This sucks!

[Danbob]

So I just got home from my mechanic's house. He's a friend of mine so I know he's not trying to jerk me around. My legacy was making a wierd noise this morning and it sounded like a throwout bearing. Goes away when I throw in the clutch. It's almost like a chatter....Well, I took it to the mechanic and right in front of me he made the "ouch face" when he heard the sound.

Evidently my tranny is on the beginning of it's last legs. Friggin crap. I just bought a condo, just got engaged, and just put a bunch of money into the car after I bought it to get it running perfectly. Now this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What should I do? :cry:

[SilentRacer]

Isn't it obvious? sell the condo, brake off the engagement, and fix the legacy. :twisted:

[subba]

Isn't it obvious? sell the condo, brake off the engagement, and fix the legacy. :twisted:
lol

i say share you girls ride till u have enough to get a tranny.

[Reason]

Isn't it obvious? sell the condo, brake off the engagement, and fix the legacy. :twisted:

That was funny! You just made my sig lmao

[SilentRacer]

Im honored :smt041

[Plays_with_Toys]

He's a friend of mine so I know he's not trying to jerk me around. My legacy was making a wierd noise this morning and it sounded like a throwout bearing. Goes away when I throw in the clutch.

While he may not be jerking you, unless he's a subie specialist and has seen this many times, he may have misdiagnosed it. You said it makes the noise when the clutch is in. What about when the car is in neutral clutch out? The fact the clutch makes the difference in the sound and not speed makes it sound to me like something more clutch related and not transmission related.

[Huffer]

The throw-out bearing is much cheaper than the transmission.

If the trans isn't grinding gears, or having difficulty engaging gears, then the transmission is probably fine.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Does it make a difference if the car is moving or not (engine on of course)?

[Danbob]

Hmm...Does not make a difference if the car is moving or not. Obviously you can hear it more when the car is in neutral and just idling - it's like a rattle. I know that it makes the same sound while moving with the clutch out because I hear it at low speeds when I am driving with the windows down, but obviousy on the highway I am not gonna hear much except wind.

It goes away completely when the clutch is pushed in. i can even rev the motor and it doesn't rattle. There is no grinding of gears except just a tiny bit when going into reverse. I thought it was the throwout bearing to, but he is a Subaru mechanic specifically, and he said he thinks it's more the transmission. I don't know now??? What do you guys think? Anyone who live in the Westchester County NY area wanna come take a look this weekend, or have me bring it to ya?

You guys are beginning to reassure me. If it is the trans though, what is a good price for either a rebuild and install, or used tranny installed?

Thanks a lot -Dan

[Huffer]

If it goes away when the clutch pedal is pushed down, then it has something specifically to do with the clutch mechanism, whether it's to do with the clutch plate, mating faces, throw-out bearing or even a loose nut on the clutch pedal itself.

If the transmission is really on the way out, there should be hard evidence in the fluid, and in the transmission fluid pan.

Most Subaru's grind a little when moved into reverse. Reverse gear has no synchros, so it's almost like a "dog box".

I would drop the pan and check the fluid.
If there's nothing in that, then I'm betting it's the T/O bearing.

Maybe a stethescope (sp?) while the car is on a lift, running at 50mph might be useful...

[Plays_with_Toys]

I have a really fantastic idea! Check your clutch pedal freeplay. Maybe its not spot on, which is causing something to wear quickly causing the rattle.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Yeah, it's clutch.

[Danbob]

You guys are gods...I love this site. I can't wait to tell him this. I knw it was clutch related! I also know that the tranny grinds in reverse. My WRX does the same thing and it has half the milage of this car and has done it since mile 3.

I am so happy right now. Okay so I am going to have him check the clutch and anythign related to it, and the clutch pedal/freeplay. The car actually has had a clutch replacement at around 99k miles before I bought it - It now has 109k - is there a reason why it'd be haivng clutch issues this soon? I know I have never abused it in any way at all...my stock wrx clutch works like it's brand new with 60k on it. Maybe the legacy just needs adjustment???? I just changed the tranny and read diff fluids, and they were clearly old and crappy, but there were not too many metal shavings or anything...regular amount for a car that hadnt had tranny fluid changed in god knows how long.

In any event, I will pass all this less expensive info along to him and see what the deal is.

[rougeben83]

Do you mean that when you try to put the car in reverse, it sometimes grinds?

Simple answer from the manual; subaru didn't put a synchro for reverse gear. They also have in the manual that if it's hard to put the car in reverse, shift it to 1 or 2 and try again. I also find that if the above doesn't work, let off the clutch slightly as you move the lever and it'll engage smoothly.

[Danbob]

Actually I know a foolproof way (works for all of my subies at least). You put the car in 1st gear, rev it, put in neutral rev it, and then put it in reverse. This has worked on many cars that won't go into reverse besides just subies for me. My dad taught me like ten years ago when I was 16 and learning how to drive stick on a finicky car.

I just wanna figure out what exactly this awful noise is and silence it for good because it's getting louder.

[Huffer]

It's still possible that when the clutch was replaced, that it wasn't lined up just right.

It's also possible that the previous owner rode the clutch (if the clutch was replaced before you bought it).
I've seen clutches burned out in 10,000miles.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Actually I know a foolproof way (works for all of my subies at least). You put the car in 1st gear, rev it, put in neutral rev it, and then put it in reverse. This has worked on many cars that won't go into reverse besides just subies for me. My dad taught me like ten years ago when I was 16 and learning how to drive stick on a finicky car.

Or just wiggle it in netural a couple times, and then put it in reverse (assuming you aren't moving forward at all). Works everytime for me.