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Hoping someone could help me out here. My brumby has of late been making a hell of a grinding noise that seems to be coming from the front of the box, the sound goes away when the clutch is applied. a gearbox expert told me that the most likely source of the sound is an input bearing. He also told me it'd be cheaper to get a new box than to have someone repair it.

So here's where I need some help. If I get the bearing and seal from subaru, is it something I'm gonna be able to do myself once I get the box out? Noting I have reasonable mechanical skills but no workshop equipment.

Or does someone know where I could get a reconditioned gearbox?

All advice is appreciated.

From memory, you can replace the front input shaft bearing and seal without pulling the box apart. I have done it a few times on the later boxes but pretty sure we did it with the earlier ones too. You just need to have the box out and standing as 'front high' as possible. This is as long as the box is the dual range model.

Carefull about just pulling the front bearing out, there is an "Oil Guide" that clips onto the input shaft bearing holder. You need to strip the box to get that back on properly or it will fall into the gears.
If you can get it out and leave it out, then that is a way to change the bearing.

Pull the drain plug out, if its covered in shiny metal that piles more than 1mm high, think about swapping the box, as all that metal would have been floating around in the oil.
To rebuild the box you really need a press, the rest is just checking it.
The best way to work it all out is to strip it, just have another box ready in case.

So what your saying tam, is that it's possible to leave this "oil guide" out when reassembling with out any ill effects?

It's been a while since I pulled a 4 Speed box apart but I can't remember seeing this oil guide that they have in the later boxes. I'd have a look at the breakdown of the box from the WSM.