Need a 2004 FSTi 6 speed manual gearbox...anyone?

[BreakingBad]

Just what you need on the run-up to Crimbo, a lunched gearbox!

My FSTi delivered the above prezzie the other night on the way home from work and now I need a good replacement one but can’t find any. Serial part number is TY856WL4CC.

I have tried the obvious so just hope someone on here has one sitting around or can help?

Thank you.

[vxr2010]

is it worth repairing ? Api ? used to and may still repair boxes at not silly prices , is it high mileage heavily tuned as i thought the boxes were pretty strong

[vxr2010]

API number 01926 614333

[vxr2010]

must be an old number i just tried it , it was from an old thread , i’m assuming they are still in business , face book shows 07979 955040, or [e-mail]

[Vixpy1]

The boxes fetch 2k second hand , they can be rebuilt for much less

Try Clark motorsport or tegsport

[BreakingBad]

Thanks for the suggestions - the garage which currently has the car (a good, local independent Subaru specialist) has offered to strip it down to determine exactly what has failed but this is going to be up to c £500 and then repair and reinstall on top

If another decent box were available, at least I would know in advance roughly how much it was going to cost to replace. Strip down and repair is a bit more uncertain but would almost certainly be less than £2k anyway. I had hoped to find a decent replacement for less than £1k but beginning to think that’s unlikely, it being a JDM only item.

Decisions, decisions!

I’m thinking that, on balance and due to the availability issue, it may be best to get it stripped down and repaired. I will mention the specialist garages to my local guy, too.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[vxr2010]

definitely get it rebuilt you know what you have , a used one could have issues , as above is yours high power or on lots of miles ?

[yellowstreak]

That's really bad news OP - the 6 speed box is probably the strongest thing on a Subaru! Were you running a lot of power?

[BreakingBad]

Hmmm, a little of each, I guess.

It’s done about 96k miles and although not running big power, I did get it remapped to run better on U.K. fuel which may have - quite by chance, obviously - liberated a few extra horses. I’ve not had the car dyno’d.

[BreakingBad]

PS I’m going to speak to the garage this afternoon and agree the best way forward with him. Almost certainly a rebuild, just whether he does it or one of the specialists. I’ll post again afterwards.

[BreakingBad]

I’ve spoken to the garage and agreed that it looks likely that a strip down to identify the exact problem is the way forward but another garage (the one which did the remap) has suggested that it is more likely the clutch than the gearbox but, if the gearbox is being removed anyway, that would be a good time to ensure it is or isn’t the clutch.

Frankly, I’d be surprised if garage A didn’t know the difference between a failed clutch and gearbox but it’s got to be worth double-checking first, hasn’t it?

Also, he has already contacted many gearbox specialists who are either unable to help or unable to cost anything without understanding the problem (which makes sense imo). Apparently RPI went out of business some time ago and Clark would be ££££. I’ve looked on the websites of various others without success.

Will report back as things progress...

[BreakingBad]

Chap at the garage assures me it is the gearbox, not the clutch AND he can’t find any availability even for parts for the ‘box so, even if he removes it from the car, strips it down and identifies the broken bits, it’s looking unlikely we’ll be able to source those required to rebuild it.

Between us, we have tried every potential source we can think of or that has been suggested and come up blank, so far at least. I spoke to Darren at Torque GT where I bought the car - he said they may be able to get one from Japan but it would be very expensive (obviously, I suppose) and may take 2 to 3 months to ship over.

We haven’t given up all hope yet and maybe someone will come forward with the right box or parts for it. Otherwise, I’m wondering if it would be worth (or even possible) to replace the whole drivetrain with one from an Impreza (or an LS crate engine with rwd )

[Vixpy1]

You can put a hawkeye or hatch box in, or one of the places i mentioned above will rebuild it for you

[enginebuilder]

You have not looked very hard for re builders, Thwaites Dev at Warwick, Scoobyclinic at Chesterfield, Tegsport etc all offer a rebuilding service, parts from Import Car Parts, & that's from memory, do a proper search you might be surprised, or change garage as they look like the don't want to open it up.

[vxr2010]

I think it will need some investigation before putting in a non fsti box in , in theory they are slightly taller gears in the fsti but i’ve not seen evidence of it yet , i thought the newer shape one may have taller gears , i don’t think the old shape one did , but boxes may still be compatible , there will be a lot of rebuilders out there it’s just finding them, i personally would contact richard at fb tuning and see what he says as he knows a lot and must have come across this before

[KillianB4]

Have you tried MB Developments for a box or is that too obvious that you may have checked already?

[BreakingBad]

Progress!

First, thank you all for your suggestions and advice: I really appreciate that there are always such helpful and knowledgeable people on here who are willing to share. Thank you.

I managed to spend a bit more time phoning and emailing today and you are quite right enginebuilder, help is out there: I did manage to find a ‘box at East Kent Subaru which is apparently a super, rebuilt 6 speed. The only issue (other than the price!) is that although it is a JDM item, it’s from the Impreza with the DCCD diff, not the Foz / viscous type. This means that the “old” diff from the Foz would have to be used inside the DCCD casing and my garage is not entirely sure that is a good idea.(We don’t know how good the diff is).

Following Vixpy’s advice, I gave TEGSport a ring and they are confident they can rebuild it and it will cost less than half the other option. My garage has to remove the box, send it up to TEG who will rebuild it and return it to be put back in, hopefully all before Xmas!

I will update to let you all know what happens...

[BreakingBad]

My local garage, Bentens, has now removed the gearbox (about 3 hours labour) and sent it up to TEG Sport In Lancashire for a rebuild - should have arrived there today

We still don’t know what specifically is wrong so I’m waiting for TEG to strip it down and let me know what it is and how much the requisite work will come to - obviously hoping it is not too serious / expensive and that they do have the bits in stock. They had told me there shouldn’t be anything they can’t handle but...

With any luck, it will be repaired, sent back down to Bentens and refitted (another 3 hours or so) in the next week to 10 days.

Looking forward to getting the STi back although using the old STurbo is definitely no hardship - I still love that car!

[BreakingBad]

Aaaaaaggggghhhhh!

Gearbox came back at the end of last week and my local garage phoned this morning to say he’s put it back in the car but it’s not right - still making some horrible noises, apparently!

Going over there tomorrow morning to have a look for myself and a chat but not happy. I will reserve judgement on where the responsibility lies until we have determined what and where the problem is. The garage who rebuilt the gearbox believes that the problem must lie elsewhere in the drivetrain - which is still a possibility, I admit - but my local thinks there are bearings which have not been replaced in the rebuild.

Annoyingly, it means the car is still not properly driveable and the way I see it, it is likely that the gearbox will have to come out again and be dismantled to find the fault. B****r!

[Ahbefive]

Interested in the outcome.