Ok, here's the situation. Say I accelerate in first gear, then I shift to second and accelerate a little more. When I let off the gas in second and slightly engine brake, I can here a metal on metal gear friction/whirring noise. Is this normal? Because I haven't heard anything like that when I engine braked my 2000 Civic Si.

BTW, I have an 04 WRX, with about 430 miles.

do a search for the infamous "deceleration noise" or "decel noise". 90% of my decel noise goes away if I keep my front tires pumped up 3-4 pounds more than my back. It is possible your dealer did not inflate you tires to the factory spec of 32F/29R. Try 36/32 or even higher pressure for less sidewall flex on your stock RE92's.

i have an '04 myself and it does it too. i already got used to it.

If they didn't change much from 02/03, wait til below 55-60 deg. You'll have to let engine/tranny warm up or :huh: :huh: . The deceleration gear sounds are common. Some had fixed under warranty. I.E- Subaru replaced 02 rexes flywheel w/ heavier one to reduce sounds.(and performance slightly). Do a search going back to"beginning". AWD produces lots of noises/sounds not found in FR/RW drive cars. It really freaked me out and had me calling my dealer at first.(Bought car in OCT. when it was just starting to dip in the low 60's. Nov. came and panic. But all is still well. 32k and same sounds. I just made car louder so I couldn't hear the tranny.:banana:

Cool. Thanks for the replies guys. When it comes to car noises, I always get paranoid.:D

yep, dont worry about it, you'll hear similar sound on 1st, 2nd, and reverse. :)

Does this mean an aftermarket lightened flywheel would make the noise worse?

I was similarly freaked when my car seemed to start making this noise at 1500 miles, but the stuff I've read on here has gotten me over my paranoia. That, and the tire pressure thing does seem to shut it up :)

-bd

Ok... I've read a lot of these posts, and have a slight variation to my question/concern.

I get the decel 'grind' basically all the time, and I've tried the tire pressure changes. A little luck with that, but not much. My bigger concern is the clutch.

When I am going around 20-25 in 2nd, and let up on the gas, even a little bit, the clutch basically 'bounces' a bit. You can hear the clutch/grind, but you can also feel the car go in/out of gear a bit. There is both the low pitch 'grind', and the more normal engine break sound. Now I've had manual cars for 15 years, and I've never had one that is quite so sensitive.

I know that the grind issue has no/minimal fixes, but is this clutch that sensitive? I don't mind the decel grind so much, but I'm concerned about the bounce when lifting off the gas (and I'm talking even a little here). Is this a sign of synchro problems? Clutch adjustment needed?

As for the heat shield, I get that noise too.... usually only when I rev hard - located near the left foot area, and certainly sounds like a loose shield/metal on metal sound. Different than the grind noise. That one I can feel/hear in the shifter.

I have an 03, and when starting off in 1st, the clutch isn't very solid, slow to engage, even when I try to be very, very careful not to slip and/or pop it at all. It's not completely dead, I don't think, but it's concerning.

Any suggestions? I fear that dealers would just say 'live with it', but I certainly don't think a car with only 12k miles should have a clutch this sensitive.

bump..... anyone else have this clutch problem? (see above post)

My car feels very similar to yours.

I'm just not going to freak myself out worrying about it yet, since everyone seems to think it's normal...

-bd

got it here too. i've been told its normal gear whine

Originally posted by loreley
got it here too. i've been told its normal gear whine

My question is more about the 'bounce' in the clutch, that it is slow to engage, and when you take your foot off the gas in 2nd at 20 or 30, you feel a 'skip' in the clutch (like when shifting poorly for example, but when you are already in gear and just letting off the gas, down a hill or around a corner etc).

How many of you have that?

I have experienced the "bounce"

-bd

how suddenly are you letting off the gas? 1st and 2nd gear are a bit more sensitive to throttle imput. if its doing this "bounce" when you are just gradually letting off the gas, it might be something to look at.

Originally posted by loreley
how suddenly are you letting off the gas? 1st and 2nd gear are a bit more sensitive to throttle imput. if its doing this "bounce" when you are just gradually letting off the gas, it might be something to look at.

Yep... this bounce happens with 'very' slight lifting, mostly in 2nd, sometimes even third. It's pretty pronounced..... I could make the same move in my old 95 tercel, and it would only bounce if I 'really' went from throttle to lifting off the gas.

Anyone have any ideas on how to best approach the dealer? I know they aren't exactly jumping to fix tranny/clutch problems.



What part of the tranny is likely to cause this?

Almost everyone has this abrasive gear sound.... and I've noticed this to one degree or another in almost ever manual car I've driven. For AWD (or 4WD I'd suppose too) things get exaggerated because of extra force back from 4 drive wheels instead of 2. So, when you have the "bounce" problem, its not a problem. You just need to learn to be smoother with your footwork. At first you'll have to annoyingly concentrate but eventually it becomes second nature. Don't get offended, I'm not talking about learning how to drive nor do I think you're all noobs. Do what I'm saying and tell me if smoother driving doesn't cure half of this.

Something to note: winning race car drivers make the most unbelievably smoothest shifts when they race. It might feel less efficient, but there's nothing better for speed and stability, not to mention transmission longevity, than learning to shift so smoothly that passengers cant tell you have a manual transmission. And also, "smoothly" does not equal "slowly". It just means "smoothly". Something that helped me was to think of using all the pedals (including the brake) as triggers meant to be squeezed, instead of pedals to be pushed. If you are going to be fast, be consistently fast, not jerky. Smooooth.

jason

I wish that was the case..... but honestly, this 'bounce' happens at even the 'slightest' lift off the gas, which is a major PITA when in the twisties (which is every day for me, my commute is on hwy 1).


So if this isn't 'user error', what would cause the clutch to bounce? And how do I get a dealer to take this seriously? I'm sure the first response will be "they all do that", but I know that they don't all do this the way my car does, and has done pretty much from day 1.

I don't mind the grind noise (assuming it isn't causing damage).

I just recently started hearing this decel grind after replacing the clutch.

I changed it to a exedy hyper single (has a lightened flywheel) and I get a rather loud low pitch vibrating grind as I'm decelerating or coasting (in certain rpm ranges). The tire pressure fix doesn't work for me (granted I run 17" 225/45 Azenis)...

Can anybody shed some light on a fix? This god aweful noise is driving me nuts...

Thanks in advance,
Masuo

Originally posted by QwikRex
Because I haven't heard anything like that when I engine braked my 2000 Civic Si.

You're driving a Subaru now. It's supposed to sound like that. :)