forester1999

I think there is really something wrong with the 5th/R gear. Now to get it into R I have to pull REAL hard and slip the clutch grinding the gears into position. Sometimes it pops out of R gear. Then to get back to neutral its real hard. Once in N I can use 1-4th just fine. 5th still pops out - a lot more now. I guess anyone have advice? Pull tranny and check the nut? Or get my money back and get a new tranny?

Drove it up to the pass today, only popped out once, weird, seems to have gotten better again. I'm going to pull the spring and ball see if it's installed. The kickback/rear mount are all tight and new bushings were put in the linkage. I can live with the center diff for now. Damn, we'll see how far this goes and then maybe i can get a good tranny somewhere.

Ah crap....today on the highway at 60 mph I noticed that when in 5th (only 5th) and I give gas the stick moves back. Driving 10 miles it popped out of 5th about 6 times. If I hold the shifter there is a lot of force needed to keep it in place. I guess I could wedge a 2X4 in there when I cruise in 5th LOL. Then when I pulled into the drive and did a slow hard turn I got torque bind. Almost like an old GL I had that I left in 4X4 (not AWD). All the tires are the same size and inflated properly. I'm guessing the nut on the end of the shaft is loose and the center diff are bad? :banghead:Crap, think I need to take this tranny back and get another? Crap crap crap....

Must have an internal spring, bounces back to center line nicely.

So it should look like this? Spring between the two holes. My rod doesn't have the other hole. I guess the car this came out of didn't need the return spring. I can live with that.

Looked again, can't figure it out. I got a bucket of springs, could hang one if I knew where. Anyone with a 5MT forester have a picture of where the spring goes? Drove the car on a +400 mile road trip (still have to drive back) for Christmas. I had Michelin X-Ice Xi2 snow tires installed before I left. As soon as I stopped I drained the tranny fluid while still hot! Looked at the plug, not a metal filing to be seen. I guess that is my Christmas present! I wasn't in 3rd gear much, but the interference is gone. My rebuilt motor did well too! Thanks to my friend for fixing my rides engine! He told me he added a quart of Dextron III to the motor oil to clean up the insides of the engine? I felt weird driving knowing automatic tranny fluid was in the motor oil.....so I changed the engine oil too. I learned that if you put a magnet inside the wrench to pull the oil plug you can keep it from falling into the oil drain pan when you pull the plug on a hot motor. Drains way way faster. Almost like water! Hope to make it back tomorrow - can't wait to try the new shoes on some snowy passes.

Are you sure a spring can be installed? I looked and looked, there isn't a feature to attach to the shift linkage, just the feature on the stay's washer. Hum.... I'll look again...

After driving around town I noticed an issue with 3rd gear. It would feel like its not going into gear all the way. I also noticed a small issue with 5th, but noting with 1st, 2nd, 4th or R. I took a look at the linkage below to see if something was binding down there. (the salvage yard offered a 30day money back if its got issues) I crawled under the car, looked at the linkage and had someone move it to 3rd and 5th. Looks like I flipped washer (17), as seen in the shop manual picture below, when I bolted the linkage up to the new tranny. (bent tab facing in vs out). Flipping washer (17) seems to have fixed the issue. I'm not seeing it the picture what the heck the tab is for, is the tab on washer (17) to hold a neutral return spring? If it's not used for anything, any harm cutting it off? Once again I'm grateful to having friends that know a lot more about cars then I do help me fix this little guy.

I need a new clutch fork cover. The old tranny's cover was hard and busted, as was the used one I got. Anyone know the part number and if there is a cheap aftermarket cover? I can't find the part for sale anywhere... Do I have to go to the dealer?

Got a 5MT out of an Outback (99). (Best Auto Parts in Lynnwood, $500) Checked out the tranny, swapped out the speedo unit (used one was busted). Hooked it to the engine, I had left the engine in the car. Brought the tranny up from under the car. Interesting, easier to do that then I thought. mr.radon let me borrow his tools. (he also rebuilt my engine for me) I got everything ready to start the engine and test the tranny. Engine didn't run worth a darn. mr.radon hooked up the OBDII scanner. Looked fine. It would start and then die, idle was crap, high RPM seemed okay, but no power. Under the hood I never noticed it. But the intake plenum (above the dog bone) wasn't sealed/put back together right. There was a crack between the two parts. Thanks to a friend for noticing this mistake. Never knew a small air leak was a big deal. Took it for a test drive. The car drives awesome now. Rebuilt motor and new/used tranny that looks light years newer then my old one. :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

The center diff and viscous clutch look great, the bearings and transfer gears are toast. Weird how no parts made it into the front diff, center diff, drive gears or reverse gear. On last thought, I'm going to pull the rear diff and see how it has been holding up. Never know....

Found a these two close by: 1999 Forester 5MT 162.3K miles 1999 Legacy Outback 5MT 41.3K miles Will a 1999 Outback work? ---Ah, found my 99 & 98 shop manuals on outbacks. Looks like 4.111 is the final reduction, need that because that is my rear final. I have the Forester L. Looks like all 99 Forester's got the 4.111. I'm going to go grab the low mileage (yeah, I believe that mileage LOL) Outback tranny. Replace as a whole unit.

Here is a shop manual photo of the "Transfer Case and Extension" Bearings 27 and 28 are toast. Bearings 24 and 32 are still looking good. Bolts (2) 19 were rusted in place and broke which hold the reverse check assembly to the body. This transfer case extension is toast. Cool thing is I now know how a limited slip diff works!!!!

Thanks for the info GeneralDisorder! I've read a few of your posts. here are the pictures: After pulling rear housing off. I'm pointing to bearing parts in the corner there. A magnet picked them right up. The other side, notice the long slender jammed part?: Parts pulled out of the case: Why is that gear SO loose??? :( Looks like bearing parts made it to the gears: :( Found another very loose bearing, pressed it out. It was cracked too. :(:( Split the tranny, found no issues or big parts there. No chipped teeth, no loose parts, needle bearings look great, diff gear looks good too.

I took out the tranny. Before that I drained the gear lube, ugh...parts on the plug. Big parts. On the bench I took the rear diff cover off, many parts...took the rear diff housing off, more broken parts. Looks like it was two bearings in the rear diff. Split the tranny case and looked inside, looks real good considering. However, I need a new rear diff. this one the teeth in the gears have ingested metal and they did not play well in there, few chipped teeth. Found a part I can't figure out where it goes. Will look it up in the manual. Will post a few pictures after I get them downloaded. I'm guessing the squeeling was the bearing(s) doing bad things. Maybe I can dive in 4X2 hee hee...