drdisco69

Yeah, the noise is sorta all gone... And it shifts way smoother too, what a surprise! By filling the trans to the recommended level I have now discovered that the axle seals leak. I didn't know that before because they were only sealing air. :-\ Thanks again for your help, and the threads on this board to give me an idea of what I was getting into. I have a gift to give back, a fully compiled and bookmarked 2002 Legacy service manual. Where shall I place such a gift so that it can be enjoyed by the maximum number of people?

Update: Clutch slip fixed. I did the clutch and seals December 30th and all is well. It took 9 hours and was about what I was expecting. When I drained the trans only about a quart of fluid came out. Most of it had made its way into the bell housing. The rear main seal was also leaking. The clutch was soaked in trans fluid and worn as well. And this might be part of the bearing noise I was hearing... Popping open the trans case: There's yer problem right there! Clean and ready to reassemble And after everything was back together, one washer was left over...

That's a thought, I'll double check the behavior of the noise. I think it wasn't pedal pressure dependent, but I'll check it in a bit. The CRX that this car replaced had an unbelievable input shaft bearing noise. I figured just let it ride until it didn't ride anymore and I would replace it when I needed to (or just throw a new trans in it). It was bad when I got it, and I put over 50k miles on that car, including many on the track, and nothing seemed to phase it. Turns out the input shaft was the least of its worries when a Suburban turned left in front of me a month ago...

Yeah, I found that thread, and the other one that talked about not taking the axles out of the hubs. Anyway, I think the car just answered my question about taking apart the trans. Leaving work today I gave a listen and heard a tiny bit of noise coming from the input shaft bearing. It goes away when the clutch is in, and starts up as soon as it's out. This is turning out to be more fun than I ever imagined... Thanks again for your help! If you're ever down this way I owe you a beer or three!

Doh! I knew I was forgetting to order something! I have a pile of stuff on the way, but I will get a pair of exhaust gaskets as well. I was originally going to do the input shaft seal in the trans, then decided it was most likely just the oil separator (quite an ironic name actually ). Do you think I should do the input seal while I'm in there? It's not exactly a walk in the park to get to it, but I'll be closer than any other time. I've found a few walk-throughs online of the various things I'll be getting into, and I have the service manual as well. I'm well versed in the world of Hondas and wanted to learn about all the pitfalls of this one before I pulled everything to bits. I'm going to drain the trans fluid first, as I'm sure it won't mind being changed anyway. But everything looks pretty straight forward, just a combination of FWD and RWD procedures all rolled into one. I just can't wait to get it all straightened out so I can start loving my new car!

Thanks for the advice, this is the kind of stuff I like to hear. Pointing out the cost of a replacement flywheel versus resurfacing the current one makes it a no brainer. I'll leave the rear main alone and do the plate. I didn't even know about the plate or those clips until I read a few threads on this board. Everywhere else they seen to be more concerned with dumping the clutch at 5000 rpm... I will be doing the job on a lift with air jacks, so I don't think it will be easier to pull the engine in this case. Three shafts versus all the motor junk? The timing belt was done early because it was done the same time the head gaskets were. It looks like they did all the seals on the front of the engine, I don't see the idler pulley listed though. The rest of the motor is bone dry except for the rear, so that's a bit of hope! Thanks again for the help, anything else is always appreciated!

Oh awesome, more stuff that leaks! Thanks for that heads up, I'll have one of those ready to install as well. I was planning on getting the Exedy OEM clutch, but seemed to come up short on a flywheel for the GT that didn't cost a fortune. That's when I thought about using other model flywheels that might be cheaper. I have records of the timing belt and head gaskets done at 90k, so I'm ok there. The valve covers are bone dry as well. You say "when then engine is out" like that was assumed to be part of the plan. What's wrong with just pulling the trans to get to all this stuff?

I recently got a 2002 Legacy GT with 159k miles, it's in very good shape but does have one small problem. The clutch slips like crazy. It behaves when cold but as soon as it gets warm the fun ends. I thought it may be due to abuse, but I got under the car and found oil dripping from the back of the engine and the trans. It looks like the rear main seal has puked all over the clutch, which would explain the smell and the smoke. I just found a thread on here that suggested it may be the input shaft seal for the transmission as well. I guess I'll have both on hand when I go in to do the job. I'm not thrilled by the prospect of replacing the clutch, but I know it will be a great car for a long time once this gets ironed out. Obviously as long as I'm in there I'd like to replace everything, flywheel included in case there is any heat damage. I'm not making a race car out of it, I already have one of those. I just want a reliable daily driver so OEM-ish parts are what I'm leaning towards. My question is should I stay with the factory style dual mass flywheel, or swap to a single mass from another car? Apparently Subaru uses the Lego system to build their cars, so other model flywheels will fit. I assume the clutches are different between the different flywheel types, so I have to have that figured out before I can order a clutch kit. Thanks to everyone for your help!