transmission '03 5 MT Replacement

[GrendalSmith]

Hello all, I've got an 03 L sedan with the 5 speed manual. It seems like the synchros on 1st and 5th are going out and there's a vibration on 3rd and 4th above 3500 RPM. I'm pretty new to subaru and to large mechanical jobs and need some advice. What would a guy need to replace the transmission at home? 

Thanks!

Edited January 31 by GrendalSmith

[doublechaz]

When I did mine (1995) at home I pulled the engine out with my engine hoist and then pulled the trans out from above.  I chose this method mainly because I was working on gravel and didn't have a transmission jack nor a pit or a lift, also because I was doing a 250,000 mile refresh so was going to do stuff to the engine anyway.

If you have cement to work on and a safe way to lift the car about 2 feet I would get a trans jack and do just that from underneath.

As to generally doing a big job, step 1 is have the Factory Service Manual and read the big job in question.  Next steps that I do is hang a tag on the steering wheel that says "Engine Oil", or "Coolant" for things that I have drained from the car that will kill it if I start and drive without them.  That's because I have the luxury of taking many days to do such a big job and in the excitement of getting to the end don't want to burn something up.  I also, using the FSM and experience, make a paper sheet of steps each with two boxes next to it, one marked in red when I take apart and one marked in green when I put it back together, again because there can be so much time between the two.  It can be a big help and a big confidence boost if you can have a more experienced friend help out with your first big job, but that doesn't always work out.  It helps to have a supply of ziplock bags and paper where you can put iin a tag like "front trans mount to chassis" and such to organize your fasteners so you don't mix up lengths and thread pitches.  Take a bunch of pictures with the phone, or even video where you point and narrate what you are doing and how things line up if you are worried about the complexity or passage of time making it hard to put it back together.

 

Let me find one of my task lists from part way through a job...

 

 

 

As you can see in the pic, I don't always get the steps in the correct order while I'm making the list and might end up putting them in numbered groups.  In this pic disconnect battery is the very first step on red and the very last step on green.  Then fluids, then engine accessories, etc...  The dates are just for my OCD and chastising myself for taking so long.

Edited January 31 by doublechaz