hatchsub Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Well yesterday i went for a fall cruise with the Uconn Car club. I was actually able to keep up most of the time with the old subaru but towards the end i started having a problem i never had before. I kept hitting 4th gear when i wanted 2nd and 3rd when i wanted 1st. I think my "spirited" shifts might have pushed something in the shifter linkage over the edge. When i put the tranny in 3 years ago i redid the bushings on linkage but did not touch the actual pivot bushing at the base of the shifter. I will go investigate it tomorrow when its not rainy and nasty outside. I do have a question however. I have often thought about getting rid of the bushings all together in the actual linkage and instead having roller bearings fitted to it all. Would this work? Im just trying to get rid of as much play as possible. And since this is the fwd 5 speed it doesnt have the common problem that the 4 speeds have as far as i kno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 replace the bushings first. that may be enough to make a huge differnce that you are looking for. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Well i already replaced some of them...just not the pivot bushing and cushion/seat. I see about doing that this week or tomorrow depending on if the dealership has the parts...which they wont probably. As for my idea..the reason im thinking of it at all is that even when new and i had just put the rubber bushings in the shifer..they still had play to them where i could move the shifter a little ways before actually moving the rod coming out of the transmission. Its a terrible design if you ask me and leaves a lot to be desired. If i could get this car set up the way i want it to be, it would have crisp shifts with none of this sloppy feel in and out of gear. My car isnt even nearly as bad as other EA cars that ive felt but it still annoys me. Ive driven newer cars and ive driven new subarus. They feel tight in and out of gear. Thats what im after. If i cant do it after everything i have planned then ill probably give up but i want to try at least first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 You may have to knock out the shift rod roll pin and thread the hole then replace the pin with a nut/bolt combo. This happens more to the 4 speed's but the 5's still have a similar roll pin setup - it's just not as prone to wearing out quickly like the 4's. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Hmm well ill be crawling under to find out exactly what is goin on with it today. Ill report back later on. What makes me think its not the roll pin is that this tranny only has 100k on it...but i suppose since its also 27 years old it could have loosened up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Well got under the car and found out what the problem was IMMEDIATELY. The joint nearest the transmission output (gearshift area/whatever its called) was missing a bushing entirely. That would def cause some problems shifting and i have no idea how it was lost. Anyways there is a bit of play in the other joint as well but that pivot bushing is nice and tight with zero play and smooth so im not bothering to fix it if it aint broken. Took me awhile to learn that lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Hey, I did one shifter with off the shelf bronze bushings from a hardware store. I drilled and hand filed some but works like a charm. I wanted a little tighter clearance on one set, but what I bought was drop in, no modification whatsoever. I left it, thought about using a tubular sleeve, but it was good enough. I like WOT power shifts and this mod "will" help you out in that situation. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 DOH! I wish i had seen that before i went and bought new bushings from subaru. Oh well. Out of a possible of 4 bushings on the front part of the trans (2 nylon and 2 rubber) i only had 1 1/2 rubber bushings left. And the one rubber bushing that was there was in half so it was more like 3 halfs of bushings lol. Anyways it will all be here on friday and i will have factory like shifts again. Oh and until then i wrapped the center spacer piece with a ton of duct tape lol. Works better than it did before at actually getting into gear. Only until friday will it be like that however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I used 1/4 bolts and fuel hose. Don't reuse the old bolts, It took a little WD-40 to shove the bolts into the hose but It shifts better than ever! We did the same trick on my buddy's impreza, but one was huge so I whittled down a spark plug boot to fit the large bushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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