classicalbass Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I'm new to this forum and have a question about my '95 Legacy Wagon with 148K miles. Over the last year a "whirring" noise from the transmission has been gradually getting louder, and to me it sounds like a mainshaft bearing with excessive wear. The noise occurs as soon as the clutch is engaged, even in neutral with the car stationary. The noise is worse in the lower gears and less noticeable in 5th, although that may be due to road noise. Interestingly, the noise disappears completely during deceleration at all speeds, which makes me wonder if it is a thrust bearing. I do my own mechanical work (and have for 40+ years) but for a second opinon I took this to a friend's mechanic who works on Subarus, and he also thought it was a mainshaft bearing issue. Has anyone experienced this? I have a Chilton's manual, but it has no transaxle details. Does the Haynes manual include it? If not I think I will download the FSM PDFs from techinfo.subaru.com. Any other ideas? Does anyone have a good transmission to sell? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeinmd Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Hi, classicalbass -- a timely question, fer shur. I just spent many hours and dollars on the same thing ('99 Forester). (Excruciatingly) long story short, I tried to tackle it myself; ended up replacing the whole transaxle with a used one. Anyway, I have all the parts out of the transfer case, and both the mainshaft bearing and the large roller bearing which supports the front of the differential unit have a LITTLE roughness -- but probably enough to cause the symtoms we hear (the VCU was also binding up). I don't have that much experience with this sort of thing, but I'm thinking your hunch is right. I have the appropriate pages out of the online workshop manual and would be glad to share them with you if that would help. They're surprisingly sketchy on "how to" stuff, but the illustrations are good... There's nothing in Haynes. -- George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 The noise occurs as soon as the clutch is engaged, even in neutral with the car stationary. The noise is worse in the lower gears and less noticeable in 5th, although that may be due to road noise. It gets confusing with what people really mean by engaged. Do you mean the clutch disk is engaged to the flywheel (pedal up, driving down the road), or when you depress the clutch pedal? Also, is there sloppiness in the shifter? I have a sloppy shifter and when it leans in certain directions is makes a whiring noise. Moving it to a more neutral like position stops the noise. Thanks, Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicalbass Posted August 17, 2005 Author Share Posted August 17, 2005 Thanks, George! Do you mean you have the downloaded pages from the Subaru manual that would apply to the '95 Legacy? That would be very helpful. You may send me an email through the members list and I will send you my email address. What I need are the specific illustrations, I've rebuilt quite a few transmissions when I was younger so I don't need much hand holding. You said a "LITTLE" roughness. That's what I suspect, that just a little roughness can cause a lot of noise. And that tempts me to just live with it. But then there is the possibility that there IS enough "malalignment" to cause abnormal wear patterns on the gear faces, and that is a matter for concern. Keith, by engaged I mean clutch disk is connected to the flywheel and pressure plate; the transmission is engaged to the engine and the main shaft is spinning. The noise does not relate to shifter, it makes no difference which way it leans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeinmd Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 No, sorry; I have the ones specific to the '99 Forester -- don't know much similarity there is. FWIW, mine got gradually louder for several years, then got real loud, real fast (i.e., weeks). I guess its a crap shoot... -- George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicalbass Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 No, sorry; I have the ones specific to the '99 Forester -- don't know much similarity there is. FWIW, mine got gradually louder for several years, then got real loud, real fast (i.e., weeks). I guess its a crap shoot... -- George I think I will just live with it for awhile, until the sound gets much worse. I just won't take it on long trips. Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksoob Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Wondering if my issue is the same. The noise I'm hearing when I depress the clutch pedal is sort of a grinding, scraping noise ... sort of like someone crumpling tin foil. It shifts fine and there is no slippage, although last night there was some difficulty with the pedal coming back up from being depressed going into first. That went away this morning after adjusting the cable. I may have overtightened it yesterday. D'oh! This morning the scraping noise was occurring at pretty much every stop. On the way home this afternoon, I double clutched a couple of times and it stopped doing it while I was in stop and go traffic. After sitting awhile, I went out and started it up. At a standstill, depressing the clutch, whether in gear or not, the scrapy/grindy returned. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicalbass Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 Sounds like a throw-out bearing to me, especially if it goes away when your foot is completely off the clutch pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksoob Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Sounds like a throw-out bearing to me, especially if it goes away when your foot is completely off the clutch pedal. Is that something I need to take care of, like, TOMORROW!!!!??? Or can I hold out a bit? I'll likely take it to the dealer tomorrow just to have them do a look-see, but I was halfway planning to go ahead and do the clutch ASAP if it's necessary, although $$ is tight at the moment. If it can hold off for a little while, that's be swell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicalbass Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 Is that something I need to take care of, like, TOMORROW!!!!??? Well, I once had a farm truck that ran for a year with a bad throw-out bearing. Just very annoying to listen to. IMO it's not an emergency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksoob Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Well, I once had a farm truck that ran for a year with a bad throw-out bearing. Just very annoying to listen to. IMO it's not an emergency. Started making crazy noises last night. Wouldn't go into gear a time or two. Smelled clutch. Whiny. Decided to take it in this morning for a new clutch., just to be safe. Odd thing is, after that incident last night, it worked "fine" on the way home and it barely did anything bad on the way to the shop this morning. Oh well, better safe than sorry. That clutch only has about 40K on it, but the last 15K or so were in stop and go Atlanta traffic. The 25K before that in very hilly East Tennessee. I suppose it's done its duty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attym Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I think I have to replace the throw out bearing as well, however, mine makes the whirling, cricket noise when its engaged and the slightest touch of the clutch pedal makes it stop... I mean ever so slight. Makes me think maybe I just need to adjust the pedal or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthLight Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Wow, I thought I was the only one with the chirping noise. Mine is just like that and sensitive to the slightest clutch push in. Classicalbass, just as you said it isn't heard in 5th. I have a 96 2.2L obw manual. I have the shop manual pdfs. Classicalbass, if you think you need any of the pdfs, shoot me a message. I'd like to solve this problem too. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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