Noise (rattling, grinding, whining?) when I take my foot off the accelerator when the car is in gear, particularly at low speed in low gear.  Depress the clutch or put it in neutral and the noise stops.  4th gear almost gone completely in that it slips out of gear, sometimes all the way, sometimes only partially.  Mechanic says I have metal in the transmission fluid.   

 

So, I would like to know what part of the transmission is going out?

 

Should I rebuild or try to find a used transmission?

 

Which transmissions fit this model?

 

Love my soob. We've been together since 2001.  Please help me educate myself before I invest in this endeavor.  

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Failing input shaft bearing. Typical of the Subaru stick shifts. Replace with a low milage trans or fix yours, there is a good thread in here in how to do this job. If you do fix it yourself put in the bearing for the turbo model, its much stronger.

Metal in trans fluid= time for a new transmission. I wouldn't mess with the bearing. if 4th wont stay in, it's probably not worth the gamble of doing the bearing swap and installing again only to have it die in 10,000 miles. Swapping a trans is not a bad job if you don't mind getting dirty. Here's a good write up of the job. If you know your clutch is good, then leave it on the flywheel. If it's getting up there in miles, this is a great time to replace it. Exedy brand seems preferred.

 

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/t128163-diy-clutch-replacement-pictorial.html

 

I would edit this thread as well to say that flywheel and clutch fork dust boot are optional. Everything else except the exhaust gaskets will come with a clutch kit. The gaskets can be reused if they are in good shape. But they are pretty cheap on rockauto etc.

 

If you still have the original seperator plate on the back of the motor, this is a great time to replace that as it will undoubtedly be leaking some oil by now. There's a dealer upgrade stainless steel version that fixes the issue.

 

Use car-part.com and craigslist as parts sources and probably put up a "wanted" ad in the marketplace section here. Your car should accept any 1990-1999 Impreza or legacy manual trans with the same final drive ratio. (3.90 if memory serves) There's a chart that lists all the codes you can find with a search on here. Generally all legacies that are non outback or GT and imprezas that are not RS will have that same final drive.

 

I have a good one from my old 97 OBS that I could sell you if shipping is feasible.

 

Good used transmissions can be had for about $300. + $150ish for a clutch kit and some gear oil etc. can have you back on the road for less than $500 if you do the work yourself. Expect to probably pay that much again in labor at a decent shop for the job if you're not going to do it yourself.

Edited July 2, 201510 yr by AdventureSubaru