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Blew my 07 trans tonight

43K views 208 replies 11 participants last post by  man show 
#1 ·
Tonight, as I was cruising through an on-ramp in 3rd gear accelerating semi-aggressively, I heard the most horrible grinding noise just before I shifted up to 4th gear (kind of like when any manual transmission grinds a little when you shift sloppily without pushing the clutch all the way in, but way worse). I immediately slowed down and tried to shift back into 3rd gear, but had no luck, so I pulled over right away. I'm pretty sure I fried 3rd and possibly did some other damage because now the car won't go in to any gear and it won't roll - even in neutral. I had the car towed to IAG, so I'm thinking I might need a fresh set of gears and possibly some other goodies. I haven't done nearly enough gear research and my wallet is not going to be happy... definitely not ready for this one yet !Cry!

Initial thought = PPG helical 1-4, not sure what else. Gotta do some reading for sure.
 
#182 ·
The gears DO whine a little and I WAS grinning from ear to ear when I drove it home today!

After took 5 months, 1 week, and 3 days, I'm finally behind the wheel of my own car again!!!

Here's the breakdown:

$316.00 labor for the trans teardown
$474.00 labor for the rebuild
$4,142.51 for the Albins 1-5 gearset (after a 10% discount because I had to wait so long)
$83.95 for an SPT trans mount
$30.00 for a set of Kartboy trans crossmember bushings
$39.50 labor to install the mount/bushings
$99.33 for a new battery (my stock battery was dead)
$19.75 labor to install the battery
$7.99 for a 3" 2-bolt exhaust gasket
$19.00 for a turbo-to-downpipe gasket
$75.00 for the resurfaced flywheel
$5.00 for miscellaneous exhaust hardware
$48.40 for Motul 75w90 gear oil
----------
$5,630.65 grand total


My intention for posting the price breakdown is to give everyone an idea for how much this type of job costs and what makes it so expensive. I realize I probably could have gotten certain things cheaper elsewhere, but I was in a difficult spot and I did what I did.

Both JJ and Rick test drove it and they were very impressed. They both said it shifts as good as any 5 speed they've ever driven. 5th gear is slightly taller, so I'll get better gas mileage on the highway which is a nice bonus. I kept all of my old parts and they're working on a photo gallery of the rebuild which should be finished in several days and I'll probably post some of all of those pics too. After driving the car myself, it feels insanely tight, shifts are extremely crisp and direct, and the whine (with the windows up) is definitely tolerable. You can really only hear the whine if you're listening for it, but it's always there. It seems to be slightly louder in the lower gears at lower speeds. After the ~1,500 mile break in period of normal driving, I'm going to switch back to the Andrewtech cocktail and change that every 15,000 miles.

That's basically it.

My car's back and I'm extremely happy. I look forward to putting many more miles on my car in the coming years.

Woo hoo!
 
#183 ·
Holy crap....I can see in the future. I said last night that you'd get the car back today. ROFL But, I'm extremely happy to hear you got your car back. I can only imagine your loving the car all over again. Just like I am. I just need to roll my car around some more. So, that I can get my protune on it.
 
#185 ·
Looks like Albins are about $500 more than PPG then.... Andrewtech was quoting $3,750 or so plus $750 teardown/install into the case.

Wonder which one is better and why? Do you know what the ratios are of the Albins? I'm starting to think I'll want slightly longer ratios if I ever need to build.
 
#186 ·
If you go to the Albins website (Albins Off Road Gears :: Shift to a New Level :: Transaxle :: Transfer Gears :: Gear Design :: Performance Gears :: Gearsets :: Dog Gears :: Performance Transaxle :: Sequential Transaxle) and look under Products --> PDF Product Catalog, they actually have a current (2011) list of every gear set available along with specific ratios and prices. The WRX 5 speed synchro gear sets are listed at $4,445.00 (assuming that's AUD) and the dog sets are $7,242. It appears that there are two main ratios available for helical synchro sets:

Group N: (1st) 3.08 (2nd) 2.06 (3rd) 1.55 (4th) 1.15 (5th) 0.83

and

Street: (1st) 3.08 (2nd) 1.94 (3rd) 1.36 (4th) 0.97 (5th) 0.74

I'm not entirely sure which of the two I have because IAG mentioned that they were ordering a "stock ratio" set for my car, but they also said that 5th gear was a little bit taller. Initially, I thought I was getting the Street set, but it's possible I have the Group N set. Unfortunately, my ticket doesn't specify which one I have, so I'll probably ask them the next time I talk to them. And yeah, I was a little sad when I saw the battery installation charge, but they're in business to make money and I didn't really have a choice on that one. After they graciously discounted the gears 10% and knocked off 4 hours of labor on the rebuild, I'll gladly give them 20 bucks :D

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the stock WRX 5 speed gear ratios are:
(1st) 3.454 (2nd) 1.947 (3rd) 1.366 (4th) 0.972 (5th) 0.738 and final 3.7
 
#190 ·
Thanks Kirt, I didn't realize the ratios were different between the second and third generation WRXs.

Sandra, I decided not to upgrade the clutch at this point because:
(1) I was told my stock clutch was still in great shape
(2) I'm not yet at a power level where it is considered a significant weak point
(3) I didn't want to spend money unnecessarily ;)
 
#193 ·
I like how you still left that statement open John. People think that these gears (be it Albins, PAR, PPG, etc.) are indestructible. They arent, but are so much stronger than what comes stock in the car.
 
#195 ·
+1000000000 to what Josh said

One of my friends in FL actually was the first person in the US to break a set of PPG gears, and one of my co-workers with a 600+whp WRX shattered 2nd gear on his PAR box
 
#196 ·
You guys are backwards on your ratios.... Lower number = taller, higher number = shorter... The 3rd gens have a shorter final drive but all of our individual gear ratios are are higher.. I'd say just because of the final drive we still have quite a bit shorter gear set than the 07 and earlier.

I'd also wager the final drive is what's keeping the 08+ gears from breaking as often. Somebody will eventually find their breaking point, but it's obviously much higher than the previous years.

And John, yeah that 5th gear is slightly shorter, so you'll see a bit higher crusing rpm at the same speeds as the stock gears... BTW how does that longer first gear feel? From my math you should be able to do about 43 mph at 6500 rpm's vs the stock ratio letting you about 38.
 
#197 ·
And John, yeah that 5th gear is slightly shorter, so you'll see a bit higher crusing rpm at the same speeds as the stock gears... BTW how does that longer first gear feel? From my math you should be able to do about 43 mph at 6500 rpm's vs the stock ratio letting you about 38.
I haven't tested out any gear to the max yet since I still have the non-synthetic break-in fluid in my box. So far, I have only driven several hundred miles, so I'm still trying to take it easy until 1,000-1,500, at which point I'll switch to the Andrewtech cocktail and romp on it a little. I think I'm still on cloud 9 about having my car back to notice those kinds of differences, but I'll try to pay attention and see if I notice anything.

One of my friends in FL actually was the first person in the US to break a set of PPG gears, and one of my co-workers with a 600+whp WRX shattered 2nd gear on his PAR box
Well, it's a good thing I don't live in FL or have 600+ whp :p

But yeah, I realize they can break just like anything mechanical. I just feel a bit more confident that they'll be able to handle the abuse they're given.
 
#198 ·
You will be fine until you snap your axles and then replace them, lol. Glad to hear you are enjoying the car John. How about a whine? How noticable is it with your gears? With mine its not too noticable at low speeds, so you really might not notice it yet. Just kind of curious.
 
#200 ·
How about a whine? How noticable is it with your gears? With mine its not too noticable at low speeds, so you really might not notice it yet.
Yep, they whine. It sort of sounds like a jet, but it's not obnoxiously loud by any means. I've only heard straight cut gears in person on several occasions and every time, I could hear them clearly across the parking lot. Mine aren't that loud. I hear them the most in 1st through 4th, but when I'm cruising in 5th, the HKS cat back drowns them almost completely out :rocks:
 
#208 ·
Yeah, I just completely forgot about it. The discussion hasn't be brought up lately.



Why does it have to be philly as the meeting place? LOL and I haven't driven a 5 spd in a while. Plus mosc would just drool over my engine bay. :D
 
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