virgin

Own a my00 uk turbo wagon

took it into local subaru dealer to look at gear box today,was slipping out of fifth and was just starting to get difficult to get into gear.

i had looked for this problem in the search on scooby net, and found this suggestion as follows.......................

"Get it fixed before you have to hold the gearstick to keep it in 5th, it seems to be a common problem on phase two boxes (the retaining nut coming loose)

First symptoms are usually hard to select, then jumping out of 5th.

ANy good scoob garage should be able to carry out the fix with the box in situ (cheaper) it is just a case of removing the rear of the box and tightening/locking the 5th gear retaining nut.

And so i asked the subaru garage to do the above today !

Got a phone call around 5 hours later from the subaru garage saying the following...............

"we have just taken her of the ramp and we have tightend the nut as it was loose, but she is now stuck in reverse, you will need a full rebuild ,cost around 1500 to 2000 grand. its bearings and bits that have broken up inside"

they have the car at the moment and i dont know what to do !

These are my problems

1 the car drove in , but now wont drive out
2 they want me to pay the 250 quid for dropping the box and tightening the nut,and then returning me with a car that wont even go into any gear.
3 They said that the 5th nut loosing was a common problem abd surely if this is a common problem and my milege is around 80k, subura would help ?
4 i keep a spare few hundred for these kind of unforsen events but not a few grand

So !, any advice anyone ? also whats my cheapest option ? as i am a bit short of money at the moment.

VTEC to Turbo

I'm no expert but if it is a known problem to them, they took the car in to do that work for the quoted 250pounds and then damage the car because they have not completed the job correctly then surely it is there cost to bare!

How did the bearings break up? a YTS trainee trying to get it out of reverse once they had botched the job. I presume you had no other selecting problems (spare gears floating around on your drive to the garage)

Not any help I know but these sort of stories really do frustrate me.

I would wait to see if a helpful forum mechanic could give you any possible casues of this new problem that they have caused and then argue it out with them.

Don't pay a thing until you really know you have no other choice and that the problem was there (broken gears) before you went in. Too many people pay too quickly just on the say so of a garage.

My dad had a 16V fiat turbo, cam belt went within service schedule but out of warranty, was told he had to pay. To cut a long story short he persisted and they eventually paid for all the costs. it then went again 10K later and again they tried to make him pay, then they said they would split the cost and again after a little time and persistance they decided to pay.

Again, I know this is of little help but good luck and I hope you get the advice and answers you are looking for.

Dazza's-STi

Sorry m8 but WTF did you take it to a dealer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

A second hand MY99/00 'box shouldn't cost you more than 450 quid, and a rebuild shouldn't cost more!

virgin

any ideas for where i can get one for 450quid ?

fitzscoob

If it worked when you drove the car in and now it doesnt work its their fault and their cost.

Speak to your local CAB, to get some advice.

virgin

yer but they did say best case 250 worse case 1500

virgin

i am just saying that ok cant drive car now at all,but at least waver the 250

Colinj

I was told around £500 to either replace or rebuild the gearbox on my MY96 when I thought the up synchro was fooked......A change of oil with some top grade stuff sorted it and its like new now!!!

Tell them to GTF with there £2k!!!!!

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

speak to www.apiengines.com, they may have a reconditioned box available, and he may give some advice.

A brand new gearbox, ie case, gears, etc already built up direct from subaru is £2600ish, so £2000 for a rebuild is a joke.

Ask them the simple questions

How did you drive it into the workshop?
Could they change it into any gear before they did the work?
Why has it locked into reverse?

billythekid

It sounds to me like they are going to be liable for the cost. The fault you sent the car in for is not the fault that it came out with.

CAB / Trading Standards are your best bet.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

That price is way over the top.
£500- £700ish all in?
Go to a good independent.
On my last rebuild the bearing cost about £70ish and most of the cost is labour. Or pick up a recon box as others have said.
Where are you based?
Hope you sort it
Steve

Richard Askew

Speak to david at APi ref a box

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Has the car got a Subaru extended warranty?
I beleive that the 5th gear coming loose was/is a warranty issue - several threads mention the work being claimable.

Didn't the car go in with a working reverse? - what's their excuse for it to fail now.

Also the quote is laughable.

Nick


Nick

Stonkin

Mate, a sad story to hear. I recently have had an issue with my box on an MY00 with 50,000 miles after full subaru history. It was difficult to get the car into reverse and when it did it whined, was also a little notchy getting it into 3rd and after being on the motorway and getting off a slip road, going from 5th to 4th was not smooth. So, i went to a subaru dealer in taplow and was told the retainer nut on the end of fifth was probably loose, they told me that they can rarely be tightened and i had to book the car in for a rebuild costing around £1200.

So, i contacte dmy warranty company (RAC) and ran it through them, they said they would pay but my package would only cover up to £500. So i spent 2 months saving the remainder of the money, £700. Then, after reading more on here and speaking to others i was advised to phone a very nice chap in Reading (south east) called Colin who specialises in engine/gearbox repairs. His number is 07771767874. He offered to look at the car and diagnose. He dropped the box, not removed, just dropped (keeping the cost down) The box had quite a lot of metal in, but he said it wasnt the retaining nut. He had to completely remove it, after further inspection he dianosed it to be a washer on the end of 3rd gear that had disintegrated. He fitted a new washer, fresh oil in the box and charged me £450.

However, when i tried to claim with RAC, it was then refused because i had driven the car for 2 months (whilst saving the extra money i thought i needed) with this problem, and they said it obviously wasnt a serious enough fault! In other words what i payed for the warranty would have payed for this, i mean what part can be repaired on a scoob for under £500 and would be covered under warranty? not much!

All i can say is if you are at all local to this guy i cannot recommend him enough, and i will certainly be using him again. Oh, and the box has never felt as good, feels like brand new. He also lent me his Terzo for a few days so i had transport, this alone was a bonus, but when he said it was a 2.3 with quite a few modifications, well, i'll say no more. Pleased me enough to go out of my way to give the car a bloody good clean for him.

Hope this helps

Christian.

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

Colin, or Rally Colin as he's often known has moved to a nice new workshop near J13 of the M4.

He's certainly worth a call when it comes to gearboxes, as are APi (already mentioned) and Phil Venn down at Barretts Motorsport in Canterbury (01227 864537).

My MY98 UK box was rebuilt under warranty at 50k miles when 4th gear syncro went, then at 80k miles I snapped a selector rod on the 3rd/4th plane, I took the box out and appart myself to see what was wrong, found the snapped rod and a damaged fork. I spoke to phil, took the box to him in pieces and he rebuilt it for me for a very reasonable price It's since has seen some serious abuse (TOTB1 and 2, SSO1 etc) and is still working

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

www.glenburge-subaru.co.uk have a second hand unit for 375 exchange. Those subaru dealers just expect you to bend over and take it. What they have got to realise is that they have got some serious competition with the specialist network, and they usually are better and cheaper.
With regards to this case, I do agree with recent posts saying that the dealers are liable, atleast for 50%. Ask them to run through what happened + demand to speak to the engineer. Trust me, they will back off. Good Luck

scoobyboy

on the back end of 5th and reverse is a sort of big washer with a couple of fingers on it that point towards the front of the car and have to fit in the gap between the two ends of the selector fork that go around the synchro hub (does this make sense!) some times when tightening the nut this washer turns and the fingers can get bent as it rides up over the selector fork. as you can imagine you got a fixed shaft that this washer is bolted to and the fingers then jam up on the selector fork so when you try and put it in reverse it can't move as it's pushing against the fingers which are bolted to the fixed shaft so no reverse gear but it will allow it go in to 5th albeit very stiffly.
the actual job of the washer is when you put it in to reverse it stops the synchro hub coming off the shaft.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the plug Richard, free coffee should you ever appear at our doors. it's so good people have even offered to pay for it

We have boxes coming back to us on Friday from the guy who does them for us these days. Top man, ex Prodrive etc etc [ god, they must get through a few, as every other person except me is ex Prodrive these days ]

A properly rebuilt box with a 6 months warranty is anywhere between 450 and 600 plus VAT depending upon the spec. Dccd types are more.

Our product and prices must be right as we can't keep any stock these days and it goes out as fast as we get them in.

Call me if I can help. By the way, I would be too embarrassed to charge after we've made your car worse. Subaru dealers are nothing, if not thick skinned

David APi Engines / APi Impreza

Markus

1500 - 2000! bloody hell! I had the box go on my WRX Wagon, and including a new rear diff, it cost about 900 quid. This was from a specialist though, not a dealer.

kazlo

looks like dave's your man m8. hope you get it sorted

pippyrips

not that this helps much but i'm about to get a new gear box and clutch through warrenty on my uk300 due to judder and a sticky reverse gear - i've decided that warranties are worth it as the clutch is £1000 before labour

scoobyboy

what clutch is that then it can't be standard for £1000

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

An ap organic clutch is only around 450. Whats the subaru one made of???

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

We can do 'special' clutches for Subaru, we'll be cheaper than that !! lets say £995 ! Sounds fair to me and will save you money.

Seriously, a 22b clutch which IS a special bit of kit is about £1200 but all others are just regular clutches and anything will fit, from about £150 for a motor factor one up to the organic AP at about £450; no need to spend more and labour should only be about £200 / £250 for the job.

David APi Engines / APi Impreza

vulnax999

iTrader: (7)

Even the main dealer only charged £650 for an Exidy Grp N clutch and fitting ... parts alone about £400.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Try Grade A or Townend Garage for a second hand box

DJNafey

Boy am I glad I found this thread! My WRX is currently sitting in the local Subaru dealers awaiting a price for a new gearbox casing, rebuild of all my gears into the new box AND a new clutch and flywheel (which was getting to the point where it was going to have to be done soon anyway). Apparently one of the plates fell off the side of the gearbox and the rod fell out or something (does that make sense?).

What I don't get is why did my clutch still work when I drove home and parked on the drive the other day ..... but then didn't appear to be joined to the gearbox the following morning?! Did someone steal the plate that holds the rod in while I was in bed?!! Why didn't the alarm go off, lol ?!!

Am expecting a big quote so I'm so pleased to have found so many names and numbers of people who might be able to supply complete rebuilt/second-hand boxes - thanks to everyone who has contributed with advice

BuRR

I helped rebuild the back end of my gearbox when my MY99 started jumping out of 5th gear.

Is the garage sure they've not just misaligned the selector rods? If they have then it will give the illusion of being jammed in gear.

DJNafey

APIDavid,

If you're there, I'd really like to talk to you - have called you on a couple of numbers but there was no reply. Need to find a gearbox ASAP. I'm sending you a PM with my phone number on it.

Thanks,

Nathan (DJNafey)