent that a new revised gearset would be needed to fulfill the requirement of massive torque capacity, low NVH levels and ease of use for street driven vehicles.

Given a blank sheet to work from, the design and production teams at PAR have used the very latest in design and production technology, techniques and experience to produce a gearset of immense strength and refinement. Boasting the widest gears available to date with 4mm, 3.2mm and 2mm wider gears for 2nd, 3rd and 4th speeds respectively and the refinement of the tried and proven 450bhp 5MT gearset, the new 650bhp 5MT gearset is second to none.

Features:
- Rated to 650bhp
- Large optimised tooth profiles for every gear to provide maximum strength and reliability
- Straight cut 1st gear for minimal thrust loads when launching at full power. This protects the thrust bearings supporting the transmission shafts from the shock loads experienced during hard launches, especially when using puck type and multi-plate/rigid centre clutch assemblies.
- Inclusion of new billet 3rd/4th gear hub (OEM sintered metal hub fractures under large torque applications)
- Needle roller bearings used for 3rd, 4th and 5th gears to maximise efficiency and reliability
- Gearset is a direct fitment into the standard factory transmission
- Addition of an uprated synchromesh engagement 5th gear available for customers with high speed applications


Configurations:
- Synchromesh engagement, helical cut gears (2nd~4th, 1st gear is straight cut)
- Synchromesh engagement, straight cut gears (1st~4th)
- Optional synchromesh engagement, helical cut 5th gear
Ratios:
- 1st: 3.18
- 2nd: 1.92
- 3rd: 1.35
- 4th: 0.97
- 5th: 0.73, 0.82, 0.88, 0.92 (Optional $640 AUD (plus GST))
 
#12 ·
Yea, as I mentioned earlier I was doing research on them when AndrewTech originally suggested these gears to me. All I found were horrible reviews from the 2004-2006 time frame and I started to panic. That's what prompted me to post in man_show's thread. I am hoping it all works out for the best, and the 1-year warranty on parts/labor helps put me at ease.
 
#13 ·
Sweet pics, but my damage was worse than your damage - nana nana na naaa :tease:

When I heard the crunching sound, I knew what it was, got pissed, and kept the pedal to the metal through two gears. If they're gonna break, damn it, they're gonna break bad!

I also now have a new respect for PAR gears.
 
#15 ·
I agree- both vendors list their gears by horsepower rating, not tq. And to confirm, PPG is only rated for 400hp. So I was giving them the benefit of the doubt 450 ;) Maybe they are listing the minimum to play safe?

http://www.ppgearbox.com.au/page.asp?productid=83

Utilising the stock 5th gear, this set increases the power transfer of 1st to 4th gear significantly whilst delivering factory type driveability combined with quiet operation.

PPG manufacture billet selector forks and front LSD's that complement this product as further options

Horsepower Rating: 400 hp
PAR lists by brake horse power which measures engine's horsepower before the loss in power caused by the gearbox, alternator, differential, etc. I am guessing the output tq is measured to help determine bhp?

Ha - as soon as I heard the crunch I died inside. I also had a ~33-mile commute home so I couldn't just beat the piss out of it because I wanted to make it home. I was literally econo-shifting 1st/3rd/5th and babying it all the way back almost in tears.
 
#14 ·
I'm probably going to be wrong on this....but, how in the h*ll are PPGs only rated to 450bhp? That makes no sense seeing how people way over 400whp are running them and they are running strong on PPGs. Plus, it only makes sense that TQ destroys gears instead of HP. Think about what the main load a transmission faces that would shear teeth of a set of gears. Something that is a measurement of force (TQ) or something that is a measurement of: force x distance / time (HP)? Bah...both include TQ to some degree.
 
#16 ·
Numbers are numbers. Just saying, dyno, ratings, etc. I know my old shop in WA swears by only PPG. But of course thats all they put in customers cars. Never of all the guys I knew up there ever had one issue with the gears (synchros and forks a different story). I have seen them on 500HP+ WRXs and GC frames at drags and drive home. Im just throwing out my experience and thoughts. Any of the three are better than stock, and thats what matters.
 
#17 · (Edited)
True any of the three mentioned are what someone should consider if they are going for some big power. Albins, PAR, or PPGs and stimulate the Aussie economy lol. I'm glad that Sandra educates me in transmissions....they are not where I focus my research. 6 spd :sneaky:
 
#18 ·
@ Sandra = I was fairly close to home when mine broke, but that didn't really matter. As soon as I downshifted from 5th, I couldn't get into any gear so I just coasted to a stop on the side of the road. Luckily, it was around a really wide on-ramp... could have been much worse. But yeah, I almost cried too when everything finally sank in.

@ Joshua = I'm in the same boat since IAG swears by only Albins and that's what I'm stuck with, which probably isn't such a bad thing. As soon as I mentioned PPG gears, they were quick to steer me toward Albins since they claim to have seen a number of broken PPG gears. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. It's funny though, IAG's website still advertises "Transmission Gear Upgrades PPG & RA – (All boxes built & warrantied by Andrewtech Automotive)" under Performance Transmission Services. It's interesting that neither of those options were presented to me.

@ Kirt = Albins has an s at the end! Get it right or pay the price ;)
 
#19 ·
My gears came in! I am so stoked! Hoping the guys @ AndrewTech remember to snap lots of pics for me to compare OEM gear set vs. PAR and the whole install process. Hoping to have my transmission back either this week or next. Will update you guys (with whatever pics I can - of course) when I know more!
 
#27 ·
Not really sure. I've been emailing them lately instead of calling because it seemed like every time I called, they were too busy to talk. In the emails, they keep apologizing for the hold up, but they're not giving me any specific reason(s) as to why it's taking so long. It's been 4 months and 1 week now...
 
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