June 13, 201411 yr A 1992 Subaru L Series I recently acquired has an issue with the manual transmission – it is difficult to “find” the gears – especially 3rd and 4th. Usually I can find 3rd and 4th easily by just letting the gear stick come the center and then pushing it straight forward or back, but not with this car - it refuses to go anywhere if you push it straight up. You have to gently maneuver the stick around until you locate 3rd - slightly to the right of center. Even with practice I still find myself ramming it into 1st from time to time - it's really hard to locate the correct gear. I’d just deal with it except that I’m trying to persuade the wife to drive a stick, and this transmission is making this impossible! What is the problem likely to be? Is it going to be pricey / a lot of work to fix?
June 13, 201411 yr Mines the same way. I think it's worn bushings in the shifter linkage. Shouldn't be too bad to fix. If you search the archives, there's likely a thread on it. John
June 13, 201411 yr You should have to push it way right for 3rd and 4th and battle your passenger's knee for 5th. There is a wide range of motion for the gears. There are 2 links for the shifter and 3 points of pivot. The shifter can be sloppy like rowing a boat for upshifts and throwing a hotdog down a hall way for downshifts.
June 13, 201411 yr It sounds like the shifter return spring is worn or missing, bushings can definitely contributing to it not lining up as well. Edited June 13, 201411 yr by Ibreakstuff
June 14, 201411 yr If this is the Front Wheel drive tranny it will be the shift rod pin. the hole wallers out. fix by threading for oversize bolt per GD's write-up
June 14, 201411 yr If this is the Front Wheel drive tranny it will be the shift rod pin. the hole wallers out. fix by threading for oversize bolt per GD's write-up +1 I remember this happening with my 90 loyale before it was swapped to 4wd
June 15, 201411 yr Have a look on the back of the tranny where the shifter linkages go in, there should be a spring laying across the car front the linkage to a fixed bracket. If this has fallen off, it won't be helping your cause, as this is part of what makes the shifter want to go across into the middle 3rd/4th plane.
June 16, 201411 yr The bushings in the linkage are probably shot. Had the same issue in my 89, only things would hit the driveshaft. Replaced all the bushings but one, on that one I used a piece of hose as a bushing. Its still sloppy, but at least it isn't hitting the driveshaft, which is good enough for that car
June 16, 201411 yr Author Ok great - I'll give these suggestions a try on the weekend and let you know how I go. One question - if I have a couple of wrecks lying around with reasonable gearboxes in them, will it be quicker and easier just to swap one over than replace bushings etc as suggested?
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