I just had a phone conversation about the WRX deceleration noise (grinding when lifting off the throttle, it has been discussed extensively on the boards) with a service advisor at my dealer. The latest word is that Subaru is aware that this is a common problem, and is working on finding a solution. Until they get instructions from SOA on how to fix it, they told me to basically just deal with it. They say that it's not a safety issue, and that there was no need to worry that the defect would result in other parts getting damaged.

He didn't seem comfortable talking about possible causes, but he indicated that they managed to fix the noise on another car earlier, after many attempts. I mentioned the post of the guy (variac) saying:

What they ended up doing was replacing the clutch disc, pressure plate, flywheel and bolts. I just picked the car up today, and so far so good... no longer has the noise. The clutch parts they put in were somewhat redesigned, ..

He wasn't very clear in his response, but my understanding was that they also replaced the clutch disc, and possibly other parts. When I tried to pin him down on this being the likely cause, he said that they couldn't be sure that the noise wouldn't come back.

So my current guess is that we can hope for redesigned clutch parts that will solve the problem. I hope it won't take too long... The service advisor told me that he would be mentioning the issue to the local service rep each time he sees him.

thanks for the info, I just realize that I have this problem too when using 3rd gear braking downhill at rev about 3500rpm... I was playing with it a little bit since the road is long, it would gone if you put some gas, but if you totally let go of the gas, then the sound will just stay there until you are done going downhill...
I guess I don't have to take the trouble to go to my dealer then if they don't know how to fix it.

I have a similar sound and would like it to be taken care of, especially before I consider any serious mods. I thought it was the wastegate, but who knows? Could you give a bit more description, when does it happen and what does it sound like? Please keep us informed.

Kevin

thanks for the update man :)

My WRX has had it from day 1 and it still does. I can't wait till they have a recall on this to get it fixed once and for all. I guess we have to live with it until then or buy automatics!;)

have you folks seen the score marks on this other fellow's rear diff housing? his car seems to be making the same noises as mine, under the same conditions, but is a NA engined car. this is part of the problem as well...

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=104394&goto=newpost

this can't be good...

duckboy

Yea, mine sounds like that too. Not really grinding, but when I come off the accelerator and coast in gear, it doesn't sound as smooth as my jeep wrangler did. Just figured it was the nature of the beast.

-jb

My dealer said SOA told him it was a drivetrain alignment problem. Their "fix" was to pump up the front tires by 4 PSI and let out 4 PSI from the back. The noise went away and the drivetrain felt much smoother, but I didn't want to drive with an 8 PSI difference front/back so I didn't leave it that way.

what?! you gotta be kidding?!!!! the noise actually went away with that kind of tire pressure delta??? i can't see how altering the tire pressure would alter the suspension & drivetrain alignment. i could see how it affects the chassis attitude, but, not the drivetrain. in general, the car should NOT be driven with that kind of tire pressure difference. that can't be safe.

i guess this IS just the nature of the beast or there's too much compliance in the drivetrain supports that allow the driveshaft to deflect relative to the rear diff upon deceleration.

who knows. and i don't think the dealership techs have the know how to figure this one out...

does anyone have a contact email address for tech support for SOA?

duckboy

Don't get your panties in a bunch.

Running tire pressure discrepancies of 8-10 psi front/rear is not the end of the world. Actually, that may be about right to have the same transient volume in the tire.

Don't forget that the engine is over the front wheels, so to make the tires inflated to the same size, you'll need more air pressure in the front.

Try 42/38. Personally I think the RE92s feel best at 44f/40r but that's just me.


BTW most Bridgestones have a higher max pressure than the RE92s... all the other RE9xx series have a 44psi max pressure, and the RE92s feel best around there, so perhaps the 35psi max printed on the tire is from the same OEM school of thought as the low pressures in the Ford Explorer fiasco.

I can say without a doubt that RE92s perform and wear best at 42-44 psi. They're probably safe up to about 50psi, maybe more.


........don't believe the hype!

-Porter

deleted text.

duckboy

[edit] deleted

I'm going to have to agree with Porter on that one. Especially after this past weekend while running 40 psi all around on stock RE92's.........I definately wasn't sliding around like I was on glass.

Aspen_2.5RS

I personally think my noise is from turbulence from that flat plate on the downpipe, making the the wastegate chatter, but we'll see what they figure out.

Kevin

red rocket.

good point and sorry for taking up this thread space with this nonsense bickering.

the bulk of my noise seems to be coming from both the tranny area and the rear diff. again, the only reason why i'm concerned with the rear diff noise is because i saw the pic that was posted of the scored rear diff housing.

as stated by PORTER, this groaning sound could be attributed to the difference in rolling tire diameters (a function of tire air pressures). btw, point well taken PORTER.

one of the previous posted comments stated that the dealer said that the noise was "a drivetrain alignment problem". i took "alignment problem" as meaning cocked prop shaft or something to that nature. this is what threw me from understanding how/why the dealer felt adjusting the tire pressure to an 8 psi delta would help. now i understand what porter was referring to.

duckboy :)

Now that we are all back on the same page and our tire pressure is ok :p , lets keep this thread up (sticky please) and hope that SOA get's on top of this and gets it fixed. It can't be a good thing whatever it is.:alien:

Just to add fuel to this fire, BAD WRX (which was built in June, and which I got out of my life at 2,700 miles) had this noise problem in a big way from day one. My new WRX (built in August), at 400 miles, does not.

Either this time I got lucky, or Subaru has made a running change in the drivetrain components.

Mine started at 600 miles, so don't bet your farm that WRX v.2 won't have the problem! ;)

One interesting point that I think I mentioned in another thread: I had a British guy riding in my car recently. He owns a '94 WRX (imported from Japan), and I'm sure he knows plenty of people owning WRXes for much longer than it has been sold here. He said that he has never heard a noise like this one, and didn't remember anything like it being mentioned on scoobynet. This indicates that the problem is specific to the cars produced for the US.

I thought all impreza are all assembled in Japan... and ship to US as a whole, so how could there be differences to any other JDM drivetrain or components that doesn't match.... or is Subaru having degraded parts for US version?

when i asked Mike Shields about my rear diff noise, here's an explanation from his perspective. he mentioned i could post this for others to view. enjoy...

duckboy


"The diff noise in the Subaru is quite common, as it was in my Datsun 510, which used the same differential. The noise is going to be especially noticeable with the bushing kit installed. The noise is mostly due to drive train ringing (rapid acceleration and deceleration of the drive shafts on over run) due to the relatively low inertia of the main drive shaft and drive axles. Other AWD manufactures will use more massive drive shafts, rubber couplings and other devices to eliminate this issue. Subaru engineering has opted to keep the inertia of the drive train low, which is one of the many reasons I drive an Impreza. This noise is generated at the ring and pinion (s) due to a designed amount of back lash between the ring and pinion. Miss the setup a couple of thousands of an inch and it can growl. My diff has sounded like it is falling out of the car for the past 100,000 miles and it had already 50,000 on it when I installed it. The other 4.11 WRX diff I have has 17,000 miles on it and I took it out because it was even noisier! I am sort of resolved to go into that diff to set it up a bit tighter in the hope it will get quieter."

"This brings up the second issue, which is the tolerance of the ring and pinion setup, which should never be too tight, rather a certain pattern is desired. This means there is a specific amount of free play between the ring and the pinion, a known backlash specification. I understand that there have been replacement differentials installed with an existing repair/exchange program by Subaru of America for those few units that are excessively noisy. For the most part, even though the unit is noisy it will run its normal life. Subaru just takes these units in and goes through the shim set up on the side bearings of the ring gear and the fore/aft placement of the pinion and then puts them on the shelf for exchange with dealers that have found unusually noisy units. There are also a pair of mass damper hockey puck type units that have been bolted to the "T" rear diff cross member (the forward one) towards the outer ends on the 98-01 RS and standard cars, that I have noticed is missing from the WRX. This was used as an attempt to dampen the noise from the diff as well. Many cars have used these types of mass damper for exhaust and sub frame noise and vibration damping over time."

"Since we are not the engineers, I have only speculated about this condition from my general knowledge of these differentials, having used them in my Datsun 510 and now my 93 Impreza for over 400,000 total miles. They will make noise a bit, especially if the STI hard bushing kit used, some units make a lot of noise and should be evaluated by the dealer if excessive."

Fine, except the noise in my car is coming from the FRONT ring and pinion (or gearbox, hard to tell).

So, my NEW WRX (ahem) also has this noise, at 16 miles.

What does that tell you?

My RS did not have this noise.

One final thought: it might be the 1.1:1 reduction gear at the back of the box, overdrive gears like that sometimes make a noise.

Glenn

my car makes the same damn noise, well imnot sure if its the same but it makes this unhealthy noise when i take my foot off the gas at low gears. i think subaru might have a problem with their gearbox because i also hear about a weak first gear.

dennis

So has anyone had this noise fixed yet under warranty? I know that I am not about to accept this as "normal". It may not be hurting the car any but it sure is hurting my ears!:lol: I am dealing with Renick Subaru and they are willing to do whatever it takes to fix the problem but they just can't pin it down as to what it is.:(

Guys try this I was playing with my engine this weekend on some cool roads. When you get the noice push up on your gear stick. I have a feeling the actual problem maybe a linkage noice rather than anything else. Which is a si of relife from me.

if that was what the problem is! Someone else try this and see if it works, I can't right now, the REX is in the shop:( , and post up the results.:D

i read that the noise some cars are getting are caused by vibrating turbo heat shields on hard deceleration,(high rpm)
and can be fixed by removing the heat sheilds.
i had it as well, and is most noticable in 3rd gear decelration.
My .02

I had that noise too. The car was scheduled to go in on Monday. The noise just suddenly disappeared the previous Friday. There one drive, gone the next...

Now the service guy thinks I was imagining things :(

I get that noise too - but usually only when the car has warmed up and been driven for say more than a half hour from cold. When it's cold I can't get it to make that sound. It really sounds like a heat shield - I'm tempted to remove it just to find out.

:D

Wanna keep this current cuz my car is making the same noise (from the front). But i don't want to take it to my stupid dealer until I have an idea of what it is.

-DAN

Any word yet from SOA on the official cause of this noise yet? My dealership is about ready to pull the tranny out of my WRX but I would like to see if anything else has been done yet before doing this.

Have the same rattling noise from the front. It does sound like a heat shield, but I haven't found out which.

Hopefully someone will find out soon and let us know here on I-club. I'm sure SOA will hold off on doing a recall since it isn't a big problem, and no one seems to know exactly what is causing it. At least it seems like many of us have the same problem. If that is a good thing :rolleyes:

-anders

I've got the noise as well. Seems definitely to be tranny related as I can apply a tiny bit of throttle and the noise stops. Mine is worse (or I can hear it best) in 3rd gear decelerating from 3500rpm to 2000rpm.

Sigh, off to the dealer...

WRacerX

It is so obvious that we are all having the same problem, the exact same symptoms, and yet no one seems to know what it is? My car has been in to the dealer a few times now for this........ they don't know what it is. Nothing from SOA. Its almost as though we are all just imagining the same fricking thing.:rolleyes:

and can be fixed by removing the heat sheilds.

I don't like this fix! It may be fine if you plan on trading your car in within the next 3 years or so, but over time the heat from the turbo degrades hoses, wiring, etc. I witnessed the damage this heat can cause in my Saab turbo.
The deceleration noise I am getting also sounds like it is from the front of the car...

I have the same problem in my car. I live in Sweden so it is not a US car problem only. My car has done 5000km since new.

It sounds most when decelerating in 3:rd and rev drops to about 3000rpm, but the noise is there in 2:nd and 4:th too. It must be up to temperature first, and it's not enough to have the water temp up, it takes half an hour. When I do "active" driving on twisty roads with lots of acceleration/deceleration in 3:rd and 4:th gear, thats when the noise peaks. It definetily comes from the gearbox or the clutch.

I took it to the local Subaru garage, and they took a ride in it. They have written a "trouble report" to the importer and are awaiting a response from them. I'm not the only one here with the problem.

Apart from this, I really love this car! :D :D

/Mikael

My heat shield was off for a couple days, as well as a new exhaust on (so no heat shields on the exhaust either). The tranny still sounded horrible on deceleration. It does have it's sweet spots where it sounds like a normal car though. Don't think it's the shields, but thats not to say there isn't something else resonating.

-jb

Well I'll be damned if the noise isn't gone!

Yesterday I changed to winter wheels, 205/50 16in, with studless Nokia tires. Summer set is 215/45 17in with Bridgestone Potenza. And now the noise is gone! I can still hear it when releasing the throttle but it sounds just a fraction of a second and nothing to worry about. Before it was there all the way down when coasting down in 3:rd from 3500 to 2000 rpm.

The winter wheels has slightly smaller rolling diameter, but not much. Can it be some transmission alignment/geometry that causes the noise?

/Mikael (confused)

Wow! I cannot beleive I never saw this thread.

Anyways, I have this problem also. I also have hard engine/tranny mounts, no heatsheilds, aftermarket exhaust and aftermarket clutch and flywheel.

The more mods I added, the more obvious the noise became. It happens in all gears on decel only at around 3400-3000RPM.

I think that that RPM spot is where the engine is very shaky. I say that because at some point I had my exhaust hitting the underframe during decel only and yes, only at that sweet RPM spot.

If it was the tranny, it would make this noise at all RPM's, I think. I think its a simple rattle. Now I am just trying to figure out what it is.

-Alex

I was hoping replacing some of those parts would effect it!

Kevin

I'm just glad that mine isn't the only one. I hope a fix comes soon though.
Brian

Wow! I cannot beleive I never saw this thread. LOL!

Just got the noise for the first time today at the end of a very "spirited" drive of about 100+ miles - I let off the gas on a straight road and heard the strangest noise coming from the tranny. If I took my car out of gear the noise went away, back into 5th and let off the gas and it's back again.

Thought I broke something the way I was driving it hah

Yup i have the same noise , happens when car is in gear, foot off throtle, and rpm is coming down from 3500-2800?

Hi guys, this is my first post to this forum. I just got my '02 WRX on Fri. and love it! It has been my dream car for several years now. Anyways, to the point. I haven't really had the chance to see if my car has the problem yet, although it only has 430 miles on it. It was manufactured in Sept, so if Subaru made any running changes after June I shouldn't have the problem. Why I'm posting this though is because I have another slight rattle/noise when I engage the clutch from a dead stop, or even when I'm moving. It is more noticeable when stopped, although I must admit, I am kind of worried. Any help, or words of encouragement would be nice.

P.S.- My second Sube in 3 years, other was a 2.5RS

thanks guys (and gals)

Check this link:

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113999

Good info. I'm gonna try the tire pressure trick this weekend.

w.

PS: haven't made it back to the dealer yet...

That tire pressure "solution" came up before, and I just don't buy it. Even if it helps, I think it's just fighting the symptoms. Kind of like taking pain killers when you broke your leg. Sure, it's gonna hurt less, but your leg is still broken.

I was running the recommended tire pressure (32/29) initially, and the noise suddenly popped up after normally taking off at a stop light, with 600 miles on the car. I don't assume that my tire pressure changed instantly...

I raised the pressure to 35/32 last time I checked my air to keep the tires from rolling over too much. The noise hasn't been that bad recently, but it might just be because I haven't been driving long distances much. As others pointed out, it gets much worse once the car is driven for a while.

Time to call the dealer again sometime, and see if they have any news. It's discouraging that Alex still has the noise with all his mods, two guys had reported that it went away after changing the clutch.

My car actually makes two different noises on deceleration. One is a "tinny," higher noise that sounds like a vibration. The service tech said that was the heat shields vibrating. Although annoying, it doesn't worry me very much.

The other noise, though, worries me some. It is a lower noise, and sounds like a grinding sound. I get that noise in 3rd gear, when I take my foot off the gas pedal and the RPMs get to around 3000. The service tech said that the lower, grinding noise was also normal, and somehow related to the turbo winding down. But it is not the normal turbo-winding-down noise that you always hear. I know what that sounds like, and this noise is different. Besides, if it were just the turbo winding down, wouldn't all WRX's have it, and wouldn't it be present no matter what gear you're in?

And if it were the turbo, why does my car makes hate noise. It's kinda discouraging that these dealers seem to be blowing off the noise. And i don't think it's just the heat sheild either (at least, not on my car), I know what a heat sheild rattle sounds like and this ain't it. Hope this gets resolved.

-DAN

Wish a fix would come before I run out of my warranty! I have only had my WRX since June and have 12,000 miles!!!

get this. i had the decel noise coming from the tranny area when the car was in 3rd or 4th. i just had the STi Type RA clutch installed yesterday and guess what... no more noises. the rear diff still makes a teeny bit of a noise but the tranny does NOT make the decel noise anymore. it is gone. why? i don't know.

the day before the clutch install, i had converted the engine, tranny and rear diff to synthetic fluids. the cars shifts better but it did not eliminate or reduce the noises coming from the drivetrain.

the car is now quiet.

btw, at the moment, i only have 7k mi on the car.

duckboy

I too am experiencing the "Noise" and it sounds very much like a problem I had on a Nissan 4 x 4.

Upon hard deceleration there was a loud buzz emanating from the transmission area. Repeated trips to the dealer finally resulted in a complete transmission change under warranty.

Well, guess what, the noise was still there. The dealer said he had done everything he could do and arranged for the Manufacturing Representative to meet me.

The Manufacturing Rep. took only a few minutes to diagnose the "Problem" as normal to the transmission of the Nissan 4 x 4, he convinced me when we went for a ride in a brand new vehicle and it made the exact same noise.

I ended up keeping the Nissan for 3 years then trading it in on a Toyota 4 x 4, which BTW made no transmission noises.

My opinion is this noise is not a serious problem but it certainly is annoying, unfortunately I don't think there is going to be a fix for it.

yeah, the nissan pathfinder 4x4 that i had several years back did the same thing too. the dealer said it was normal. i too sold the truck and got a civic. yes, i don't think there's going to be a fix for this...

duckboy

I have 1000 miles on my WRX. I also have the sounds on the over run. It sounds like the gears making noise, but I may be wrong.

My guess is that it would be the gears making noise ont he over-run, since it only happens when the ears are loaded on one face and not the other. (I may be wrong...).

If pushing on the gear lever stops it, it means that putting addional oad on the gears is making a difference.

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116720

mspt is a dealer on Long Island-Metric Motors. The clutch change could be the answer.

Barry

I have the same noise.

My WRX bought in august has had this same noise on deceleration since day 1. I have been to 2 different dealerships to try to have it solved. The first dealer replaced the heat shield around the turbo. No change.
Here are the characteristics of my noise problem:
1) the car must be hot - the likelihood of hearing the noise is much greater if you have been driving quickly with the turbo heavily exercised.

2) the onset/offset of the noise is quite rapid and follows the use of the throttle from pulling (throttle on) to coasting (throttle off)

3) the noise is RPM dependent and occurs must robustly between 3000-3500 and 2000-2500

I have been to a second dealership 3 times to have the noise examined. They are aware of the problem and have been talking to subaru technical support to try and solve the difficulty. The last time the car was in they took "readings" (??) from the car.

The mechanics have mentioned several possible sources of the noise:
- heat shields (unlikely as mine have been replaced)

- catalytic converter preturbo

Apparently the dealership called last week while i was out of town to say they had a likely fix and wanted to see the car again.

I will post again to let everyone know how this works out.

The fact is that we all bought a performance-oriented car that should not sound as though it is breaking when driven hard. I don't know about the rest of you but i get really annoyed by this noise. It detracts from my enjoyment of the car. If they can't fix it i plan to attempt return the car. This is likely not to work, but it may get our common difficulty noticed.

Tim

So Gentlemen,
Fact 1:
Not all wrxs have the noise.

Fact 2:
Subaru does not know what is making the terrible grinding noise in some WRXs.

Here is a question for all of us. If they don't know what it is, HOW CAN SUBARU ASSURE US THAT THIS IS NOT a safty, performance, or longevity issue?

THE FACT IS THAT OUR CARS HAVE AN UNKNOWN PROBLEM!!!

Each of us deserves to have this problem resolved quickly and without undo hassle. How many of us have spent what should have been an enjoyable drive down a twisty road wondering about this damned intrusive and disturbing noise.

I plan to take the information from this site to my dealer here in portland.... perhaps this will help them resolve my problem.

Tim

I was having the noise problem. Seeing the postings about tire pressure, this morning, I raised mine (WRX sedan) to 36F & 33R. The noise is almost all gone.

My guess is that the tires create a sympathetic vibration somewhere when they are on the over run. These kinds of problems are common in machinery and are usually designed out by changing a fastener or the design of a part.

I wonder if it is the RE92's?

for those who changed their rims and tire....is this happening to u? or is the noise gone?

I followed the advice of increasing the front tire pressure. I went to 35 front, 32 rear cold pressure. I was skeptical that it would do anything. To my surpirse, the deceleration noise is gone. Amazing. I have to believe that the tire diameter center diff argument may be correct. Now I need to head up in the mtns and find out how this pressure balance efects the handling.

Superg

The FACT is everybody has the noise, some just don't notice the noise. I have a 17" after market wheels and I still have the problem. I haven't change the tire pressure however. I still don't think changing the tire pressure is a permanent solution.

Originally posted by Hanzo
The FACT is everybody has the noise, some just don't notice the notice. I have a 17" after market wheels and I still have the problem. I haven't change the tire pressure however. I still don't think changing the tire pressure is a permanent solution.

Don't be so sure about that. Virbration is a weird thing. (Although I am not a practicing physicist, I do have a degree in physics).

Many years ago, I worked for an aricraft company that was developing a high-wing STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) aircraft. There was an external strut from the fusalage to the wing forming a triangulated structure.

Part of the testing routine was terminal speed dive tests. At 176 MPH the aircaft was fine. At 178 the struts vibrated and collapsed and the plane crased killing three people. One managed to bail out.

Inidvidual aircraft can also vary. I knew of a Mirage that was delivered that had so much flutter that the plane was dissasembled and used for parts. The French were not consistent with the production of aircraft. Placement of bulkeads could vary signifigantly from plane to plane.

My WRX Wagon with production date 6/01 has the noise and has had it almost since new (61 miles on the clock when purchased).

First off, for those of you who have had success with changing tire pressure, is it your opinion it is the spread in pressure (3 psi) or the actual pressures (35/32 psi) that is solving the problem. I'm going to try that out. I think that 's an easy test for all of us to see if it works. Maybe we could get a thread going to post the results? I think it would be helpful.

Whatever the cause, I still feel that the noise is completely unacceptable in a brand new car. One other question in relation to your clutches:

How much pedal travel from the floor does it take before your clutch completely engages? Mine seems very high compared to some of the other cars I drove. I'm wondering if clutch wear has anything to do with our problem.

Thanks all.

Originally posted by ChrisF
My WRX Wagon with production date 6/01 has the noise and has had it almost since new (61 miles on the clock when purchased).

First off, for those of you who have had success with changing tire pressure, is it your opinion it is the spread in pressure (3 psi) or the actual pressures (35/32 psi) that is solving the problem. I'm going to try that out. I think that 's an easy test for all of us to see if it works. Maybe we could get a thread going to post the results? I think it would be helpful.

Whatever the cause, I still feel that the noise is completely unacceptable in a brand new car. One other question in relation to your clutches:

How much pedal travel from the floor does it take before your clutch completely engages? Mine seems very high compared to some of the other cars I drove. I'm wondering if clutch wear has anything to do with our problem.

Thanks all.

Chris:

I raised the tire pressures the same front and back. It probably isn't the difference in pressure.

I went to 36/33.

Maybe subaru can check and see if it is the wretched Re-92's that cause the problem (not that other tires won't). and, maybe they will replace them with decent rubber (Toy proxes TS1 would make me REAL happy. Boy did I love them on the RX-7).

I've been watching this thread for a while and I have found success with the tire pressure trick but don't think it's the answer (@38 front / 35 rear) ,car handles well. I think Subaru KNOWS something is not right with the new gen gear box / chassis alignment and I hope they fess-up soon because it ain't cool. As for the clutch I belive this is a key component to the problem, possibly this is related to the clutch "shudder" issue as well?

But I also have a intermitent clutch weirdness that I haven't seen posted: Sometimes when stopped in nuetral I press my clutch in and as soon as I shift to ANY gear I hear this noise that seems to be a metal piece grinding against either the clutch disc assembly or the flywheel (whichever spins when the clutch is depressed) and it accelarates in frequency if I rev the engine? I know this is a problem with the clutch assembly because if I lift the pedal it goes away, push it back down it comes back? NOT RIGHT!! The thing is the car drives fine and when I come to my next stop and I check for the sound it doesn't happen any more, only sometimes and it is not dependant on temperature either. So I am at a loss as for demonstrating this "Phenomenon" to my dealers service dept.

Anyone have any idea what this may be????

Hi everyone,

I was hoping that my first posts to the i-club would involve the various mods I have planned for the car, but unfortunately it is about clutch shudder, decel grind, and radiator leakage / replacement (in another thread). I love the darn car but I feel that I should report these problems to both SoA and this club. The car just absolutely rips, but has a few probs as well. -Bill

just wanted to add my name to list. i have experienced the desribed noise several times in 3rd and 4th gear while decelerating. i'm not too worried at this point and i'm going to see what happens after the car is broken in fully.

I'll throw my voice in here for the count and state that I too have the rattling problem upon deceleration, and as stated, only after the car has been driven a bit. Whatever it is, I do not know, but it does sound like a thin piece of metal rattling rapidly.

Bitor1:

If you have a noise when you push the clutch in, it is probably a throwout bearing. That is simple and cheap to replace. Well, not real cheap becuase it is about the same labor as replacing a clutch.

What is expensive is when you have the noise when the clutch pedal is out and have it go away when it is depressed. That happened to my Twin Turbo RX-7 - it was a bad bearing in the transmission itself.

That the sound on the over-run goes away with a change in tire pressure does not automatically ikndicate that the transmission-drive line assemblies have an alinment problem. It can be nothing more than a sympathetic vibration or a beat frequency.

Jan

All WRX's have this problem. Nothing we can do only take it up the tail pipe.

My RS has had the same noise for as long as I can remember, if it helps the dealer said it was normal even though I hate that noise.

scootr

ScoutWRX,

If you are worried about your warranty, it might help to have the problem on file with your dealer as unresolved. I'm not sure how Subaru deals with this, but I have had other cars where a continuing problem was fixed out of warrenty becuase I had them check it out under warranty. It might help? Get it in writing.

Any way, I think we should all make our dealers aware of this problem every time we visit them. Be polite, but firm - "there is this noise, and I do not accept it as normal or as the heat shield..." Subaru will certainly feel a need to deal with it if we make our case over and over.

FYI, my noise seems to be getting worse. I have 10k on my WRX 5 spd wagon.

Originally posted by superspd8
Bitor1:

What is expensive is when you have the noise when the clutch pedal is out and have it go away when it is depressed. That happened to my Twin Turbo RX-7 - it was a bad bearing in the transmission itself.


that IS the problem. It is the drivetrain. It only makes the noise when the transmission is engaged during deacceration. It sounds like grinding/rubbing gears. Mine has been like that from day one. I know something is going to give at one point. I don't deaccelerate with the motor to hopefully lengthen the time before it goes out. :eek:

-C

Just a little more information that may help understand what is happening.

I had a 98 Outback with a 5-spd that had a rattling noise when under light load or decellerating in 2nd and 3rd gear. I found that by holding the gearshift lever that the noise would be reduced and also I could feel a vibration in the lever that appearedto be the same frequency as the noise. I complained to the dealer and was told that the shifter bushings on some Outbacks were soft and they were replacing them. They checked and found that mine had already been replaced under warrantee for the previous owner. The dealer then apparently just tightened some bolts on mine and told me to see how it was.
After a few weeks, the noise came back and then the dealer replaced the bushings. The noise did not come back while I had the car, but, the vibration was still there and I expected that there was something (bearing, gear?) wrong with the transmission.
Hearing about the tire pressure suggestions now makes me thing that there may be some differential loading on the gears depending on the ratio of front to rear tire speed.
Anyone with upgraded shifter/bushings having this problem?

Originally posted by TypeC


that IS the problem. It is the drivetrain. It only makes the noise when the transmission is engaged during deacceration. It sounds like grinding/rubbing gears. Mine has been like that from day one. I know something is going to give at one point. I don't deaccelerate with the motor to hopefully lengthen the time before it goes out. :eek:

-C

Bitor1:

The noise that I am describing occurred witht he car in neutral stopped. If the tranmission shafts were rotating (clutch engaged), it made the noise. If I depressed the clutch, it made no noise.

The noise on the Subaru is not the same. I thought it was mechanical. I read where one dealer had told the forum member to drop the rear pressure to 29 and raise the front to 37 (or something like that). I just raised mine to 36/33. The noise is virtually gone.

I am going to put Toyo Proxes T1s on my car in the next week. I will let everyone know if that makes a difference.

Jan

The noise I was describing seems to point toward a throw out bearing going bad (@8500miles?????) anyways the noise is there when I depress the pedal to it's extreme position (pedal all the way to the floor) And the grinding accelarates with the engine speed. Release the pedal and it's gone. I do not have this noise when the tranny is engaged in neutral so I don't think it's a gearbox bearing.

Not to confuse anyone but the other noise I have is what everyone else has been descibing : off throttle deceleration rattle. And this is what this post is trying to address. And just to point out, I have the kartboy hardened shifter bushings installed and this problem was there before I installed them so I don't think they make a difference. However I have read posts that indicate redesigned clutch parts may be the correct fix. SUBARU if your listening we all love our cars but what's the deal with the tranny problems?

Thanks for everyone's input....WE DESERVE A FIX FROM SOA


P.S. does anyone think it's rather peculiar that Subaru service techs have no idea of what we are taking about when we describe our problems? Unfortunately I think they know how to fix it but have there hands tied:(

Originally posted by Bitor1
The noise I was describing seems to point toward a throw out bearing going bad (@8500miles?????) anyways the noise is there when I depress the pedal to it's extreme position (pedal all the way to the floor) And the grinding accelarates with the engine speed. Release the pedal and it's gone. I do not have this noise when the tranny is engaged in neutral so I don't think it's a gearbox bearing.

Not to confuse anyone but the other noise I have is what everyone else has been descibing : off throttle deceleration rattle. And this is what this post is trying to address. And just to point out, I have the kartboy hardened shifter bushings installed and this problem was there before I installed them so I don't think they make a difference. However I have read posts that indicate redesigned clutch parts may be the correct fix. SUBARU if your listening we all love our cars but what's the deal with the tranny problems?

Thanks for everyone's input....WE DESERVE A FIX FROM SOA


P.S. does anyone think it's rather peculiar that Subaru service techs have no idea of what we are taking about when we describe our problems? Unfortunately I think they know how to fix it but have there hands tied:(

Bitor:

Go to the dealer and have them diagnose the problem. If they won;t, ask for a factory rep. You cna always call Subaru.

Jan

Just as an FYI:

I took my car in for the first time this AM and told the service advisor (who was pretty clueless) about the 3rd gear grinding noise. He said that he was AWARE of it, but that it was not a PROBLEM. I hope this is not the attitude SoA is taking with our cars. I also told him, whatever the case, that type of noise is not acceptable coming from a new car with a tick over 1000 miles.

He told me that they would look it at but not to expect it to be fixed. I have a feeling I'll be on the phone to SoA customer service tomorrow morning. If the dealers don't take this seriously, I'm going to take it up the corporate flagpole and see what happens. I think as a group, we need to really push hard on this at the dealer and corporate levels if we're going to get them to address this.

Can someone please describe the noise exactly?
I have not heard anything under these conditions, but being a little paranoid, maybe I don't know what to listen for.

There are two different noises that this thread seems to address. I have them both. Both noises occur when you take your foot off the gas pedal and the car is decelerating and the rpm's are around 3000. One is a higher, "tinny" noise that sounds like a thin metal vibrating; I get this noise most prominently in 2nd gear. The other is a lower, more gutteral noise that sounds like something grinding; I get this noise most prominently in 3rd gear.

<kinda stupid point>I would like to add that I have only been able to detect the noise when the windows are all up and no radio blaring.</kinda stupid point> :o

I'm still not at a point to where i can easily replicate the noise, so i'm not going to show up at the dealership or get too upset about it for now. I will mention this to the service dept at Mastro Subaru next time my girl is in for service.

I too have the lift off, engine braking deceleration death rattle(as well as my 2 friend's WRXs). Which SOA, if you are listening, is the one true thing that annoys me enough about this car to actually want to get rid of it and buy an Evo in a year or two as much as that pains me to say. I have the STI short throw shifter which in the last thousand miles or so, (have ~11,000 now) has developed an irritating rattle/vibration from the drivetrain resonance at 3900-4000rpms. I complained to the dealership about this noise. When I got it back the vibration was muted but still there and at present is back to it's full rattle again. I think I am going to try and put some foam around the shaft of the shifter some where and try to fix this. I shouldn't have to however. Anyone else with the STS have this 3900 rpm rattle?

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have the same deccel in 3rd (2nd & 4th sometimes) gear grinding noise in my 00RS.

I took it to the dealer, they could not duplicate it but still wanted to help me. So they gave me a free 100,000 mile warranty on the drivetrain. That's pretty good service from a dealer, I think.
Although they didn't fix the problem, at least the gave me assurance that if anything breaks, it has been noted and will be taken care of under warranty.

Personally, I think it is a problem with poor design resulting in frequencies coming close to each other and resonating. When deccelerating through a certain rpm, the frequency of the rotating components matches up with the natural frequency of something in the trans and causes a huge resonance, which explains why the noise comes in stronger at certain rpms. It could be the rear diff that's going into resonance too.......I'm not sure. Thats why we have those two little tuned dampers mounted on the diff crossmember.

Does anyone have any updates or new solid facts on this issue? Does EVERYONE have this noise or just some people, I'm not very clear on this yet.

I'm calling my service department on Tuesday to have the issue looked at ASAP. I have a kartboy shifter on it's way and I don't want them giving me the shove saying it's the shifter kit causing the noise when I install it.

I did a little testing this week and I think I can easily replicate the noise now and I'm going to list off some observations:

I noticed the noise from day 1 and now my car has around 1600 miles on it. I can easily detect/replicate the noise in 3rd gear esp right between 4000RPM and 3000RPM decelerating with the engine with no brakes being applied. I could almost swear I have noticed it 4th gear once or twice before I was paying attention to the issue but I won't swear on it yet. I would describe the noise as a something like a metalic fluttering grinding rattling noise. If I had to visiualize the noise I would say it's like a flap/chunk of smaller metal fluttering or bouncing against teeth in a gear at a high speed. Please do take my desription with a grain of salt as I'm just trying to describe the noise best I can.

I even tried convincing myself it's a normal noise, but everytime I hear it I say to myself there is no way this a normal or in any way a good Subaru noise.

I'm going to try to rig up some audio capture this week to post the audio of the noise, but I'm not sure if that will work out well using the equipment I have available. (Sony DVCam).

Please keep us posted if you have any updates!

Hello fellow WRX owners with the decelleration noise.

My WRX used to have the same noise as yours.

Subaru of america knows about the noise and has a fix for it.

After several trips to the dealer subaru replaced my clutch and throwout bearing assembly. Now, no noise!

Just take your WRX to the dealer, try to replicate the noise for them. Don't be shy, just make the poor sap ride around with you until you can make a great, loud, and readily noticable example of the noise. (if your noise was like mine it varied from annoying background rattling to shrill, resonant, oh my god its breaking, in intensity)

If you still have trouble with the dealer i can mail you copies of my repair under warranty. They contain a great record of the diagnoistic process and the clutch replacement under warranty.

Let me know
Tim

This sounds good, but could you post some more details? :)

Was there something actually wrong visibly or not with the parts they replaced? Why did the dealership/soa decide this was the problem? Did the dealership replace them with the same parts or with a part with some type of fix?

How long has it been since this repair has been done? Has your tire pressure been adjusted to some of suggestions posted here(more pressure in the front, i think.)?

Thanks for all the info!

Originally posted by Bailey
Hello fellow WRX owners with the decelleration noise.

My WRX used to have the same noise as yours.

Subaru of america knows about the noise and has a fix for it.

After several trips to the dealer subaru replaced my clutch and throwout bearing assembly. Now, no noise!

Just take your WRX to the dealer, try to replicate the noise for them. Don't be shy, just make the poor sap ride around with you until you can make a great, loud, and readily noticable example of the noise. (if your noise was like mine it varied from annoying background rattling to shrill, resonant, oh my god its breaking, in intensity)

If you still have trouble with the dealer i can mail you copies of my repair under warranty. They contain a great record of the diagnoistic process and the clutch replacement under warranty.

Let me know
Tim

I took my WRX to Mastro Subaru of Tampa today and brought a service rep for a ride along to demonstrate the decel noise. Mastro is claiming that they have seen this issue before in a couple other instances and both were related to a clutch replacement in one way or another and they went on further to say that the problem is with the clutch springs. The service rep also suggested *against* the tire inflation trick mentioned in this tread previously as that could cause other problems with the rear diff.

I was told that I will be contacted in the next week or two while they check with some folks, but it sounded like they will replacing the clutch. I already feel better knowing it's not too serious, but I really don't know how I feel about them replacing my clutch at 1600 miles unless I can be assured it will solve the problem. :confused:

I will keep you guys posted, thanks for all the help so far. :)

Originally posted by lstepnio
This sounds good, but could you post some more details? :)

Was there something actually wrong visibly or not with the parts they replaced? Why did the dealership/soa decide this was the problem? Did the dealership replace them with the same parts or with a part with some type of fix?

How long has it been since this repair has been done? Has your tire pressure been adjusted to some of suggestions posted here(more pressure in the front, i think.)?

Thanks for all the info!



As part of the diagnostic process the dealer drove the car and changed/adjusted the tire pressure. I have no idea why. Apparently this was part of the diagnostic process that subaru technical service recommended.

When the car was returned to me (about a week ago) the tires were a bit nonuniform and low on pressure.

I have since returned the tires to recommended pressure (30 something front and rear).

The car is now silent!!!

The dealer said that the pressure plate has been redesigned in the clutch assembly. I never saw the original clutch. My understanding is that it was a design flaw. My car made the noise from day one. In other words, the decel noise was not caused by wear on the clutch.

Tim

Bailey -

Could you please, please, please try to scan those documents so someone could post them here? If not, I could really use a copy. kevinc313@yahoo.com

I've had the sound since day one, and posted on this thread earlier. I've brought it to my local dealer and couldn't make the sound, and talked to a couple others about it.

As far as tire pressures go, I just recently tried a tire pressure of 36/31, went on a long drive - that got rid of the sound for the most part. I thought the ride was too soft so I upped it 42/36.5, still no noise. I was running 40/36 and it would crop up occasionally. The first 1000 or so miles I had the car, I was running 40 psi all around and the sound was real bad.

I think I'm going to put my stock exhaust back on, adjust my pressure to 40, and go bother my dealer......yippee!

Thanks,

Kevin

hey guys set the tire pressures at 30 psi-take out 4lbs in the front and put 4 lbs in the rear-if the noise gets worse it is the clutch.the springs vibrate in the clutch disk-i was told there is a updated clutch for this noise-since both differentals have a different gear ratio the disk is vibrating on decel causing the noise-this is the info i got-i have yet to try it my customer is coming in this week,i will let you know
dave
mspt

this is just a test with the tire pressures to see if the noise increases on deceleration-if it does it needs the updated clutch there are new part numbers,they have not given them to me yet
dave
mspt

As a side note here are all the 2002 Subaru Impreza Technical Service Bulletins reported to date according to alldata.com (http://alldata.com/TSB/0255_mo.html)


TSB Number Issue Date TSB Title
16-63-99R AUG 00 A/T - 4EAT Remanufactured Transaxle Available
01-151-00 JUL 00 Warranty - Mandatory Replacement Fluids
11-61-00 JUN 00 State Emissions Test - Fuel Filler Cap Test Procedure


I also have the decel noise described. I have delrin shifter bushings installed with my short shifter, not sure if that would have an effect on how loud the noise is though.

As another side note I currently have the Apex Springs installed, going to be reverting to stock for winter soon, maybe that will make a change if it's drivetrain angle related.

Current Tire Pressures, which were set by the dealership at last service when tires were rotated.
Driver F: 31
Driver R: 31
Pass F: 30
Pass R: 29

Going to play with the pressures tonite/tommorow and see if there is any difference.

BUMP!

Do you think having a short shifter (stock bushings) will cause dealers not to cover the clutch work under warrenty?

It should not. I imagine that some dealers will try to say that it caused it but it can't. What a short shifter does is to change the angle that the linkage attaches to the shifter lever. The higher the linkage goes the shorter the shift. However that shouldn't have anything to do with how the linkage works with the tranny. It's kinda like if you lift up the back of your car off the ground with the front wheels blocked. The contact patch on the front tires is still the same piece of tread that was touching the ground when all four wheels were on the ground. What changed was the axle assembly in the front wheels rotated.

So in short there will probably be some dealers that might try to "shaft" :lol: (pun intended) you and say that it is the levers fault. That's why mine is coming out before I visit my dealer, just to be sure. My dealer isn't that bad, but I wouldn't put it past the desk jockey (jerk) that they have working there to try to blame it on me or my short shifter.

The Decemebr 10, 01 issue of Autoweek (page 18) mentions a noise on their long-term test WRX.

can someone scan that and post the article?

Originally posted by superspd8
The Decemebr 10, 01 issue of Autoweek (page 18) mentions a noise on their long-term test WRX.

I usually have the radio on, but since I read this thread, I tried to listen for this noise, and I also have it in 3rd and 4th gears during decel around 3000 rpm. I took it to the dealer because I had intermittant CEL this week. I also had the tech test drive for this sound. They heard the sound but said that Subaru of America has sent them a service update and in it they say this is "normal."

So the service director refused to do anything with it. By the way, this is @ Assael Subaru in Monrovia, CA. They also pulled the same CEL code and couldn't figure out why it may have come on. I told the service director about problems reported on i-club.com and how a few people have gotten their clutches replaced which cured the problem. He said "I don't care about the internet, I follow what Subaru sends us. I can't very well condemn a clutch with only 1500 mi on the car." What an assinine attitude. I will be taking the car to a different dealer to have it looked at.

I am new to the list and Subaru.

Please, what is a "CEL" code?

Jan

"Check Engine Light"; the dealer has to pull the code to determine the cause of the CEL.

Originally posted by superspd8
I am new to the list and Subaru.

Please, what is a "CEL" code?

Jan

Well, after 2 weeks of driving around with 35psi in the fronts and 31psi in the rears, I can say that the the tire pressure trick definitely works for me. The deceleration noise is almost completely gone. I only hear it in 2nd gear with the radio off. Otherwise, no noise at all.

cheers,
WRacerX

Originally posted by WRacerX
Well, after 2 weeks of driving around with 35psi in the fronts and 31psi in the rears, I can say that the the tire pressure trick definitely works for me. The deceleration noise is almost completely gone. I only hear it in 2nd gear with the radio off. Otherwise, no noise at all.

cheers,
WRacerX

Are you still running the RE-92 tires?

Originally posted by superspd8


Are you still running the RE-92 tires?


Yep, stock wheels, stock tires. About 10K miles.

Originally posted by WRacerX



Yep, stock wheels, stock tires. About 10K miles.

I just put on Toyo Proxes (225-50/16). They transform the car. Lean is gone in the corners, much less understeer and the braking is hugely better.

I had them on my RX-7 Twin Turbo and loved them. They were better than the S-02's that I had.

I have this noise too, since day one. I have over 16k miles now. I ran 17s w/yoko avs for summer and have stockers on now. Both sets of wheels/tires do this and I haven't expermiented with how tire pressures affect it yet.

I also noticed that after having the STi STS and knob installed I began hearing a rattle inside the car that exactly matched up with the deceleration noise.

I isolated this in-car noise to the little plastic ring that sits up against the shift knob on the lever. It holds the pseudo-leather cover/skirt thing up around the shift lever. If I even put my hand on the shift knob, the noise inside the car stops (but the driveline noise remains.)

This does seem to be some kind of resonating vibration within the driveline.

For what it's worth, I have a strangely similar noise under the same conditions in my 77 landcruiser only MUCH louder and scarier. Almost nothing on this truck is stock.

The noise happens in RWD as well as with hubs locked, but is really really loud with hubs and transfer case in 4x4.

I spent over 2k on transmission work and got almost another 2k worth of work done free to try and resolve the issue on my truck. Tranny rebuilt, driveshafts blanaced/bent for truness, new rear diff (limited slip - yay!), new clutch, resurfaced flywheel...everything was checked.

The shop owner eventually threw in the towel on this one. He simply couldn't fix it. It was a bit depressing too because he had kind of taken it on as a personal challenge and was sure he could figure it out. :(

I've learned to put up with countless annoyances in a completely hybrid 25 year-old truck, but it is pretty hard to swallow with a brand new car.

I guess the key question is will this create problems for us later? :confused:

Transmission problems suck! Especially when the dealer can try to say it's because you're a lousy driver or whatever. If I do take a dealer to task on this you can bet I'll take offense to any such comments. I tiptoe around this transmission and want it to last...I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles on manual transmissions so I'm pretty familiar with the way they work.

Come on SoA step up to the plate on this one! Happy customers generate more sales! :alien:

bumpity bump bump sorry for the long post, I like to hear myself type. :D

Rexwell

people continue to post to this thread complaining about the decel noise. Those same persons ought to be directed to the thread that documents how SOA has replaced the clutch assembly with a redesigned unit in WRXs with this noise....

This is a warranty issue. SOA will fix it. New clutch assembly.... quiet car!!

See the thread:

i-Club Forums > i-Club General > Warranty Issues & SOA Problems > Decelleration noise fixed under warranty - new clutch assembly

Originally posted by BRI
Bailey, you're one of the lucky ones. You have a good dealer. My dealer continues to say that the sound is normal, and that they haven't heard anything from SOA about a fix for the noise. I'm happy for you that you got the fix, but it wasn't from SOA - it was from your diligent dealer.

Wow! Your experience with the dealer is terrible.
You are absolutely right. The problem was solved by a diligent dealer. The repair and diagnostic process were physically undertaken by the tech at the dealer but were coordinated by subaru technical support.

The difference is that my dealer cared enough about my problem to call subaru tech and get some advice. Your dealer is likely too busy doing oil changes at 50.00 a pop to take the time or interest to solve your problem.

Call my dealer (the numbers are listed on the repair .gif) and find out who they talked to at subaru to investigate, diagnose, and resolve my problem.

I think they called subaru technical support. Perhaps this is different than other components of subaru of america (SOA). Its not unlikely that different components of subaru do not talk to each other.

I guess that i makes sense for SOA to check this clutch issue unofficial. If it were an official problem they might be stuck replacing every clutch in every WRX. I am sure some component of subaru knows of the problem and is willing to tell your dealer what to do. The challenge is to connect a motivated dealer with the right person/organization within subaru.

I have been eagerly awaiting the US arrival of the WRX STI. I had planned to buy one of these when they arrive in the states. My enthusiasm for this purchase is diminished by troubles such as yours. The success of the WRX is because of car enthusiasts. Our collective enthusiasm for subaru will not support future sales if they won't support us!!!

Best of luck

Tim

Bailey is right - are we all spending as much time here on i-club as we are writing SOA about our problems? I'm not saying i-club isn't useful, it is incredibly useful, but we need to respond DIRECTLY to SOA as a community of customers.

I have written SOA about 4 times and they are always very polite and try to help, so I think a steady stream of *polite* but firm letters (if you are nice, they will have to take you seriously) will contribute to getting the attention this and other problems (ABS for example) deserve. If they blow you off with their first response, dont give up! - restate it, ask for someone higher on the foodchain or just keep the pressure on - but don't do a Darth Vader and let your anger control you. If we are professional, they will have to respond in kind.

If they had as many letters as there are i-club posts on this issue they just cannot ignore us. If that doesn't work (though I hope it does) we might politely point out how many potential WRX and RS owners come to this site and get to read about all of our troubles.

I'm sure many of you have, but for those who haven't, just go to www.subaru.com and click on the "Contact Subaru" link at the bottom left of the page and send them a note. Come on!

Well,

I took my WRX in last week for the noise. They called me that night and said my car was ready to go. I asked them what was wrong and they said "absolutly nothing". So I went down on a Saturday to go pick it up. I asked the manager of the service department if I could take him for a test drive. He told me that they were under staffed on the weekend, so he couldn't go. He told me to come back on a weekday. So I went back this morning and went for a drive with the manager and a technician. He heard the noise right away and said that he didn't hear the noise when he drove it. On the way back it got even louder. So after an hour of waiting the manager told me that there was some loose bolts, they tightened them up, but the problem was still there. So I just called now and my transmission has been pulled out of my car and they are checking the pilot bearing, clutch plate, and throw out bearing. I will find out tomorrow what the problem is. But they took the time to go for a drive with me, and now they are fixing the problem.

Justin

Hey Justin, sounds like you had a great time! What are these people thinking - that you are starving for attention or need new friends and thought Subaru mechanics were a good place to start? I'm going to my dealer Wednesday.

I wanted to add some of my experiance with our "noise" problem on over run. We had a pile of snow here a few weeks ago and as I was flogging around the over-run noise got louder and louder and eventually copuld be heard on decel or accel. every time I got to around 3500 rpm. I had many quattros that would do this as you loaded them up with snow and the drive train couldnt align it self properly (ice-packed). I think its interesting that it gets worse as the WRX gets loaded with snow. I think this kind of proves that there is a drive line bushing or alignment issue that Subaru needs to address. At the height of the snow packed noise it was as loud as the damn radio and very intrusive. I have 20,000 miles on my car and the noise is more annoying than ever. Any one in any other snowy area experiance this? Oh and my Subaru dealer says the noise is normal... but anyone who gets in the car that has any car background says "what the hell is that noise?"

FYI - I took my WRX 5 sp wagon in today to deal with the decel noise. On the ride to the dealer it was doing it consistently, but of course, on the ride with the mechanic, it was quiet as a mouse! After the oil change, I took it for a ride and it got it started again. I grabbed the mechanic, took him for a ride and he heard it though it was more quiet than usual (Ahg!). They agreed to look at the transmission and I have an appointment Jan. 3 (their best tranny guys are on vacation). However, they are reluctant to pinpoint the transmission or clutch just yet and talked a lot about the heat shield.

Can anyone verify that there are indeed redesigned clutch parts, if so, what they are and how I can get my dealer to learn about them?

If any of you have trouble reproducing the noise, I did notice something. On the way home my car was making the decel noise like crazy - seems that coasting in 3rd or 4th at about 2 - 2500 rpms really gets it going, but only when the car is warm.

but anyone who gets in the car that has any car background says "what the hell is that noise?"

Hey exquattro, my wife, the most unknowledgeable car person in the entire universe said the exact same thing - "What the hell is that noise" That's when I really knew it was a problem!::) No snow yet in Connecticut, but I'll try it out.

When my girlfriend was in the car and she asked me "what is that grinding sound?" I knew I had a problem, when a girl that can't even put gas in a car can notice a grinding sound.

But the dealership just called me, they ordered the throw out bearing, some other bearings, seal and gaskets kits, and a gasket for my exhaust, because I guess they ripped a gasket when they dropped my exhaust to take out the tranny.

They told me that I will not have my car for about two weeks, because they had to order the parts from Atlanta and with the holidays around, no car for a while.

Justin

I had my WRX repaired with a new clutch a couple weeks ago and the car has been perfectly silent since. This is a known issue with a known fix from SOA, there is a redesigned clutch that addresses this issue!

Notice that someone from SOA had the dealer adjust the tire pressure as part of the diagnosis to see if in fact this was the know problem with the clutch and sure enough it was. (also, you might want to refer to my previous posts on this thread).

I had to re-post after reading the comments about our girlfriends asking what that freaking noise is in our brand new cars..LOL Made me laugh. I did however do the tire test. The noise is less with 40 front and 36 rear. than it was with stock settings but the noise is still there and irritating. Now that I know its the clutch I can hardly wait to argue with my dealer for 2-3 weeks to get it fixed.

Had it and got it fixed under warranty.
All thay did was ajust my shift linkage.
now the car shifs smother and no decell noise.;)

Well, I can tell you that after reading this post, there is a noise problem. I noticed it about 3 weeks ago on my WRX when I had to make a quick dash to get around a truck. Punching it in 3rd gear for 3 seconds and letting off the gas produced this metallic grinding noise that just about had me calling Triple A for assistance. It threw me for quite a large loop considering my car was absolutely silent when I purchased it (4,200 mi. on it now).

I haven't called the dealership yet, but I am going to try it again and push up on the shifter (as Wheels suggested) while this noise is present and see if it takes care of the problem. I Started to notice it after being out in the desert camping after driving 20 miles on grated/washed out roads. It also makes this noise in 2nd gear.

I can't imagine that tire pressure would be something that affects this, but I will look into it. I run my RE 92s at 35PSI cold. I'll pump them up to 40 and see if there is any difference (besides the obvious stiffer ride). We should all hope it's just a link/shifter noise. I'll post my results this weekend.

Stay tuned....:confused:

Today, SOA instructed the dealer to replace the clutch assembly due to the following problems with my WRX:

- Rumbling drivetrain noise at 2800-3800 rpm (felt most in 2nd and in 3rd gear)

- Accompanying vibration that can be felt on the steering wheel, gear shift, and footwell

- Gear grinding noise under deceleration (felt most in 3rd gear)

- Chattering transmission noise while the car is idling in neutral. Noise goes away when clutch pedal is pushed in. Comes back when released.

The first three on the list are most noticeable when the windows are rolled up. They are easily heard inside the car.

Upon arriving at the dealership, I presented the problems to the service advisor both verbally and IN WRITING.

Not surprisingly, the advisor initially dismissed them as being "resonance noises" and that they were "normal." However, I was taken more seriously after he realized that I formally put the issues in writing.

The technician assigned to my car got on the phone with SOA Technical Support. The first instruction was to adjust the tire pressure on all 4 wheels and then test drive the car. The tech did as told and it reduced, but did not eliminate the noises.

Another phone call was made to SOA. This time, the tech was instructed to replace the clutch assembly. The parts were then placed on order. Unfortunately, I'll have to return at another time to complete the repairs. But at least a resolution was reached.

I'll post an update on the results. Happy Holidays everyone!

I took the tech for a ride, it made the noise, not too loud. Told them about about the history, having the noise since the beginning.

Tech: "Lots of these cars have this noise"

Service Manager: "It's a normal noise"

Me: "No, call subaru tech line"

SM: "Well, your warranty is void because you have lowering springs on the car"

Me: "BS on the warranty being void. :rolleyes: Call Subaru tech"

SM: repeat

Me: repeat :devil:

Etc. for ~5 minutes


Ended up having them write it down, and took off. :monkey:

Called SOA, with Bailey's invoice ##. :lol:

They called me at work, changed their tune.....asked all the questions subaru tech gave them to ask. :o

Will bring it in after new years for a proper diagnostic and fix. :)

Kevin

removed comments.

We had the same problem!! (3rd greer grinding)
The Dealership fix it under warranty.
They found the shifter linkage out of adjustment, so
they readjusted it. Now there is no more deceleration
noise and the shifting is smoother. (This was caught
early.)
I read about someone getting new clouch replacement
parts. When the dealership replaces those parts, they
probably adjust the shift linkage.:rolleyes:
Just a thought.

If you shoot with a shot gun, you're going to hit something!
:devil:

I bought my WRX on Dec 7th, it has 1700 miles, I've never noticed the noise, I don't *think*.

What I have noticed is a grumbling/shaking/clanking type noise which I *thought* was the awd complaining because I was taking a turn too tight (once was a u-turn and the other was a fast turn in the rain resulting in understeer/floating to the side). Is that noise a separate noise, or is that what you guys are all talking about.

So far I definitely have the clutch thing, just curious what this noise I heard was. I've only heard it twice, once in 1st gear for the uturn (no idea if i was decelerating or not, and the other in 2nd or 3rd around the turn).

KTB

Oh, I should mention that the sound was coming from the back middle part of the car, and sounded very similar to the sound that a pickup I drove made when doing U-turns in 4wd.

KTB:

Do the U-turn again and see if you get the noise. If you do, have it checked.

The "shotgun approach" generally has been working on my WRX in terms of eliminating the deceleration noise. I have changed out a number of components, and on a regular basis I have Cobb Tuning do a general "under the car" inspection and tightening up of things where appropriate. But it would be great if we can get a definitive "solution" from SOA that truly root cause fixes the problem "once and for all" on the WRX. GoodFinder :)

we installed the new clutch on a customers car and the noise was gone--the new clutch seems larger than the stock one-i was told this clutch is from subaru of australia-the pressure plate and disk look stronger.
dave

Well, my dealer called and told me they need my car for a week and will be replacing "some kind of bearing" in the transmission - all under warranty (whew). The woman who called is not a mechanic, but I promise to get the details posted up here as soon as I know. The week delay is due to ordering parts - as of yet, I guess they don't stock WRX trannies at the dealer.

I don't know if this is unique to my car, but it only made "the noise" after it had been driven for a while - usually freeway driving followed by surface street driving.

Good luck out there and bailey, thanks again for all your information!

I just figured I'd add my voice to the rest here.

I also hear this deceleration rattle. Mine occurs primarily between 4K and 3K RPM, in any gear, but it's most audible when in second. In fact, initially it was quite loud.

I've tried twice to get it fixed, the first time, I took one of the techs out for the ride, he heard the rattle, they tightened all my heat shields and declared it fixed. (It wasn't.)

The second time they said they couldn't reproduce it. I haven't taken it back to that dealer again since they scratched my hood the second time I was in. :mad:

I was going to take it to another dealer, however, the rattle has been much less pronounced since winter set in and it got cold, whether the car was warm or not. It's still audible, but you really have to know what you're listening for. I figured I'd wait for warmer weather and try again.

I'm going to finish reading the thread now and hope I find some success stories. Though I have to admit that, after 14,000 miles, I've grown so accustomed to hearing this sound that it's almost part of the car's charm. :)

Hi jsnow,

I just saw that I promised to post my results and I failed you all - all the success stories are in the other thread: 'Decelleration noise fixed under warranty - new clutch assembly' and that is where I have been going.

Here is a link to that thread from one of the hundreds of replies:

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=120910&goto=newpost

Any way, before I had my decel noise fixed (really, it is completely gone after they put in the redesigned/updated clutch), I did notice it was a little less present in the cold weather and had a hard time reproducing it for the dealer. I actually took him for a drive and although the noise was going like crazy on the drive over, it completely dissappeared when the mechanic hopped in. It took it right out for a half hour until the noise was really bad, drove right up to the dealer (actually right IN to the service section) and took the mechanic out again and he finally heard it. When I dropped it off for the repair a week later I put a note in the car explaining to him that if he took the car out for five minutes, he probably would hear the noise. My noise only seemed to happen after the car was warm and had reached highway speeds for a bit. Why, I have no idea!

Listen to this crazyiness:

TOok my wrx in for 15K service. Complained to them about the decel noise that many people here seem to have. When I got the car back they said that everything is normal. I told the service dept that I want to appeal that decision and they told me that I have to speak to the district manager and that they would call me when they know of when he would be coming to the dealership. Weeks go by and I don't hear a thing. I called SOA and spoke to kate, who was very friendly and did work on it, she told me she would be calling the dealership and that it would be taken care of. The next day I got a call from the service manager at the dealership. He wanted to take a drive in the car to see what I am complaining about. I take him out and he says that he doesn't hear anything out of the ordinary....the car was making the noise but not as loud as usual. I get him to hear a resonating noise that is similar to the decel noise while the car is in 3rd gear at 2K rpm and accelerating. This is a very loud noise that he admitted to hearing but brushed it off as "you're trying to do to much with the car". This is absurd because even in the manual it states to upshift to 3rd at 25 mph. At 2k rpm in 3rd the car is already doing 27-28 mph. I show him bailey's invoice and he tell's that the car has a long powertrain warranty and that I shouldn't worry and that his concern is that if he does what was done to bailey's car, he isn't guaranteed that it will solve the problem and SOA will not pay him for any extra work that needs to be done to solve the same problem. He didn't want to take that chance. I then tell him that its not my problem if he doesn't have competent enough technicians that can correctly diagnose problems. He asked me why didn't I take my car to the dealership where I bought it from and I informed him that the subaru warranty covers me for whichever dealership I take my car to. I further tell him that just because I decided to purchase my car from a dealership that was far away who happened to have given me a much better deal on wrx than his dealership could provide doesn't mean that I should not receive service from his establishment. He told me that he is going to "look into it" and get back to me. He told that I shoud meet with the district manager because it would be his decision. The dealership is Burlington SUbaru in Burlington, Vermont. The service manager was Bill Hunter. I meet with the district manager(Bryan Giffen) yesterday and he brought with him a technician. I took them for a drive in my car and the first thing Bryan said was "I don't hear anything". The technician seemed to disagree and said he does notice some noise. He said he wasn't so sure of what the noise is but there is more noise in the car than others he has driven. I replicate the resonating noise at 2K rpm in 3rd and he noticed it as well. After the drive was over, the district manager asked for his comments and the tech felt that there was a driveline problem but he's not so sure if thats the reason for the gearbox decel and resonating noise. I then explain to them about the 2nd to 1st downshifting problem that i have which wasn't there when new and the tech said why would you do that and you're abusing the car if trying to do so. I refreshed him on the concept of synocromeshing and he failed to correlate what that has to do with my concern. He told me that there is no reason to ever downshift into 1st when going more than 5mph. He and the district manager refuse to do anything about it. He said that this car is a preformance car and that "young kids like you aren't driving the way you are supposed to be" I walk back into service and asked for an invoice on what was obseved. Bryan refused to give me one and I then told him that SOA will be made aware of his refusal to give me an invoice of what was observed in realtion to warranty concerns. He wrote one up that included my customer comments and wrote that the findings were that there are no problems with the car and that no actions will be taken. I told him that this is totally unacceptable and asked that the technician come back to explain his findings. When I questioned the tech, he repeated what he had said before and the as he was talking, Bryan interrupted him and stated that there is nothing wrong with the car. The tech realized what was going on and began to change his story and started to then tell me that since I have the short throw shifter in it, the car will make more noise and that this is perfectly normal. I then question him on the resonating sound and he said that that was normal as well. I told Bryan that if you don't know what a fix would be then write that down. I also told him that he can't have me leave here without it saying on the invoice that there is something wrong, that he must write what the tech observed and told him. All he did was add a comment that there was driveline noise. I told him that if he doesn't write down what the tech said then I will be telling that to SOA. He refused to change it and I refused to sign it.

Someone please tell me what the hell can I do. I called SOA back and they told me that a Senior customer representative is now handling my case(Jodee) and that she will call me back. This is soo wrong and all of you I'm sure will agree with me. If anyone has had any problems with this dealership or this District MAnager, please tell me. This is so corrupt and I'm now really mad because of yesterday. Subaru can forget about me getting an STI because of this if it isn't resolved. I really wanted that car too.

Sorry this took so long.

Well I got the new clutch and it did not get rid of the noise. But it did get rid of the clutch chatter and it was definitely easier to get into gears. So there was definitely something wrong with the clutch. I'm happy with my dealer so far. They replaced my clutch with less than 3000 miles. Don't get me wrong it took a little pressure and finagling but they finally agreed they heard a noise and they contacted SOA techline and confirmed that their was some success with getting the clutch replaced to get rid of certain noises that customers were hearing.

Anyway my point is that the noise on decel coming from somewhere is a little annoying but no reason to condemn the whole car, or product lines i.e. STI, or Subaru. Remember this is a brand new model and there are going to be kinks that need to be worked out before the car is perfect. If you are the type of person that is looking for perfection and absolutely no problems with a car, I never suggest buying the first production and model line of a car. I don't' even suggest buying a car that is less than $30,000 and even then because a car is man made and has many moving parts its still possible there are going to be problems.

I'm going to wait and see if the noise gets worse with time. If the noise does get louder, hopefully it will be more distinguishable and more obvious that their is a problem and where the problem is coming from. If the noise does NOT get louder and stays the same, it's possible it's a design flaw/characteristic of the car. Oh well! That's life. The car is still a joy to drive and people can't even notice the noise anyway unless you point it out. At least for me.

I think with time there will be several possible reasons established for the noise. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. And hopefully their will be an answer before your/our warranties expire. In the meantime at the very least just try to get it noted and recorded with your dealer.

Has anyone had their clutch replaced and still hear an occasional rub/slight grinding/whatever noise on decelaration?

My noise is not loud but does make noise that is distiguishable on decel between 3000 and 4000 RPM in 3rd gear. Especially when going down a slight grade or going over dips/bump in the road. It's intermittent between those RPM ranges also. I don't want to dismiss it as normal but may have to for a while.

I personnally think it has to be in the driveline/transmission area because as I said going over dips or bumps or declines makes the noise worse. It could be a heat shield but I checked them and the feel tight by hand. I thought it might be the turbo spooling down but why does going over bumps affect the noise. Also why does this noise only occur in the Manual transmission WRXs....

I don't want people who are considering buying the WRX to not buy one because of this issue. It's a small issue but being the car owner of course would like to see go away if possible. Ther are two many positives about the WRX to out weigh this one negative noise that I could just be being picky about.

;) bump:D

Hey StevesWRX - where did you take your car to get repaired?

My decel noise went away when I did my clutch and flywheel. Even in the service manual it notes this noise and a list of fixes. The last being replacing the clutch.

I just got my car back yesterday from the dealer with the new clutch installed. My car was making a lot of noise while decelerating. First they told me that all WRXs make that noise. I went for a ride with a salesman in a brand new WRX with no noise. Next they replaced some of the bearings in the transmission, but that didn't do anything. Finally they replaced the clutch disk, cover and flywheel. The noise has been reduced, but it is still there. It was definately worth it though, the new clutch feels much better than the original ever did. The whole process took about a month, but everything was covered under warranty so I can't complain. My car only has 14,500 miles on it. I'll just wait a while and see if the noise comes back or gets worse.

Chris

Took mine to the dealer for 15k service and the 3rd gear decel rattle. They changed my tire pressure back to stock and I can barely hear it now. I have to turn the radio off, roll up the windows, and listen really hard to hear the rattle.

I had my tire pressures at 35f/32r. Stock is 32f/29r. That little change solved it for me. If it comes back with stock tire pressure I may push to get it completely fixed but since I can't normally hear it, it doesn't bother me.

jenisonwrx,

do you have the a copy of the service manual where it states that....does anyone here have a service manual or access to one to scan in a fix to the decel issue. Thanks

BRI,

Just wanted to back you up that there are definitely TWO distinct "decel noises."

The first one I can get when coasting and/or decelerating in second and to a lesser extent, third, gear. This is the grinding noise that you report. I haven't actually checked what the RPM range is for this one, though.

The second noise is - again, as you said - a high-pitched whining or vibrating noise. I can get it most reliably in a very narrow speed range (90-100 km/h) in fifth gear, either coasting or very lightly on the gas. This seems to be the only time I get this particular noise.

Finally, I think I have the early stages of the dreaded "clutch shudder" syndrome; only happens when the car is cold (and usually after having sat overnight). Usually only occurs for the first couple of clutch engagements; seems to go away after the car warms up. Happens more often in cold/wet weather.

Anyway, I'm taking in the car to a dealership tomorrow and showing them the TSB for the clutch shudder. We'll see if that fixes the other issues as well.






Originally posted by BRI
My car actually makes two different noises on deceleration. One is a "tinny," higher noise that sounds like a vibration. The service tech said that was the heat shields vibrating. Although annoying, it doesn't worry me very much.

The other noise, though, worries me some. It is a lower noise, and sounds like a grinding sound. I get that noise in 3rd gear, when I take my foot off the gas pedal and the RPMs get to around 3000. The service tech said that the lower, grinding noise was also normal, and somehow related to the turbo winding down. But it is not the normal turbo-winding-down noise that you always hear. I know what that sounds like, and this noise is different. Besides, if it were just the turbo winding down, wouldn't all WRX's have it, and wouldn't it be present no matter what gear you're in?

I have a decel noise on my 2004 WRX (mostly 3rd gear, when I take my foot off the gas, and RMP = 3000). Subaru is giving me the runaround. They say I have the updated parts, and that I should wait til the noise gets either worse or better! Presumeably they will recall some part or come up with a fix at some point! It seems like there are a lot of similar complaints for the 2004 model.
Anyone had any luck fixing the issue?

-Hoodwinkles

I've just read all the posts on this thread and can't believe the way everyone just ignored Mike Shield's explanation of the decel problem that duckboy posted at the bottom of the first page. Mike Shields of spdusa.com probably knows more about the WRX than any 10 technicians around plus ALL the participants on this board put together (myself included). For those of you who missed it, I'd strongly suggest reading it or re-reading it again. That explanation identifies the REAL source of the "problem", if you want to call it that.

OK, now it is quite possible that altering the tire pressures will somehow work to reduce this noise, but it is still the low inertia drivetrain that Subie engineers choose to put in that is the culprit here. I have the noise on my 02 WRX wagon and when I took it to the dealer they said the dirt needed to be washed off the differential. They did that and it didn't do a bit of good whatsoever. There was a slight improvement when I switched out the tranny and diff fluid and put in NEO synthetic HD. But let's face it, this noise is "designed in" for performance reasons. The WRX engine is relatively quiet as performance cars go, so the decel noise is going to be more noticeable than it would be otherwise. Also, it helps to realize that the noise doesn't really hurt anything. True it can be kind of annoying if you are focused on it all the time. The car is a little raw and unrefined--it's the nature of the beast. Have your dealer do the clutch or diff change if you really feel its necessary, but the best solution is just change the tire pressures to 34/30 or 35/32 and learn to live with it, recognizing that the Subie engineers wanted it that way for better drivetrain performance.

Well, Mike Shield's explanation notwithstanding, I believe my noise is abnormally loud and unpleasant, and I want to get to the bottom of it! That being said, I had District Service Operations Manager Mark Budack take a test drive with me. He was very understanding, and conceded that this "resonance" sounded like the old flywheel problem coming back to haunt some of the 2004 models. He said he would research things and be willing to effect some repairs if necessary. I should hear back in a few days; I'll let you know how this turns out.

Just purchased a 2004 Impreza WRX, and I do get some noise at low gears when decelerating. I don't think it's too bad, and this is the first standard transmission I've ever owned, so I wasn't sure how that affected it, or if it was just the "nature of the beast" as some said. Well, I have now written that car off, as it slid doing 50 km/h around a corner, so I dont' know how strong of a believer I am in subaru anymore. I was decelerating from 3rd gear around this corner, maybe the noise caused the crash ? j/k..... but, if it happens on the 2004's, I don't think they'll ever fix it.

Hey WRX Pilot - Did you ever get your issue resolved? I tried to contact you via PM or whatever but you have everything disabled. I am getting my syncros replaced and the dealer said I have a "weak clutch". When asked to explain what he meant by "weak clutch". He said "its worn, its bad... it needs to be replaced" The clutch feels fine but i do have the decel noise. BAD. My mechanic does not seem to think it is a decel noise at all and says its a noisy a/c clutch, pully thingee, but it is EXACTLY what has been described here... The bad part is that the dealer wont warranty the clutch because I have 40k on the car. Not even with my extended warranty. They said the subaru rep denied it for the clutch, but they will cover the syncros. I just know I am going to get screwed on this whole deal. Anyone have any advice on how to deal with these people (i.e the dealer)???

i have an 04 WRX with 2400 miles. i don't really have the declleration noise. my tires pressures are set to 42/40. i have a slight decelleration noise in 2nd. but it is nothing out of the ordinary. my old car also had decelleration noise but they were very minimal. (1993 Accord DX)

I guess i'm one of the few who doesn't have decelleration noises. atleast nothing too loud.

my concern with my car though, is about the 'dieseling' sound it get from it during idle. does anyone else's WRX do that? like the car sounds like a diesel. is this sound the same thing as the Boxer Rumble sound which is characteristic of boxer engines?

normal

After a whole lot of complaining, SOA agreed to give me a new clutch and flywheel to fix the decel noise in my 2004 WRX. They replaced the parts yesterday and everything sounds nice and smooth---no more resonating in 2nd/3rd gear. By the way, the people at Thousand Oaks Subaru were great.

i have an 04 wrx and it has bad decel noise in second and third. Just recenlty the car is making a weird sound when in neutral, push the clutch in and it goes away. Also the drive train seems real jerkey when you go from a coast to light acceleration. All this just started happening with in the last 1500 miles

OK.. I took my car in for the Decel noise, They replaced the Clutch, Flywheel, Pressure plate & Throw-Out Bearing (all updated parts). The Noise is still there. The Car is at the Dealership as I speak. They're checkin heat shields and all that stuff. I'm glad I found this post, as I am not the only one. The noise is just so Freakin annoying.

Going to the dealer and forcing them to change out clutch, flywheel, and what not is NOT going to solve the problem. The solution to the DECEL noise is simple and straightforward--change the pressure in your tires so there is a greater difference between front and rear:


34 Front/30 Rear if you are on 16" --a 4 lb. difference instead of 3 lb.

35 Front/32 Rear if you are on 17" --a 3 lb. difference instead of 1 lb.

(You may have to adjust these numbers somewhat depending on the tire pressures you like to run on your car.)

Mike Shields nailed it when he said the decel noise comes from the type of
driveline the WRX uses--it's a high-performance low-friction type that doesn't use dampening pucks like many other AWD. The penalty for the increased performance is you can get the decel noise discussed in this thread. Adjusting your tire pressures is the easy (and cheap! :) ) solution.

34 Front/30 Rear if you are on 16" --a 4 lb. difference instead of 3 lb.

35 Front/32 Rear if you are on 17" --a 3 lb. difference instead of 1 lb.

(You may have to adjust these numbers somewhat depending on the tire pressures you like to run on your car.)

This worked for me on my original clutch (took delivery of the car in March '01), as well as my "warranty" clutch which I received June '03. The noise came back once...as it turned out, one of my front tires had a slow leak.

I too have this noise. I tried the 35/32 setting, and the strange thing was, it was worse. I went down to 32/32 and it went away, as did the on/off throttle jerkiness. I've experimented a bit, and at least on my car, as long as I have even pressure front to back there is little to no grind. Could it be that something is a bit out of alignment and adjusting the pressure tends to put it in alignment? I've found that when the grinding comes back (if my pressures are off) I can reset it by driving around at lower, even pressures for a bit and then pumping them back up with even pressures. Strange.

Have you diligently rotated your tires? It could be the fronts are larger than the backs if you recently rotated the tires after putting significant miles on the tires before said rotation.

I just wanted to add my name to the list...

I was having the same problem. The noise was CRAZY LOUD, and like some of hte other guy sthat have posted, I KNEW this would not fix the problem.

But it did!! The sound it gone. THere s a differfence of 4 between front and back (from is higher)., and the sound is gone.

Thanks guys

Hmmm . . . with my 16" rims and tires, the 34F/30R setting makes the noise go away. When I switch over to 17" rims, there is NO noise at the recommended 33F/32R setting but it comes back when you increase the fronts by 2 psi to 35/32.

Could be each car is a little different, you just have to play around with it, and like Stanley said, the amount of tire wear front and rear could play a part too.

Is this happening to anyone's 05? I think my 02 has cursed me for trading it in. :(

This bites. I just want a non-effed WRX!!!!! :furious:

Dood have you tried the tire pressure fix??

Dood have you tried the tire pressure fix??
Yeah, same problem.

From Australia. I have an MY04 WRX with an MRT XB kit (3" turbo back exhaust, CAI, 500 HP in tank fuel pump, ECUTEK 1.5 tuning - 220 HP at the wheels - 13.6 sec quarter) My car had done about 13,200 miles and the standard clutch was toast, so I opted for a Daikin Excedy HD single plate organic clutch. (don't even think about a warranty claim with the 35% more power and torque)

Over the last 1000 miles I have experienced clutch shudder and an increasingly annoying decelleration noise after the car becomes warm, normally highway driving, then off the gas in 5th, 4th and 3rd normally between 3000 and 2000 rpm. It sounds like a grinding, bearing noise. I have checked all of the heat shields (the one on the up pipe was loose and that was welded, but still grinding away), drip tray etc but I feel that the noise is clutch related as I can feel the grinding through the gear stick and clutch pedal. Even though the OEM clutch was slipping and shuddering by the end I had no decelleration noise, immediately after the new clutch was installed, I have declleration noise.

I will do the tyre pressure check then take my car back to the installer.

the noise is normal, why ! cause you upgraded your clutch too a much more agressive clutch. here something that you could add to your gearbox that will give you years of trouble free problems. the u.s. armed forces uses it for years and it works. :D http://www.militec-1.com/

I only had this noise very slightly if at all for the first 40,000 miles. But now I just swapped my engine, after blowing the original, I also put a new stock replacement clutch in from ebay. Now my car is making this noise badly. I removed the turbo heat shield but that was not the probelm. I had a local shop do the work, so I am going to take it into subaru this week to inspect the clutch and general engine installation. :disco:

have this happening on my 2006 wrx wagon.... i just changed the tire pressure and will take it for a ride in teh morning.. .hopefully it goes away. this is kinda lame with my brand new car... i dont wanna have to have it sit at the dealer!!

My car used to do it, like everyone else's. Now it doesn't do it no more. I did a bunch of things to it, but I think the moment I saw the biggest noise reduction was when I decided to overfill the gearbox with oil.
Overfilling is heard of and certain manufacturers issued TSB reccomending that in the past.
I realize that everyone here is under warranty so nobody will do such thing. It's just a suggestion, if all other things have no result.
Also I have the Subaru/SPT transmission mount. Easy to install.
I'm sure that this has been posted here already, but it's not a noise from any part of the exhaust, I recall wondering that at the time I got the noise at first.
The suggestion about tire pressure has been around for a loooong time. I know it is said to work, but you'll change the relative speed between front and rear wheels and get the center diff to work in ways in which it might not be designed to work permanently (Sure, small difference in radius, but one has to wonder if the visco will now last 175 k miles instead of 275 k miles by example.)
This is just some stuff that I had in mind, feel free to disregard.

how much did you have to overfill it by to get the effect? That'd be a nice fix if it's not too much!

I think I have 3/4 of a quart extra. On the dipstick it has to show (cold, on a level surface) 1/2" over the max.
I used to also have a Maserati Biturbo. Many gearbox rattles. I did the followind dangerous experiment (don't try to copy it or you might get hurt or killed):
I put that car on the lift, checked that the oil level was maxed out, removed the fill plug. Started the car on the lift, put it in second gear. Got under the car, as it was running and stuck my finger through the fill hole to feel how much lower the level of the oil went: It decreased by almost 1/2", because it gets splashed onto the inner walls of the gearbox. I could feel a film of almost 1/4" thick on the walls. The "better" the oil, the thicker the film, the more naked the gears.
There has been a TSB about this on the VW scirocco, back in the day.
Of course, the overfilling is accomplished through the dipstick tube.

Mine has made that sound ever since I put my ACT clutch in. Obviously there will not be a fix for me :-/

mine started making this sounds about a month ago. It hurts my ears. Whats wrong with my bugeye? :(

If you have a upgraded clutch/flywheel there is nothing you can do about it!!!

My car has had the noise since i bought it with 7km.

my car has had the noise in 2nd gear at aorund 2000 2500 decelerating

from the first day i got it brand new

Mine has it..I don't care. It got even worse with Exedy clutch. I still don't care. Nothings broken and the car runs fine. I also have waste gate flutter. I don't care.

I've got the same worrysome problem with my 06. Sounds almost like a irregular grinding of the tranny upon deceleration from higher RPM's. I think I might go do a test drive of another 06 to see if it's a trait of all of them.

So who's got the final answer??
My car is a 2000 Impreza RS with OEM clutch can I just bring it in and they will fix it for free? Or do i overfill and live with it?

I've got the same worrysome problem with my 06. Sounds almost like a irregular grinding of the tranny upon deceleration from higher RPM's. I think I might go do a test drive of another 06 to see if it's a trait of all of them.


Take the car in 3 times when they cant fix it lemon law it.

Or
Take thw car in and tell them to keep it til they fix the sound. You dont want it back til Its gone. When it goes past 1 month. lemon law the car.

This works in california.

lol I don't have that kind of time to waiste, I think I will wait till its a recall

Take the car in 3 times when they cant fix it lemon law it.

Or
Take thw car in and tell them to keep it til they fix the sound. You dont want it back til Its gone. When it goes past 1 month. lemon law the car.

This works in california.

You're the reason cars are laden down with air bags, heavy sound insulation and cars that understeer like mad from the factory.

Cars make noise. It's a bunch of metal rubbing against itself really fast.

I dont think you know what the lemon law is... Look it up in the subaru manual ;)

Going to the dealer and forcing them to change out clutch, flywheel, and what not is NOT going to solve the problem. The solution to the DECEL noise is simple and straightforward--change the pressure in your tires so there is a greater difference between front and rear:


34 Front/30 Rear if you are on 16" --a 4 lb. difference instead of 3 lb.

35 Front/32 Rear if you are on 17" --a 3 lb. difference instead of 1 lb.

(You may have to adjust these numbers somewhat depending on the tire pressures you like to run on your car.)

Mike Shields nailed it when he said the decel noise comes from the type of
driveline the WRX uses--it's a high-performance low-friction type that doesn't use dampening pucks like many other AWD. The penalty for the increased performance is you can get the decel noise discussed in this thread. Adjusting your tire pressures is the easy (and cheap! :) ) solution.


shut up all my noises

I tried adjusting my tire press to 42 front 40 rear, but I still get the decel noise, I have 18"s, any suggestions

try 42/39?

thanx

Won't this muff up the differential in the long run?

on the doorjam it says 32 front 29 rear....so no if wont muff nuttin up yo....heh

Most likely won't be a recall.. Because look, if the problem is not going to hurt the car before the standard waranty is over then there is no point in doing a recall becuase it's not going to cost them a dime. That way, the owner has to spend their own money to fix it and not subarus money.

Ok. So i have read many pages of this thread before I decided to post. I also have the Decel noise. I honestly thought it was normal until I stumbled upon this thread. This is my first MT subaru car. I can't remember the last time I didn't here the noise. But I dont remember hearing it when I first got it... Oh well. I have tried adjusting my air pressure and I still get the noise. Not sure on what step to take now. I guess I will let my service guy know about it becuase one of my fog lamps went out. :( Plus, I will just have them do the oil change and stuff, too. This freakin' decel noise sucks.

Won't this muff up the differential in the long run?

More weight on the front = more deforming of the front tire. Adjusting the air pressures remedies this. So you will probably get a slight bit more VC wear if you're hearing the noise. Either way, the unit's life will probably be far more impacted by how often you drive on snow and ice.

OK, I didn't want to read this entire thread but will give my 02$ incase it hasn't been addressed. On my 02 WRX this "noise" described happened after a clutch/flywheel install. I had been to the dealer, the shop that installed the clutch, ect. Nobody could solve the problem. Drove that way for about 6 months and got a flat. When running the spare, noise went away. After tire repair, noise came back. I did the air pressure fix and it worked to a certain degree. Ultimatley, 2 other guys from the subaru club also got new clutches with lightened flywheels and started getting the noise. We came to the conclusion it must be the lightened fw. So one of the guys returned his FW to stock after awhile and the noise disappeared. On another note. Not ALL lightened FW's do this, and not in all cars. But thats what we decided it must have been since the one car that didn't originally have the noise started too after the FW, then it went away when going back to stock.

Now if any of you are having this issue with a stock WRX it throws my theory out of the water. But if not, and we all have lightened FWs, we can confirm or deny this theory here on this thread.
peace
Mike

Quite a few early 2002 WRX owners are getting up there in mileage now, even in the 100,000 range and I have yet to hear of any differential issues. I'm pushing 70k myself.

Quite a few early 2002 WRX owners are getting up there in mileage now, even in the 100,000 range and I have yet to hear of any differential issues. I'm pushing 70k myself.
My '02 had 134,000 miles on it when it was totalled last week; never had any noise from the diffs and still had the original stock clutch everyone bitched about back in '02.

does anyone get the same noise under hard braking?
I only have 13000 miles on the car
KYB struts w/ Tein H springs

bump.

My '02 had 134,000 miles on it when it was totalled last week; never had any noise from the diffs and still had the original stock clutch everyone bitched about back in '02.

Ned,

I'm sorry to hear that your bugeye was totaled!! I'm at around 131k myself, with the original stock clutch. I think maybe just the two of us got the "good" clutches.

I have some deceleration whine, but nothing that seems as severe as others are reporting here.
(i've been running about 3 psi higher in the front tires almost the entire time)

dm

Judah, don't leave us hanggin bud, what was the diagnosis for shutting this #^*$$%^ car up!!

i dislike this noise alot

Ned,

I'm sorry to hear that your bugeye was totaled!! I'm at around 131k myself, with the original stock clutch. I think maybe just the two of us got the "good" clutches.

I have some deceleration whine, but nothing that seems as severe as others are reporting here.
(i've been running about 3 psi higher in the front tires almost the entire time)

dm
I've always pushed the tires above the recommended pressures; that may explain the lack of noise in my late bugeye. As for the clutch, count me in with the contrarians at the time who said the whole clutch thing was a driver preference issue. People bitching about the bugeye clutch never drove a '62 Willys Jeep or a '71 Triumph TR6 (30 seconds at a stoplight in that car led to leg spasms that lasted 10 minutes or so).

As for the dead bugeye, I posted a pic here:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15389340

Thank you for visiting the Subaru web site and for your message! As the owner
of two Subaru vehicles, one being a 2002 Impreza WRX, and as a Subaru enthusiast
myself, I would be happy to try to address your concerns.

All Subaru vehicles go through a thorough quality check. We also pull some
vehicles off an allocation and put them through a secondary check. All Subaru
vehicle, including our 'bread-and-butter' models go through rigorous track
testing, at high speeds, and in very harsh conditions. Our engineers and test
drivers purposely try to abuse and break our cars, so they can find the 'weak
links', and correct them before they get to the dealer showroom.

As a company, we carefully monitor warranty claims and quality survey comments
to watch for any trends or concerns that can lead to customer dissatisfaction
after production. Because of the number of various web sites out there, we
cannot monitor the activity in them or report on anything we may see there. The
web sites do not give us VINs, customer names, production dates, nor dealer
repair attempts. The process we have established works well for us and in turn,
it is helpful to our customers.

The WRX is different from other Subaru vehicles in that it has been designed
with more durability to handle the additional performance. Some of these
enhancements for durability result in different noises that may not be present
in the everyday Subaru vehicles like the Outback and Legacy models.

The WRX uses a high performance, low-friction driveline. There are no dampening
pucks and the various gears in the transmission and differentials are cut with
more of a straight edge vs. a beveled/angled edge. The straighter edge results
in more noise. It is a compromise between a racing dogbox with completely
straight-cut gears and a typical everyday manual transmission. But, it does
result in more noise, expecially during deceleration when there is more
driveline backlash. Driveline backlash is not an indication of a problem and
has not resulted in any long term reliability issues. As you may know, many
early WRX vehicle owners have already exceeded 100,000 miles or more.

If you are experiencing a noise that is concerning to you, you should have your
Subaru dealer inspect and diagnose it. They can determine whether it is normal
or a sign of a problem.

thats an email to me from SOA

I own a 2000 RS, if I am not under warranty who pays for this **** cuz its gettin louder!

Has anyone who's experiencing this decel rattle ever had the rear of their car lifted (i.e. jacked up or raised by a shop on a lift) by the outboard rigger points that hold the rear-diff in place? If those plates are bent by a lift, they will pinch the bushings closer to the crossbar. Under decelleration, the torque on the rear-end can cause a metal to metal vibration.

If you need pictures, look at the turn-in-concepts product pages concerning their poly bushings that eliminate the knocking sounds that come from the back of the car.

I finally found these were bent after weeks of working under the car, ONCE EVEN TRYING while it ran on jack stands (yes, the extent to which I found this sound annoying made it worth while to me to die trying to fix it.)
A vice and a hammer fixed both. No more decel noise.

And pay attention if they lift your car at the shop. Those are not strong enough points. (Though I was the guilty party in this case.)

EDIT to clarify that I didn't find the noise while it was in gear and on jack stands. Hell, the suspension is hanging, there is no load... there is really no way to reproduce real "deceleration" like that. I was just trying to say that it took a long time to find and I did a few stupid things in my desperation to get rid of the sound.

So please don't use your last, gasping breath to tell the wife that Toophless told you to drop a car on your head. :cool:

my car has had the noise in 2nd gear at aorund 2000 2500 decelerating

from the first day i got it brand new

Same for me - 05 WRX wagon. Dealer says it's normal. When the tranny is warmed up after a bit of highway driving there is also another noise as well. It's a lighter, kind of buzzy noise.

Scroll 2 posts down in this thread :

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5034

...to see the plates that I'm talking about above. They should be fairly flat and not too close to hitting the cross-member.

ok everyone...just got back from the dealer. Was complaining about my decel noise/semi-metallic grind sound. Went out on the drive with the tech, and literally within 3 seconds of me showing him the noise, he straight up said "Normal", then i proceeded to drive around the block, and he was telling me what the sound was. Something about the relationship between the 1-2-3 gears and the pinion and drive shaft in the transmission. I cant remember exactly what he said, but it had to do with the gears moving wth the pinion shaft and drive shaft and said all wrx's will most likely have this sound, with it possibly quieting down as the tranny breaks more and more in. SO...if that helps with this little decel issue, im glad to be of service. Hopefully he knows what he is talking about.

I don't think it's normal at all. It started for me right after changing short blocks. When they put everything back together thats when it started. I'm no car designer but thats some sad design on their part. It almost sounds like a loose bolt just banging around the firewall????;( I WANT IT GONE!!!

i get it! don't know how to fix it either.

Hey guys,
I have a dravetrain whine, but I'm not sure if it's the same sound you guys are hearing in your cars.

Normal, its based on the type of gear teeth Subaru uses. Try different gear oils.


Hey guys,
I have a dravetrain whine, but I'm not sure if it's the same sound you guys are hearing in your cars.

what do you recommend?

I started having this problem when My second tranny got put on my car. Today i finally wanted to end the damned noise, so i adjusted my cold tire pressure to 34/30. The noise is still there and my car is handling even worse than before. I need to get rid of these damn potenzas

34/30 is a little low - maybe try 38/34 (the RE92's definitely perform better at higher tire pressures - they get a little louder, though)

34/30 is a little low - maybe try 38/34 (the RE92's definitely perform better at higher tire pressures - they get a little louder, though)

wow is that really true? do you think it will get rid of the noise?

EDIT: deleted

This noise drives me insane. I am going to try and fill my tires at 34/30, but I kind of don't even care. It will just come back when the levels get off, and that's only if it works. It started happening after I got clutch work done, machined the flywheel. This noise is so bothersome I'd be willing to sell my car. Such a shame at only 49,000. Screw this noise, its horrible.

EDIT: Tires at 34/30 did nothing to ease the noise.

So has anyone had this noise fixed yet under warranty? I know that I am not about to accept this as "normal". It may not be hurting the car any but it sure is hurting my ears!:lol: I am dealing with Renick Subaru and they are willing to do whatever it takes to fix the problem but they just can't pin it down as to what it is.:(

Pilot,

I go to Renick as well. They haven't been of any help, in fact they told me that they couldn't even find any noise, which is ridiculous to me because you'd either have to be deaf or mentally impaired to miss it. When described to them they said that they have no idea what the problem is either and were going to charge $950 to even look at the transmission. I'm probably going to sell my car unless this gets resolved.

My noise just started at around 40k.... It sounds horrible, and I can feel the vibrations/grinding in the shifter. Works fine though but the noise is annoying. This sucks.

Edit: Now that I think about it, this started right after I got new tires.... I just checked the pressures and the tire place put 42in the front and 32 in the rear, no ****ing wonder.

Brought this thread back out b/c I have this noise and it's freaking annoying. From reading this thread, it doesn't really sound like its a terrible thing thats going to shred my car but MAN, it really sounds bad like something is seriously wrong. I just wanted to bring this back up so I can see if any of you were able to solve the problem or is SOA ever even figured out precisely what it was and if it could cause any other damage. Let me know please. I have a post in the tranny forum: "please hlep diagnose" but no one has responded.

I've been curious about this noise and assumed it was just me. I noticed mine after I had my clutch changed out and the flywheel resurfaced. It sounds like a clanking/rattling sound. It's really annoying and just one more noise that is getting my car sold asap.

Try the tire pressure thing. I had the issue when I rotated my tires and thought something was way wrong. Turned out I forgot to swap pressures when I rotated. Alot of people that have this issue solved it with this solution.

I've been curious about this noise and assumed it was just me. I noticed mine after I had my clutch changed out and the flywheel resurfaced. It sounds like a clanking/rattling sound. It's really annoying and just one more noise that is getting my car sold asap.

This issue is probably something different. Good luck either way!

I'm getting pretty tired of the random subaru noises.

do the 06+ get this noise? what about the 08?

I've come to the conclusion that I'd only be worried if my Suby stopped making all these noises. My friends 02 sounds exactly the same as mine... noisy as hell. If you want quiet, sell your WRX and find a couch on wheels American family car.

my 05 wrx never made this noise, then i switched to an exedy organic clutch and 13.9lb flywheel. now when i decelerate while in gear i hear a noise that sounds like i have straight cut gears.
i dont know if i should worry or turn the radio up.

yeah, that's me too! I don't know whether to worry or not! If I knew once and for all that it seriously was nothing but a noise, I'd be absolutely fine but I just don't buy it somehow. It sounds awful like there are components wearing out by rubbing together at the wrong angle or whatever, hell I don't know. It's to the point where I avoid down-shifting to 3rd at all costs b/c I'm afraid something's going to fall apart. If I knew I didn't have to worry, all would be well.

my 05 wrx never made this noise, then i switched to an exedy organic clutch and 13.9lb flywheel. now when i decelerate while in gear i hear a noise that sounds like i have straight cut gears.
i dont know if i should worry or turn the radio up.

Mine does it too with the same setup as yours. Don't think you should worry. I don't think people realize that noise is just the transmission working. It does it regardless of whether you can hear it or not. Rubber bushings isolate this in stock vehicles but when you start upgrading bushings and such, you're going to hear things that rubber will isolate. As for doing it stock, deal with it. You guys are driving a budget sport car that runs and handles great. Go buy an M3 instead, bunch of whiners.

I want to clear something up here, are you guys talking about a decel WHINE or GRIND? Mine sounds like a grind. A "ckkkrrrrr" noise. Is that what you're getting or are you getting a whiny "whir" noise?

Look, I've posted twice in this matter, in the past. Try to overfill the gearbox. I still don't have the noise, after it went away. With more oil, it will stay cooler, more viscous and will allow less rattling. If you feel you don't like it, drain the surplus, that's all. Make a test for 1 week, see what happens, it worked for me, might work for you. Also, avoid oil which is really lightweight.

my 05 wrx never made this noise, then i switched to an exedy organic clutch and 13.9lb flywheel. now when i decelerate while in gear i hear a noise that sounds like i have straight cut gears.
i dont know if i should worry or turn the radio up.



i have the same problem! Noise came about after installing ACT HDSS clutch and streetlite flywheel. 47k miles here on a 2005 wrx.

I wonder if it sounds like the P2 on TopGear?

I have been dealing with this noise for some time now. Only on hard deceleration! If you push the clutch in it goes away!!!

This is my second transmission and of course a new clutch was installed then. From what i can gather from the boards is that this is a pressure plate problem. I have no idea why or how.

Before doing the transmission i didn't have this noise. I bought an exedy clutch and resurfaced the old flywheel.

this is a flywheel problem, NOT a pressure plate problem.

Then its a disc problem?

Then its a disc problem?
:rolleyes:

My07 wrx have this decel noise from driveshaft after I installed ACT flywheel & exedy clutch. :(
btw, subaru tech told me that the noise came from the gap between rear driveshaft and LSD.

My07 wrx have this decel noise from driveshaft after I installed ACT flywheel & exedy clutch. :(
btw, subaru tech told me that the noise came from the gap between rear driveshaft and LSD.

normal, that's from the lighter flywheel normal

Hey guys. I just installed a exedy Organic clutch with a ACT streetlight 13.9 flywheel and i now am having this decel issue. Mostly in second gear decel around 3800-2500 rpm i hear it and its described as a heavy vibration (metal to metal rattle) from the transmission. Also im getting very harsh engagement. I changed out my fluids in the tranny and rear diff with Redline Lightweight shockproof also. Anyone got an idea what could cause this problem, and also is thing safe to drive like this

and also is thing safe to drive like this

That is a decision only some one who can actually test the car can make.

Is there any way to balance the drive shaft? Or is it the tranny that make the drive shaft rattle?

Mornin Bump

Well this morning a rep called my shop back to speak with me from ACT. From what he stated the streetlight flywheel or any lightweight flywheel on the wrx is going to give a loud noise in decel. He said the reason is due to the decreased weight in the flywheel and there not being enough metal to absorb the sound ( He described as if it where a harmonic balancer). He said its a common problem and u either live with it or u dont. kinda bs if u ask me

Ya, i got tired of the noise after 2 weeks. I went back to the stock flywheel, MUCH better now :)

I was wondering if SOA fixed this in the newer WRX's... cause i seem to be getting the decel grind at 3800 miles...

to the peeps that have the deceleration noise, does the noise vary when you go over bumps? say you're decelerating down a bumpy road, does the noise sounds different going over the bumps or is it the same is it would be on a flat surface?

mine seems to vary in volume (quiet to loud) when going over bumps

- exedy stg1 w/ gruppe-s light flywheel

is this a grinding or more of a whinning sound you guys are talking about? my 06 will make a whine when engine breaking in 2nd gear at low rpms but i always thought it was normal?

a grind for me. like a thick metal baseball card stuck in the flywheel teeth.

well its seem like just abut everybody has this issue. how do we know its not just one of those little subaru quarks? how do we even know its bad? doesnt sound great but that doesnt nessisarly mean somthings going to break one day.

for me personally, there was no such noise prior to the clutch/flywheel "upgrade." if it's something that happens with a light flywheel, no big deal, but i'm curious to know the science behind the noise.

i've had this same deceleration noise since i bought my 03 wrx at 50k miles and now i'm at close to 90k.. for those that have the noise, does it sound like this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f5Wo9DMlVRQ

thats EXACTLY how mine sounds.. and i don't want to replace the clutch unless i KNOW that the noise is via the clutch.. i only get this sound when i'm in any gear over 2nd and am over 2500 to 3000k rpms... it goes away when i push the clutch pedal in or when i accelerate... AHHHHHHH! if theres one thing i've hated about the car, its been this noise thats plagued the car

and the guy before me said that the car has the factory clutch, flywheel, etc...

i've had this same deceleration noise since i bought my 03 wrx at 50k miles and now i'm at close to 90k.. for those that have the noise, does it sound like this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f5Wo9DMlVRQ

thats EXACTLY how mine sounds.. and i don't want to replace the clutch unless i KNOW that the noise is via the clutch.. i only get this sound when i'm in any gear over 2nd and am over 2500 to 3000k rpms... it goes away when i push the clutch pedal in or when i accelerate... AHHHHHHH! if theres one thing i've hated about the car, its been this noise thats plagued the car

and the guy before me said that the car has the factory clutch, flywheel, etc...

Im not sure sounds like something is vibrating or rubbing somewhere. Possibly the trans.

Alright, here's my back story. I've had this car (02 WRX) for 2 years now. I bought it from a guy who converted it to RWD by welding the center diff, and removing the front half shafts and ring gear. I just had the trans out and had a dealer reinstall the ring gear since I didn't want to split the case, and I put in the center diff. With it all back together the car started making this noise. Same noise heard in the Video above. Didn't touch the clutch at all, though I do have a lightened flywheel. I'm going to try the tire pressure thing, and let you guys know.

ITS A FLYWHEEL ISSUE. Jeez people why is this so hard to understand? I had the SAME issue. ACT Streetlite flywheel with ACT HDSS clutch. I had that crappy noise. I swapped out the flywheel for an OEM one, but kept the ACT clutch and PP and the noise is GONE!

It seems that the front diff cant handle a lightweight flywheel. Almost like the front diff just rattles around. The only other way I can think of to fix this if you really want to keep the flywheel, would be a LSD for the front.

Has anyone experienced this noise on acceleration rather than deceleration? I think I had the decel noise, but then I either got used to it or it went away on its own. Now that I've switched back to my summer tires and I'm running slightly higher pressures (40/40), I have a very similar noise to the decel noise, but on acceleration instead.

I'm not sure how it could be a flywheel issue when at the beginning of this post there were new cars in 2001-2002 with the noise. Also I changed my tire pressure to 36-32 today and the noise went away 99%. I can just barely hear it in third if I really do a hard engine brake. My noise is made by the back side of the front hypoid gear set making contact on deceleration. With the front tires slightly over inflated the front wheels travel at a different speed then the rear keeping contact with the front side of the gear set while the rear end does all the engine braking work. Band-Aid on a bullet wound? Maybe. But nobody seems to report failure from this noise, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyway.

I'm guessing there are several ways to cause this noise, so your results may vary...