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Loosey Goosey Noisey Shifter Problems


mjcee
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Hey everyone,

My soob sat at a park and ride for 6 days and when I got back in to drive away, a weird thing started happening.

 

A weird grinding/jingling noise is coming from the shifter, especially pronounced when I shift. The noise goes away when accelerating and comes back when decelerating. Seems like something is dragging at first. Then I realize that I can move the shifter up and down (vertically) about 2 inches like a VW, but not). Hmm... something definitely broke/came loose in the the shifter.

 

I did some searching on the forums and it sounds like it could be bushings or a spring (or both)?? I am going to pull off the console cover and shifter boot but I'm not really familiar make the parts underneath. Anybody have any suggestions on what the prob. might be and what to look for? Is there a reason this would have happened so suddenly?

 

It's an EA82T with a 5 speed manual trans.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited by mjcee
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  • 3 years later...

I have been reading about loose shifter most likely being result of worn bushings and to replace the whole set.  Is this a dealer item? I have not had any luck finding the shifter bushings aftermarket.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Yea call the dealer.  I rebuilt the shifter in my former coupe with all new bushings from Subaru and the GD shifter fix (bolt instead of roll pins) and it firmed it up a ton.  You could have also broken the rubber mount that attaches the shifter to the trans tunnel.  You wont know until you get under there and see.  Btw is this 2wd or 4wd?  The setup is slightly different between the two but generally speaking the same idea.  

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I got a chance to get under the car while I had someone that could move the shifter for me.  All of the bushing look tight and it seems all of the looseness is inside the transmission.  To verify this I grabbed the shaft coming out of the transmission with pliers and held it and there was no looseness in the shifter.  Could this be the rubber shifter mount in the transmission tunnel?  Any help would be appreciated this is my first Subaru so I am still learning how they work.  If this is not the shifter mount does anyone know what may be going on inside the tranny?

 

btw it is an 86 XT DL 5 speed 2wd.

 

Thanks,

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My bet is the rubber mount at the BACK of the shifter mechanism has come apart, allowing the shifter to rub on the driveline.  Especially pronoucned when the trans lifts at the back slightly like under decel or hard reversing.

 

The 2wds are also known for wallowing out the rollpin hole that holds the shifter "u-joint" yoke to the shaft.  Similar to the older 4spds.

 

Seach General Disorders thread on the 4-spd sloppy shifter fix.

Edited by Gloyale
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