[cekeel]

*WARNING* Long-winded dissertation ahead!

Late Thursday, 29 Apr saw me at the end of my 45 min commute home; coasting down a fairly long downhill section of 2-lane road, I was at 65mph in neutral. At the bottom of the hill I tried to shift back to 6th to casually finish my commute; however, to my horror, I discovered I was unable to shift into ANY gear. Pulled off the road, and while the engine was still running, I cycled through the gates. Now, all 6 gears, including reverse, seemed fine. Began to pull away in 1st, shifted carefully at 3500rpm to 2nd, attempted to shift again at 3000 to 3rd to hear/feel an awful grinding as the shifter announced 3rd wasn't an option right now. 4th was fine, as was 5th and 6th. Limped home with 5 perfectly normal gears left. Fast forward through a sleepless night to Friday morning, as I limped my '06 STi (purchased new May '06, currently showing 8920 miles on the odo) to the local Subaru dealer (where I had originally purchased the car.) Explained the previous day's events as they took her into the service area. The service rep felt compelled to tell me that if the problems were related to normal wear & tear, or abuse, I would not be covered under the factory warranty, and would be responsible for all repair costs, including the rental car they provided in lieu of a "loaner." Ignoring the implications, since I've never tracked/raced/abused nor mechanically or structurally modified the car, I took the rental to await the diagnosis. Service called later that day to ask if I'd ever changed the trans fluid. Obvious answer was no... They reported they'd drained the trans to find fouled (smelling) and dark fluid. Fast forward again through a weekend of forced submission in a VW Passat to yesterday, as the dealer calls to report all service and maintenance WILL be covered, as they're (Subaru?) having problems with the STI transmissions, and they're ordering new syncros and gears. Now begins the wait 'till the end of next week before its repaired. In the meantime, TiC was kind enough to sell me trans cross-member bushings, as SubaruGenuineParts.com has dropped a Group N mount in the mail. Since my trans is laying on the dealer's floor, why not upgrade a little, eh? So beware, those with 6MT Subies... "they're having problems!"

[boondocksaint]

Sorry you're having an issue, and on the warranty work... But one dealer's dagnosis isn't something I'd take as symptomatic of an epedemic. I have about 6k miles on my 06 (bought in November 06) and so far so good. Lots of guys in 06s have many more miles than us... The general consensus is that the STi tranny is very well made. We'll keep our eyes peeled. Let us know how your situation progresses.

[lackskill]

34k+ on the clock and no problems to date

[cekeel]

Oh, don't get me wrong... I have complete faith in the constitution of our venerable 6MT! I've never read/heard a bad review of it... it seems, from the forums, to hold up just fine to some serious power mods others are running. I've just seemed to draw the short straw with a "lemon" part! I don't feel my case is indicitive of anything serious with the manufacturing or design of the trans... I simply found it odd the dealer would report it as such. Guess my sarcasm got lost in the translation...

[klaymon]

I think we'd see more posts here about it if "they are having problems". I've got 42K on mine without issue. The 6MT is known for being quite stout. I think you have an isolated incident and good for you that Subaru is covering it.

[yakmasterjack]

I'm having 5th gear syncro poblems, thats the most common tranny problem I've heard of. Good to hear they're taking care of you though!

[azndc5er]

2 full seasons of Auto-x as well as 2 track days, 2 time attacks on this car.

Only problem I've noticed is that the tranny is stubborn when cold. Other than that, no complaints.