Hello All. So I've read a bit about the 1st year Legacys and the main bearing failures in the manual transmission. Has anyone just changed the bearing? ... or is finding and relacing the trans best? All gears are great, no grinding or whining... I mean except the obvious main. I have changed the main bearing on a Borg-Warner 4 speed - real fun. Cheap, but labor intensive. thanx, PK

Hiya OZified,

 

I've had to replace my trans in my old 90 TWICE because of the main bearings going bad. I would definitely recommend finding a junked 92+ legacy with a manual, and just swap the transmissions. It's a lot of work, having to remove the two half-shafts AND the driveshaft to drop the tranny, but it is possible to REMOVE it in a full day. If you are going to go that far, I would also recommend replacing all the clutch parts, unless they have been replaced fairly recently. This is just because it is really time consuming to pull that transmission out, and to do it again within a year can get on your nerves (TRUST ME!) If your trans is still going, then I would keep running it until it fails, then get a replacement that doesn't have the crappy bearings. Keep enjoying that 5 speed and good luck!

 

ScoobySchmitty

What years were for the bad bearing? I have a 91 Legacy with 208k and nothing has ever gone wrong with the tranny.

Yes, you can replace just the bearings, that's what I did. Well, actually, at 120k miles I paid a small fortune to have an authorised dealer replace them

 

Up to somewhere round the middle of 1990, April I think, the main bearings are crap.

Oh, and all the metal shavings from the main bearing had left surface damage on my first gear cogwheels, so the transmission is still not silent...whirrr...whirrr..whirrr...

 

However, my odo is now closing in on 185k miles and the noise hasn't increased, and the bearings seem to be holding up :-)

Well the Legacy runs like the shiznit, I love it. Been to triple digits already, smooth as silk. I guess I can drive her for awhile with the noise until I find another trans to swap as that WILL be easier than both pulling it out then apart then back in, so thanks. 5 speed DOES rock. I believe mine is 3.90 ratio, are most of the Legacy 5 speeds the same, or did they get some 3.70 too? (I know the newer even have 4.110 and 4.44)

On my MY92 Legacy 4WD (now 190k miles), the bearings have always been whining (got the car at 160k miles). However, synchromesh of 3rd has been failing recently when gear oil is hot. I replaced the oil about 6 months ago when I replaced all clutch components.

 

A few weeks back I found a replacement gearbox (MY91) for only 80 Euro (= 80 US$). Still have to do the swap though, I reckon I'll keep driving until it really becomes impossible to use 3rd.

 

BR,