ok got another subaru , dl fwd manual wagon, 219,000 mi 88 spfi , the shifter seems real sloppy the clutch is good , any ideals on what the problem may be ? or bad tranny ? can it be fixed easy ? , thanks

Your problem is in the shift linkage. There are several bushings in the linkage and when they wear out the shifter gets very sloppy. Inspect the linkage from underneath the car and replace the necessary bushings. I have a friend that replaced the subaru bushings with nylon ones from a hardware store. Worked great for him. I relpaced mine with stock components and the slop is all gone.

 

Good luck

ok thanks

Jim, can you lift the shifter vertically?

If so, your problem is likely that the rubber block that attaches the linkage assy. to the body has separated. I've had this happen on a few of my 2wds.

MDJDC,

 

You spoke of worn bushings in the shifter linkage. Could you possibly post any pics of just where these are, and what they look like?

 

Thanks,

James

and thought my driveshaft was going bad, and I discovered that I could reproduce the ping by tapping on the shifter, and make it go away by pulling up on the 4x selector

put a wood block in the spot, has lasted more than 2 weeks, fits good and have no plans of putting anything else in there, not even a screw to hold the block in