Transmission / Planetary Gears
 

We finally booked our SVX in for the transmission to be fixed. 3D Transmissions in Reading came and collected it yesterday.

http://www.3d-transmissions.co.uk/

They quoted £903 to recondition the gearbox, £274 for the torque converter and £248 for removal and refitting.

Add on the fluid and VAT and I'm expecting it to cost about £1750. :eek: They've agreed to discount that a bit because I've given them the Level10 rebuild kit.

Phil.

3D-Trans called me late this afternoon and said that they've tested the transmission (on the car) and it's making a noise which they think might be planetary damage - which costs extra to fix. :(

This is the same situation which happened 4 years and 40k miles ago. Level10 said that the planetaries had melted and charged me extra to fix them.

I don't understand enough about gearboxes, but it sounds like this is different to the usual SVX problem of burnt out clutches. Could somebody explain this to me in more detail? :confused:

Phil.

Hi Phil, as you probable know, the planetary gear sets are lubed by the oil flow, that comes from the torque converter, through the cooler. This oil is then pumped into the main shaft, to lube and cool the gear sets.

If the trans has had flakey linings on the lock-up clutch, the pieces can lodge in a number of places. like the cooler, and the mainshaft. The main shaft has a drilling through its length, half way along is a seal that is pushed into it and held by a pin. This seal may have been damaged by a previous heat episode. There is also a plug that is pushed into the back end of the mainshaft, that is removed to clean it, and a bush in the front that seals it. If any one of these is damaged or missing, the cooling lube is lost.

As yours has had the gear set destroyed by no lube before, there is a good chance that one of these things has been overlooked. As most auto boxes don't pump the cooler oil into the shafts, they just dump it back into the pan.

There is a writing about ' repeated gear set failure' in the End Wrench sheets.

All the best,this time.
Harvey.;)

Thanks Harvey, you're a star.

I asked my Subaru dealer for a copy of that TSB, but they said that they couldn't give it to me because they would have to pay Subaru for it :rolleyes:

I'll see if anyone here has a subscription. If not then I get I'll have to get one.

Phil.

Some body may have the 'End Wrench' sheets in there locker. Lee would be a good chance. If he doesn't see this, send him a PM.
Harvey.;)

Hi Harvey,

Earthworm pointed me to it. The TSB's are on his website www.svx-iw.com.

Thanks again.

Phil.

Hey Phil

Sorry to hear all the trouble you are getting with the transmission.

Remember when you are paying those guys that Level 10 charge $500 for the kit they sent you to rebuild the box. Figure that out in Sterling, and look for good discount.

Best of luck with it , I hope you get good service when all the work is done.

Joe

Hi Joe,

I just got off the phone with 3d-Trans. He agreed to give us a £100 discount in respect of the Level10 kit.

The kit they would normally use costs them much less than $500. In addition, the level10 kit is for a USA transmission and doesn't have all the bits necessary for our VTD transmission - so they have to buy in some parts anyway.

He expressed some concern that the Level 10 high-stall torque converter may have contributed to the failure. In fact with a high-stall TC, they will only give 6 months warranty on the gearbox. So, we're going back to a standard TC to get the full 12.

Good news is the planetary gears are OK, so no extra expenditure needed on that.

We agreed on just over £1650 all inclusive. Car should be ready middle of next week.

Can't wait to get it back on the road.

Phil.

Phil, I'm no expert on these things, but I thought a hi-stall TC would be easier on the clutches. The changes would be more abrubt, but this would mean less slippage on the clutches over a long period of time. Somebody correct me if I am wrong. Harvey? Todd?

Maybe it is that the hi-stall TC leads to a more robust style of driving, or is favoured by a more aggressive driver profile?;) :D

It's a good few pounds and a lot of hassle, but I do think you got a lot of miles on the last one, didn't you? Hope the reman gives you good service.

Joe

The higher stall TC will heat up more and break down the ATF quicker.

Hi stall converter?
 

Hi Phil, good to see it is working out for you.

Hi stall converters are for engines that have a lack of torque at lower rpms, usually due to the cam timing that is used to increase the torque at higher rpms.

Instead of reaching stall at 2250 rpms, the clearance between the two halves is increased to allow the converter to slip. This raises the stall to a higher rpm, say 3200, where the engine will produce enough torque to get the car off the line, with out bogging down.

A WRX auto could well use this type of converter stall, to get the rpms up to the level, where the torque is enough, to keep it up near the start of boost.

The SVX certainty does not lack torque at low rpms. The 2250 stall puts the rpms right at the start of the Inertia systems curve. Using a higher stall, not only misses the first 1000rpm of the acceleration curve, it multiplies the higher torque produced at 3250 to load the clutches and gears, needlessly.

Harvey.;)

Re: Hi stall converter?
 

Thanks Harvey, [and David] very informative and useful.

Do I take it from this that when I install my positive displacement blower, I will have no need for a different torque convertor than standard?

Or, is there another way of "toughening them up" other than making them hi-stall types?

Joe:)

Re: Re: Hi stall converter?
 

No Joe the standard unit will do the job. It will get the power to the trans, while it is still not too high. Don't forget that it is going to multiply the torque to the box at take off. so you don't need it to multiply a higher level than is necessary. That would be the case, if you use a higher stall speed unit. The converter is strong enough to handle the work.

Harvey. ;)

Thanks Harvey, that's good news.

:D

Now all I need is to get this Eaton M112 installed!

Joe

Aside from injectors,bigger pump, FPR, fuel mixture control, timing control etc.

A doddle:D