wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Howdy. I have a 2002 WRX, and my transmission died a while back. I wasted several months learning that a 6spd swap would be too costly right now for me in my situation, so I am moving forward with another 5spd.

Note - some may disagree with the above, but please just leave it. That is not the question. Obviously a 6spd is the "right" way to go. If someone wants to kick down $5k for me to have it done, I am all over it.

Anyway, I have the 5spd now and it looks great, but it's a late '04 5spd which means I need axles (male vs my female). No worries. Next item is the mechanic called saying that the clutch in my 2002 (RPS StreetMax) will not work in the 2004 gearbox. Now, I am 98% sure this is not true, but I am here for the 2%.

I see that Subaru lists different part numbers for an '02 clutch disc versus an '04, but that could just be a different friction material on the disc or something.

I thought you could basically use any sensible clutch kit between '02-'05 and everything I see on sites to order a clutch, aside from Subaru, only lists clutch kits for '02-'05, nothing special in between. Also, I know some people have used the WRX 5spd clutch/fw in their 6spd swaps as well.

I am going to tell him to please re-use my clutch/flywheel, and see how it goes. I have around 8k miles on the setup as well.

Can someone please comment?

chochocho

iTrader: (38)

i went to two parts sites and both show 02-05 fitment for clutch and flywheel.

de_engineered

iTrader: (24)

Sign me up on that list too

Good luck with the swap.

Gancherov

iTrader: (13)

Good news everyone!
You might have a push type instead of the "standard" pull type on the new trans.


These are from LGT forum user M Sprank from Infamous Performace & Tuning of Escondito, CA.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Yeah I see the same thing on several sites. But, if you go to subaruparts.com and put a 2002 clutch and a 2004 clutch in your cart, they have different part numbers and there is a $20 price difference. I think the Subaru dealer my mechanic talked to saw a similar thing when he provided the VINs. I know the parts guy is just looking at a number, and based on my own experience at this same parts counter, the guy probably had no idea what he was talking about.

Sadly the swap has turned into a replacement of a 5spd. I still hope to do the 6spd down the road, but I am hoping to find a place with a garage and do it myself.

^^^Hmm that's weird, but you do hear of stuff like that. The associated VIN shows 2004 Impreza WRX, 2.0L turbo. We have the slaves, forks from both trannies and I had hoped to move my clutch to the new 5spd. The transmissions look physically the same, so I think it should work.

I will see if I can snap pics of the slaves, but I think it all looked the same. I am sure the forks were the same.

Thanks folks!!

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Mechanic just pulled my clutch/flywheel off the engine, and called me saying "you better come down and have a look at this." Not usually a good sign. So, I guess I need to plan on shopping for a clutch now too, but I will see later on this afternoon.

Superusdm

iTrader: (6)

Cant leave the thread hanging like that!! Haha, what was the news?

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Whoa, forgot about this! Basically, the throw-out bearing was able to move fore/aft about 4mm in the fingers of the pressure plate. The clutch had been a little odd, where it felt like the engagement point would change throughout my drive, but the clutch engagement itself was always nice. My mechanic had done a couple things to troubleshoot this, such as flush/bleed the clutch hydraulics, and replaced the line. It seemed like the clutch would engage much higher once the car was fully warmed up (hence the messing with the fluid).

Also, there appeared to be a good amount of gunk in the center bore of the bearing, as if someone had applied grease when installing (no idea there).

Lastly, he did not have experience with RPS clutches before this and wanted me to check out the disc as he was worried that it was overly worn as it was considerably thinner than the last WRX clutch disc he had seen.

He was able to get on the phone with tech support from RPS and it turns out they are pretty awesome. The guy pulled a new StreetMax disc off the shelf and measured it while on the phone, and mine was about the same. So that's sorted. The bearing should not be an issue but I forget why. They recommended to clean up the bearing but did not have any idea about the gunk (nor should they really).

It's all back together now and it works great. It seems like the "walking engagement" issue is gone, but - since it's on a new transmission, there's no way to tell what really fixed the issue.

The late '04 5spd feels nicer than the '02 did, but I also went ahead and picked up the factory STi short shift linkage since my linkage looked like crap. So, the new linkage may have had an effect there. The shifting is much more direct, and easier. I can rest my arm on the armrest and just sort of flick the shifter around - it's pretty sweet.

I gave some co-workers a ride home from a datacenter job last night, about 40 miles. When we got there, we were talking about cars and transmissions and such (they are not from the US). The one that was in the back seat swore my car was an automatic, to the point where he had to go out and check, based on I guess how I drove the whole way. That's cool to hear because I try really hard every time to shift as smoothly as I can.

Anyway, suffice it to say, the clutch came out of my '02 transmission and is now running in my late '04 transmission without any issues.