i have an 03 sti 6 speed gearbox if i change gear from 4th to 5th over 6k rev fast it crunches and i struggle to get it in gear,i have tried puttin some red line gear oil in but made no difference,so it must be the syncro,from what i can see its a common problem with the 6 speed i read somewhere that the jdm syncros are stronger.anyway i rang a well known company(no names)and if i took the box to them they wanted £450 to tell me whats up with it which in my eyes is pretty harsh,they only wanted an extra £200 quid to remove and refit which is a good price but £450 to strip the box itself seems steep to me do any of u guys know any where cheaper

 

TBH mate, werther they are fixing it or not, there is alot of time involved in taking it of and striping it down
Remember labour is the most expensive thing these days, parts are the cheaper end of the bill.

 

What oil was in it before the Redline? I assume the problem was there with the original oil? Mine is fine (at the mo. albeit with just 26k) using Castrol Driveline (Syntrax)
JohnD

 

32k on the clock yeah problem was there before (standard stuff main dealer rubbish) i put the redline in.

 

understand what u sayin mate just find it a little steep specially when he said if the synco has started breakin up i could end up replacing other things too could end up with a bill well over a grand.

 

Thats all part and parcel of owning a high maintence car.

 

If the Redline is full synthetic it could possibly make the situation worse! Many people (inc. me) have had adverse reaction to full-syn. fluid in an Impreza box.
JohnD

 

To be honest that is expensive, Mine was taken out stripped and repaired for less than that - although i had a massive favour, and dont know if it makes a difference that mine was a Classic 5 speed, even so shop around, not sure where you live but if you live anywhere near Smacs land then i'm sure i can point you in the right direction.

 

450 to take it off and have a look is about right, most places charge 300ish just to drop it. can be a either a pig of a job or an easy one

 

I would of thought £200 would be a reasonable price just to take off and refit.

Are you handy with a spaner?, if so, take it off ya self and thake it to him, may only charge you half that to have a look insdie.

 

Maydew:
You live only 8 miles from me!

Take a short ride to see David at Welcome to the API website in Leamington Spa and API will sort it all with no bullsh!t or silly prices.

They have an ace transmission guy there dedicated to gearboxes. The 6 speeder is a bruiser to get out and weighs a LOT!

David will also collect if you want and return by flatbed.

He has done my racing box and diffs.

 

i will give that one a miss bit expensive if u know what mean lol lol

where bout u from u probably seen me round......

 

the £450 was just to take a look mate extra 200 quid to drop it as my plan was to take the box to them,i am gonna give zen a ring later this week as i deliver everyday just by there place so wouldnt be an issue getting the box to him just found this on his site which i think are very reasonable prices

Example standard build

The customer came to us with a crunching gearbox and difficult changes in 4th and 5th. He also wanted to upgrade his flywheel. We stripped the 'box, identified the fault, hot washed all good parts and then rebuilt the box using standard Subaru parts and re-fitted the 'box with a billet flywheel:



Medium weight billet flyhweel = £250 +vat (£293.75 inc)

4th/5th synchro ring = £40 +vat (£47 inc)

Gearbox end case gasket = £3.55 +vat (£4.17 inc)

Transfer case gasket = £5.08 +vat (£5.97 inc)

Sealant = £3 +vat (£3.52 inc)

3.8L Millers CRX 75w/90 gear oil = £27.66 +vat (£32.50 inc)

9 hours labour = £378 +vat (£444.15 inc)



Total = £707.29 +vat (£831.07 inc)

 

May:
I work in Willenhall, and on Straight Road in the morning about 6 deep sounding Imprezas cruise to work at about 7.30am.

I live in Wombourne, and every night there is a very load Impreza cruising past my back garden!
I'm surrounded by them!

 

Now that is a good price from Zen, maybe when i fit my new clutch, ill take my box to Zen and get him to sort my Syncros

 

Misunderstanding here, The £450.00 quote was for it all done and dusted including parts. How is that dear??

David APi

 

if the £450 is for all done then thats a cracking price

 

That's for the box out of the car, loose - The £200 or so was in & out price extra.

David

 

ahh i get ya, thats the box rebuild cost.

 

Thats a good price.

A mate of mine decided a local place could do the same sort of work to his STI2 - 3rd was crunching up and down the box. He was quoted £200 less than a specialist but plus parts not including.

After they'd opened it up they broke a £150 bearing and started asking questions like "will bits from a uk box fit", he sourced the parts himself and ended up £150 worse off than he would have been if the specialist had done it in the first place. (Also it took 2 weeks!!)

Let a professional sort it - its better in the long run!

Chris

 

Supose it does make sence, to get a pro to do the work, especially because they do it day in and day out.

 

You will be very hard pushed to find a better technician than Rob at API.
Sorted my Type R dccd box and LSD out a treat for me.

I am not alone in this experience.

 

Is the Redline gear oil not upto it then? Thought that stuff was also the dogs dangly bits? lol

 

cheers for the reply,£450 is a good price if this is to repair it too i would be more than happy to pay this,may i ask tho how u can put a price on somethin without looking at it,when i rang i got told it was £450 to look at it plus parts eg seals gaskets syncros and if the syncro has started breakin up it could of damaged a number of things and i could end up with a big bill i did ask how much the syncro would be and who ever i spoke to didnt know but if this is the price all in then yeah thats a good price i just didnt wanna pay the 450 and end up wondering how much it was gonna cost me once u stripped it if u can understand where i am coming from .

 

its good stuff but only if the box is in good working order i guess lol lol

 

try putting some castrol syntrax in i had exactly the same problem on a 02 sti tryed changeing to silkolene silktran that made it even worse!put the syntrax in problem gone no more crunching. i don,t now wether the syntrax just hides the problem or has some people have said the 6 speed boxes don,t like fully synthetic oil. hopefully it,s the latter.

 

Would it hurt to use thicker gearbox oil?

 

It is worth a go but the science is that the baulk rings force the oil film away from the gear taper that it sits upon. If the oil is thicker it will make it harder for the baulk ring to dissipate the oil. It may work on the basis that whilst squeezing the oil out of the way the baulk ring manages to slow the gear down better and then has an easy time of engaging.

BUT thick oil saps power and may be hard to engage gear at all on a cold morning.

Best to use top quality correct grade fully synth. BUT if the box is knackered the best oil in the world will make no difference.

David APi

 

Graham that may well be me,I use Billy Bunns lane twice a day.

 

Excuse me for jumping into your thread...

David (API)
i was very intrested in your price you quoted for the repair of the gear box
£450 including parts....
i have also heard you sell reconditionded boxes aswell?
my gear box number is TY752VB3FA
my car is a 1995 WRX import
as far as im aware its first and fifth in my box that are crunching....
if you can let me know the cost of a reconditioned box i would be very intrested.
Thanks all, very intresting thread.