February 28, 200620 yr Ok, so I am CHEAP (read poor untill I get my new job:-p ) and it would kill me to pay $80 each for OEM tranny mounts new, and I set about a way to jury rig some form of solid mounts, first I thought I would put a U-bolt with shackel to compress them, but that wasn't going to work, then I had the brainstorm ... put large bolts along side the rubber dampner, and violla! I just got some that were tight enough that I had to start them with a hammer and used a wrench to get them all the way in, so far I still have some give in the rubber to keep the vibration down, but it's stiff enough to keep my tranny from moving and knocking the 4wd shifter into neutral
March 2, 200620 yr Hey, could problems with the mounts also explain popping out of first gear? I had my transmission rebuilt (CCRinc) after the mechanics from hell tried four different 'used' transmissions unsuccessfully for various reasons (wrong model, wrong number of wires, wrong splines). If you're ever in Berkeley and need a good Subaru mechanic, do not think "SOS" -- can't recommend them. I took the car to a different mechanic, Autometrics, a shop CCRinc recommended because they'd worked with him in the past. They've had it off and on for three months now. It's still popping out of first gear, but intermittently -- seems to be after an hour on the freeway, when slowed down, going a short distance in first, and pop. I asked the mechanic to put the wagon up on the lift and get a couple of husky guys to wale on the tailpiece and see if they could make it move around. What other way is there to tell if the mounts are worn out? I also suspect the bushings -- CCRInc sent "blue" bushings but the mechanic from hell never put them in. The new mechanic is getting another set of those to put in. But I wonder -- seems to me if the transmission is moving just slightly that could cause this problem. Diagnosis? How do you tell the mounts are bad? (I'm coming up on a year now trying to get this 1988 GL 4wd dual range working -- I've had bad carpal tunnel, can't hold onto tools myself any more so I"m relying on mechanics -- hate it like hell, too, but I wore out, banged on my hands too many years)
March 3, 200620 yr it just goes along with one of my favorite sayings "a BFH and duct tape will fix anything" (big f***ing hammer) --------------------------------------------------------------- "NO OFFICER I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS A FELONY" JEFF-2005
March 3, 200620 yr Author Hey, could problems with the mounts also explain popping out of first gear? I had my transmission rebuilt (CCRinc) after the mechanics from hell tried four different 'used' transmissions unsuccessfully for various reasons (wrong model, wrong number of wires, wrong splines). If you're ever in Berkeley and need a good Subaru mechanic, do not think "SOS" -- can't recommend them. I took the car to a different mechanic, Autometrics, a shop CCRinc recommended because they'd worked with him in the past. They've had it off and on for three months now. It's still popping out of first gear, but intermittently -- seems to be after an hour on the freeway, when slowed down, going a short distance in first, and pop. I asked the mechanic to put the wagon up on the lift and get a couple of husky guys to wale on the tailpiece and see if they could make it move around. What other way is there to tell if the mounts are worn out? I also suspect the bushings -- CCRInc sent "blue" bushings but the mechanic from hell never put them in. The new mechanic is getting another set of those to put in. But I wonder -- seems to me if the transmission is moving just slightly that could cause this problem. Diagnosis? How do you tell the mounts are bad? (I'm coming up on a year now trying to get this 1988 GL 4wd dual range working -- I've had bad carpal tunnel, can't hold onto tools myself any more so I"m relying on mechanics -- hate it like hell, too, but I wore out, banged on my hands too many years) Yes, this can indeed make the tranny pop out of first. I had the same problem, but only in low range and bumpy trails. I would just have them watch while you shift into 1st ... they should be able to see the tranny dance back and forth if that is the problem, and if your asking "if" the mounts are wore out, chances are they are ... good luck on that!
March 3, 200620 yr Author Got pics??? Not yet, I can try to make some tomarrow, but it's really easy ... just put the bolts along side the rubber from the back (rear of car) side of the tranny, and I think the bolts I used were 3/8 or 5/16
March 4, 200620 yr Thanks! CCRinc just reordered the bushings (everyone there has had the flu! which I find a very good reason for things to be a bit slow coming). So when those get put in, I'll ask the new mechanic to look harder at the mounts again. I expect some of the mounts are worn out, car has about 230k miles on it. Transmission, engine, both.
March 4, 200620 yr Author Glad to hear it! What kinda price to they sell the tranny bushings at? It's $80 each for the OEM ones locally, if CCR sells better ones for a reasonable price, (read ChEaP!) I might break-down and buy some
March 4, 200620 yr it just goes along with one of my favorite sayings "a BFH and duct tape will fix anything"(big f***ing hammer) --------------------------------------------------------------- "NO OFFICER I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS A FELONY" JEFF-2005 Being a former Ford mechanic (still a part-time Ford mechanic since we sell lots of Fords), I learned that BFH stands for "Big FORD Hammer"!:lol:This thread reminds me of how I "fixed" the shifter in my '85 hatch. My mother borrowed the car and brought it back with a broken shifter. She said she couldn't shift into 2nd or 4th. The mount that holds the shifter up in the tunnel broke and the shifter dropped down onto the exhaust pipe. I used a zip tie to hold it together. That held until I scrapped the car (it was rusted to the point that it was ready to break in half). Long live redneck engineering!
March 4, 200620 yr Dunno if they sell parts, sorry. My mechanic's checking and completing work that the previous mechanic didn't do. There are some other threads in the forums from people at Subaru parts suppliers who might help you out.
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