GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 (edited) *Update* - please see the 2nd page of posts for the resolution and pictures of destruction. Bought a '96 L series last night. BAD clutch - each stoplight might be it's last. Anyway - 2nd gear just isn't there. 1,3,4,5,R all work fine, but it's as if 2nd didn't exist. Feels like trying to hit 5 on a 4 speed. I pulled pretty hard on the shifter and there's nothing - no grind, no noise, just no love at all. It doesn't feel like the shifter is notching into the gear either - it's just neutral. Any idea's where to start? I had thought perhaps racking the linkage over to 2nd gear and giving it a whack with a punch? The tranny otherwise seems to function normally - no odd sounds and goes freely into every other gear. I think it's worth trying to save it if possible. I may pull it out of the car and open it up since I have to do the clutch anyway but I would rather avoid that and pull the engine if possible. Thanks. GD Edited September 24, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 interesting. have you drained the fluid to see if there's any pieces in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 interesting. have you drained the fluid to see if there's any pieces in there? Haven't had a chance yet - it was dark by the time I got it home. That's probably on the agenda this afternoon. I can't imagine how or what could have caused it. The car only has 113k on it and runs great. From what I can see it's had good maintenance - I see an alternator that says "Remanufactured for Subaru" and overall the engine bay is pretty clean. Clutch seems just totally worn out - doesn't engage till the absolute highest spot in the pedal and slips very badly. Bad axle boot on the driver's side front and it sounds like a bad wheel bearing there as well.... Hhhmmmm GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 I'm about to dig into this - anyone have any sugestions or ideas? Anyone even seen something like this before? It's a new one on me but then I haven't dealt with many AWD 5MT's - my experience is with the 4WD 5MT's but I don't think the differences are huge? GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 I had an assistant hold the shifter in the "area" where 2nd should be. I then *tapped* on the linkage with a brass drift and a BFH. Nothing. It's as if 2nd just wasn't there. Time to pull the tranny :-\. I hate doing tranny's..... I'm going to split it and see if it's a simple fix. If not I'll be looking for a replacement. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 It doesn't sound good I'll tel you that much. Could be a broken dog tooth jammed in the recess in the gear and isn't allowing you to get it in the rest of the way. A broken fork seems out of the picture because you can still get it into 1st, but you never know. I think it's time to crack the safe and see what's inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yep - bought myself a small (450 lb) tranny jack at Harbor Frieght last night. I'm sick of humping them out and back in by hand. Too awkward. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 GD - let me know how that trans jack works for it. i've always wondered if they're worth it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yep - bought myself a small (450 lb) tranny jack at Harbor Frieght last night. I'm sick of humping them out and back in by hand. Too awkward. GD You pick up the transmission? I always just pick up the car and move it out of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 (edited) You pick up the transmission? I always just pick up the car and move it out of the way. I used to just flip them on their roof to get to the tranny - till customer's started complaining about their change falling out of their pockets and there was one tub-o-lard that broke the damn seat belt and landed on his dome! At least it was good for a laugh..... AAHHHH to remember the old days GD Edited September 18, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Came time to drain the fluid before pulling out the driveline and I got a pretty good assortment in my prize package. Definitely gear teeth in there. The gear oil doesn't look bad - not black anyway. I don't know what they did to this poor thing, but it looks as if the tranny is probably junk at this point. Even if I replace the bad components I'm not sure I want to take a chance with all that metal in the bearings. I'll see when I get in there, but I'm not big on reusing bearings even if they aren't contaminated so it might be best to just throw the whole thing in the dumpster.... I'll probably have the tranny out tonight or tomorrow morning so I'll post what I find inside it with pictures of course. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Take pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 i figured something might come up and yeah i'd be scrapping that thing too. gear teeth, sounds like a an old lady owned car huh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) Double Post. Edited September 24, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) Well - I split the tranny and 2nd gear is wasted. So it's time for a new tranny. Both the drive and driven gears are without nearly all their teeth. Don't know how this happened - the rest of the insides of the tranny look great - I don't see any real wear anywhere. So..... I'm pretty baffled. I can't see any wear to the syncro on 2nd either. Only thing I can figure is that one gear or the other had a factory defect that eventually killed them. Maybe granny drove around everywhere in 2nd gear? Could sustained high speeds in 2nd do something like that? The clutch is fragged also - maybe starting in 2nd all the time? *edit* - now that I look at it more closely I see that the bearing for the driven gear doesn't turn - so effectively it's locked to the shaft. That could easily mean that it tried to run for a short time in multiple gears - that would cause the destruction I'm seeing. I would have to further dissasemble the pinion shaft to see what went wrong in there, but that looks like as likely of a scenario as any. GD Edited September 24, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 That is beautiful. You usually see carnage on that scale from people dropping the clutch at a roll and putting so much load on the gears that one tooth just snaps off. The rest would soon follow. I bet before they realized what was happening second gear was already ground to a pulp. The bearing probably locked after the fact, or may have locked because is not "round" anymore. After looking at those pics (mostly the amount of wear on the first gear pinion) I feel a little less comfortable about the noise my trans makes in first gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 i'm impressed that the thing ran at all. go subaru, well limp any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 I wouldn't be surprised if this were a WRX or something - but a plain-jane L series 2.2? Smells like a really bad driver - the guy said he got it from his sister so who knows. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 i'm impressed that the thing ran at all. go subaru, well limp any way. Yeah - it was still going strong and if the clutch hadn't worn down to the rivets - other than there being no 2nd gear I don't see why it wouldn't have "limped" for a long time. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 At least I know the noise I was hearing wasn't a front wheel bearing GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySchmitty Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I wouldn't be surprised if this were a WRX or something - but a plain-jane L series 2.2? Smells like a really bad driver - the guy said he got it from his sister so who knows. GD I've ridden with people that are not smooth on the clutch or gear lever. I get the feeling they are permanently in the "learning" stage of driving a manual because they have that lazy mentality and can't be bothered to care about what they are doing. Sorry to see 2nd gear suffered for this and you are stuck holding the broken bits. On the plus side, it is back in good hands...those of an enthusiast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 GD - let me know how that trans jack works for it. i've always wondered if they're worth it or not. Just to follow up on this - the new tranny is in and the Harbor Freight tranny jack was worth EVERY PENNY of the $90 it cost. Worked like a charm frankly. It's the smallest one they sell I think. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39178 You do need to have the car up pretty high. I use the 6 ton jack stands also from Horror Freight and even still - I had to turn the tranny on it's side to get it out from under the car. But with the 'V' shaped groove in the saddle it's easy to rotate the tranny without it falling off. I didn't use the strap to secure it at all. Definitely an excelent purchase for me, and something I'll use enough to own. It's well built enough to last me a lifetime probably. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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