I have a 96 legacy and the clutch makes an anoying rattle while driving. The clutch has no slippage at all and the car shifts good. Also the sound goes away if I lightly press on the clutch. Any ideas. Hope it is not the troughout bearing.

Sounds like throwout bearing noise to me.,...

My 93 does the same thing...we weren't sure what it was exactly, but we will find out this weekend when we install the new clutch...strong possiblity of it being the throw out bearing as Calebz suggested.

 

Josh!

If it's cable like on mine, the cable might be loose and it might be only the fork that's rattling.

Now I hope it is the through out bearing not the transmission. Is there a sure way to tell the difference. Also I think mine is not cable but hydraulic.

I was under the hood of my 95 leagcy the other day and when I revved it I noticed the fork going into the box rattled whenever I did it.Could be that as mine makes a rattling noise occasionally.

Originally posted by Brett_j

I was under the hood of my 95 leagcy the other day and when I revved it I noticed the fork going into the box rattled whenever I did it.Could be that as mine makes a rattling noise occasionally.

 

You might need to adjust free play (reduce the clutch cable slack). The shift fork my vibrate a bit, but a rattle would indicate that this free play is excessive.

 

The clutch cover "fingers" are the spring that the release bearing presses against. Over time these "fingers" weaken and a gap forms between the release bearing and them. The clutch disc also wears and thins out also changing the spacing to the release bearing. Occasional adjustments are required (say every 20,000 miles).

 

Cable clutches are adjusted by the cable end which attaches to the release fork on the top of the transmission (there may be a second cable for the hill holder as well). Tighten the cable to take out free play and loosen it to add free play. Be sure not to have the cable too loose, as you may not be able to fully release the clutch (generally not a problem) and more importantly do not overtighten the cable, there should be an inch or so of pedal travel before the clutch begins to release. If you take too much free play out you risk have the clutch partially released all the time which will quickly fail it, or the possibility of it being in a partially released state if there is even the slightest foot pressure on the clutch pedal.

 

Free play is designed into the system so that inadvertant resting of the foot on the clutch should not partially release it. Too much free play causes long pedal strokes and rattling of loose components when the clutch pedal is up. Subaru clutch pedal throws are long to begin with, and you can not change this by adjusting free play.

 

Hydraulic clutches will self adjust to a point (like brakes do by pulling more fluid in from the resevoir), but should also get an adjustment from time to time. Hydraulic clutches adjust by the rod between the clutch master cylinder and clutch pedal.

 

Release bearings will sometimes fail on Subaru's, when they do they usually squeal when the clutch is not engaged, pushing the clutch usually stops the squeal. I have seen one case of the opposite where the release bearing will rumble when the clutch is engaged.

I have my subaru at the mechanic school. The teacher thinks it is a input shaft bearing probably making the noise in my tranny not the clutch. I will take it to a tranny, clutch specialist when I get the car out. right now they are doing a tune up and check engine light. I found a local tranny guy who will pull tranny replace all internal bearings and seals and clutch for 240 labor. so I am not sweating to bad. But i will be looking at 400 in parts.

Originally posted by jessealan

I have my subaru at the mechanic school. The teacher thinks it is a input shaft bearing probably making the noise in my tranny not the clutch. I will take it to a tranny, clutch specialist when I get the car out. right now they are doing a tune up and check engine light. I found a local tranny guy who will pull tranny replace all internal bearings and seals and clutch for 240 labor. so I am not sweating to bad. But i will be looking at 400 in parts.

 

The transmission input and main shaft bearings do go from time to time. I think the center input shaft bearing went on my 93 Legacy, I was going to swap the whole transmission with a used one when the clutch went. But the original clutch kept going and going. The miles kept adding up and I did will over 200,000 with the bearing noise. I was about to make arrangments to have a replacement tranny delivered and hit a deer and the car was totalled... I had 466,00 km on the original clutch, and perhaps 210,000 of those were with the bearing noise. The last 40,000 km I had problems shifting from 5th to 4th going up hills, and it was always grinding 3rd.

 

Towards the end the bearing noise was slowly being replaced with gear whine, third gear started to sound something like reverse.

 

Sometimes Subaru 5MT's develop some problems with case flex and cracks that lead to noisy bearings and gears. It is rare problem and as far as I know it only affects certain overseas WRX models.

 

Subaru's do blow release bearings from time to time too, but you might as well replace the whole clutch kit since it adds maybe 20 minutes work on top of a release bearing change (flywheel resurfacing excluded).

 

Fool around with the free play adjustment and see what happens if the cable is tightened a bit. If it fixes it, great!, if not you didn't blow any money....

 

Check around for a whole used replacement transmission. I had secured one with less than 40,000 miles for $275 US including shipping from Minnesota to Canada!! Just don't get one from a Impreza 2.5RS as their drivers tend to abuse them. Also make sure the final drive ratio is the correct one, and that the engine mount is the same (4 bolt up to 97?, 8 bolt 98 onward?).

 

The labour and parts cost quoted seem right. I was quoted $1,000 Canadian for a complete transmission rebuild (seals, bearings, synchros, etc), clutch and some minor exhaust work (heat shields and hangers). In fact if the $400 includes the clutch that is pretty good! My repair quote included a large margin of error in case gears had to be changed (they likely would have).

 

The advantage of rebuilding your own transmission is you know how it was treated, and also know exactely what its problem is.

If it's cable, it needs adjustment. But if it's hydraulic, I would also start with the throwout bearing. Don't deem the tranny bad just yet...

Throw-out bearings usually only make noise when the clutch is engaged. That's the only time they should be spinning.

Where should I take the car then for an expert opinion. A reputable tranny,clutch shop. Or an independant subaru shop. Assuming the tranny place will do a free inspection and subaru will be 27.50.

Originally posted by jessealan

I found a local tranny guy who will pull tranny replace all internal bearings and seals and clutch for 240 labor. so I am not sweating to bad. But i will be looking at 400 in parts.

 

Dude, why don't you buy the clutch kit (which includes the throw-out bearing) and replace all of it yourself. If you have not done it before, I am sure you can find someone with some experience somewhere! If it doesn't work, you can keep the new clutch kit and throw it on your "new" tranny!

 

AND, you could save some serious green!

 

My two copper coins!

 

Josh!

I have exactly the same problem with my 99 impreza outback sport. A rattle in the clutch that sounds like a low growl or vibration during low engine RPM's. the rattle goes away when i press just slightly on the clutch petal. Ill investigate the throwout bearing possibility, i have a feeling the clutch is manual...

The rattle in the clutch is from the throw out bearing. I dropped the transmission today . There is a twist to this problem however, the shaft that the t/o slides on is worn on its top surface. The T/O bearing wore out and began to ride on its edge creating a grove in the shaft. The T/O bearing rattles in this grove when the clutch is engaged. This shaft is an integral part of the transmission and im not sure if there is a way to replace it or repair it without buying a new transmission.

 

Any feed back on this would be appreciated...