Short throw shifter buzzing / 5th gear drops out by itself. Can someone help please?

powerlabs · 04-12-2004, 09:30 AM

I have a short throw shifter on my 1999 Impreza 2.5RS; Since I got the car at 58000miles I've noticed that the shifter vibrates very hard at high RPMs on certain gears. This vibration makes a really loud buzzing sound that is extremely annoying. It will stop if I hold the shifter, so I know that the buzzing is caused entirely by it vibrating. I had the dealership replace my shifter bushing by a hard polyurethane bushing and that did not help the problem at all. Lately (I'm at 61000 miles now) it buzzes on all gears, even at 4000RPM. Now this weekend, comming back from a 300 mile trip, 5th gear popped out by itself 4 times. I would be on cruise control at 80MPH and the gear would simply pop out and the cc would redline the engine trying to maintain speed while the car was in neutral. Or 2 other times it popped out when I lifted my foot from the gas or when I hit the brake hard after cruising for half an hour or so. These issues are making me very frustrated with the car. I had the dealer replace my clutch (it was shot) and the shifter bushing and I had them take another look at the buzzing problem and it never got fixed. Now I am thinking about replacing the transmition mount by a harder one (Cobb or STI). Would that help? Is the car dropping out of 5th because of this buzzing problem or is that something unrelated?
Any help on this is highly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

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DrMSH · 04-12-2004, 10:33 AM

anytime a gear pops out on its own is not a good sign, I'm afraid.. it's worse for reverse and 1st gear, though.. does it grind when you get into 5th gear at all?

btw, if it pops out of gear while you're using your cruise control, quickly tap on the brakes to deactivate the CC to prevent the engine from redlining..

powerlabs · 04-12-2004, 11:12 AM

None of the gears seem to grind at all. 1st gear whines and is difficult to get into when the car is moving but it seems like this is a standart thing for Subarus. Otherwise the car shifts smoothly. I am thinking the shifter vibration/buzzing might be strong enough to be popping it out, but it seems to pop out even when the shifter isn't vibrating too much, so I'm not sure...
Another thing I noticed is that the shifter moves a lot; if I mash on the throttle I can see it move forward by about 1/2 an inch. If I pull my foot off the gas it will move back by 1/2 an inch. I think all this play in the shifter is what allows it to vibrate and buzz when the engine is reving fast (on or off throttle). This is the reasoning behing my suggestion that a harder transmition mount may help, although I am really not sure here, thus my asking you for help

Quote:

btw, if it pops out of gear while you're using your cruise control, quickly tap on the brakes to deactivate the CC to prevent the engine from redlining..

Yeah, or push the clutch, or hit the CC button... That's what I was doing, but I think the idea here is that it *shouldn't* pop out of gear

Also most times it popped out I didn't realize it untill the engine was bouncing on the redline!

RB5 Clone · 04-14-2004, 12:37 PM

mu 00 RS has started doing same thing recently. pops out of 5th, sometimes in cruise mode, other times when lifting off gas in 5th, sometimes just pops out as if by dark magic.

check your transmission mounts. if they are worn, loose, or both, the trans will pop out of 5th without warning.

simple check: get car up on jackstands or lift. take a big prybar and lever up/down between trans housing and the trans corssmembers. if the transaxle moves more than about a quarter inch, you got shot mounts (or loose bolts)

tighten all bolts around trans x-members, also look at the rubber bushings between xmembers and the trans and body. these wear out, esp if they get greasy or oily and are softened up. replacing these is reasonably easy if you're mechanically inclined, otherwise have a dealer do it.

another warning sign of loose trans mounts is that the clutch will shudder when taking off in 1st gear and/or sometimes in other gears as well. You may also get an awful CLUNK when you take up on clutch after a fast downshift.

Good luck, if it's not loose trans mounts or worn busings, it may be that your gearbox is toast.

cheers,

Dave G
Serial Scooby Thrasher and Gearbox Torture Tester
Last Ditch Racing

North Ursalia · 04-14-2004, 01:15 PM

Search for "main shaft nut" and my name. There is a TSB on the main shaft nut loosening. My 5th gear used to pop out because of this.

Brian

powerlabs · 04-14-2004, 06:52 PM

Thank you RB5 Clone, you gave me hope

I am going to replace the transmission mount with a harder one and have everything re-tightened and report back on what happens.
North Ursalia; The only post containing main shaft nut and your name is this one and another one where you also ask the reader to search
Would you mind elaborating please?
I really hope its not my tranny

Is there any difference between the hardned mounts Cobb sells and STI mounts?

Supraru · 04-14-2004, 09:51 PM

I had this problem. Then one day on the highway I was in 5th and it poped out, usually i would just put it in 4th and continue but this time I just tried to put it back in 5th. Well I got a totally different grinding noise then if you messed up a shift so I tried to put it into 4th and got the same. Tried once more to put it into 5ht and it did it again. I then put it into 3rd then 4th and it was fine. When I got home I tried to reverse and I couldn't put it in. Took it to the dealer and they fixe it. Now I'm getting a small grind at mid rpm in 4th. I hope that doesn't happen to you.

North Ursalia · 04-14-2004, 10:18 PM

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...main+shaft+nut

and

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...highlight=gear

and most importantly

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...main+shaft+nut

The TSB number is 03-48-99 from July 1999, though I didn't know that at the time of any of those posts

. Your dealership should know about it without the number anyway.

Brian

twizzstyle · 04-15-2004, 11:39 PM

as far as the buzzing, your shifter probably has ball bearing bushings on the shifter itself. Mine had that, and at certain RPMs would start rattling like crazy, drove me nuts. So I drill out the bearings, and put the stock bushings in their place, works like a charm now!

No idea about the popping out of gear though

04-12-2004, 09:30 AM	#1
powerlabs Scooby Specialist Member#: 45790 Join Date: Oct 2003 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: New Jersey Vehicle: 2006 Corvette C6 Z51 SUPERCHARGED	Short throw shifter buzzing / 5th gear drops out by itself. Can someone help please? I have a short throw shifter on my 1999 Impreza 2.5RS; Since I got the car at 58000miles I've noticed that the shifter vibrates very hard at high RPMs on certain gears. This vibration makes a really loud buzzing sound that is extremely annoying. It will stop if I hold the shifter, so I know that the buzzing is caused entirely by it vibrating. I had the dealership replace my shifter bushing by a hard polyurethane bushing and that did not help the problem at all. Lately (I'm at 61000 miles now) it buzzes on all gears, even at 4000RPM. Now this weekend, comming back from a 300 mile trip, 5th gear popped out by itself 4 times. I would be on cruise control at 80MPH and the gear would simply pop out and the cc would redline the engine trying to maintain speed while the car was in neutral. Or 2 other times it popped out when I lifted my foot from the gas or when I hit the brake hard after cruising for half an hour or so. These issues are making me very frustrated with the car. I had the dealer replace my clutch (it was shot) and the shifter bushing and I had them take another look at the buzzing problem and it never got fixed. Now I am thinking about replacing the transmition mount by a harder one (Cobb or STI). Would that help? Is the car dropping out of 5th because of this buzzing problem or is that something unrelated? Any help on this is highly appreciated! Thanks in advance. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

04-14-2004, 12:37 PM	#4
RB5 Clone Scooby Specialist Member#: 30909 Join Date: Dec 2002 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: lastditchracing.net & 03 STI Vehicle: RA East Open Class Champs 07-08-09	check trans mounts mu 00 RS has started doing same thing recently. pops out of 5th, sometimes in cruise mode, other times when lifting off gas in 5th, sometimes just pops out as if by dark magic. check your transmission mounts. if they are worn, loose, or both, the trans will pop out of 5th without warning. simple check: get car up on jackstands or lift. take a big prybar and lever up/down between trans housing and the trans corssmembers. if the transaxle moves more than about a quarter inch, you got shot mounts (or loose bolts) tighten all bolts around trans x-members, also look at the rubber bushings between xmembers and the trans and body. these wear out, esp if they get greasy or oily and are softened up. replacing these is reasonably easy if you're mechanically inclined, otherwise have a dealer do it. another warning sign of loose trans mounts is that the clutch will shudder when taking off in 1st gear and/or sometimes in other gears as well. You may also get an awful CLUNK when you take up on clutch after a fast downshift. Good luck, if it's not loose trans mounts or worn busings, it may be that your gearbox is toast. cheers, Dave G Serial Scooby Thrasher and Gearbox Torture Tester Last Ditch Racing

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04-12-2004, 10:33 AM	#2
DrMSH Scooby Newbie Member#: 59379 Join Date: Apr 2004	anytime a gear pops out on its own is not a good sign, I'm afraid.. it's worse for reverse and 1st gear, though.. does it grind when you get into 5th gear at all? btw, if it pops out of gear while you're using your cruise control, quickly tap on the brakes to deactivate the CC to prevent the engine from redlining..

04-14-2004, 01:15 PM	#5
North Ursalia Miss You Mom Oct 1940 - Feb 2008 Super Moderator Member#: 809 Join Date: Jan 2000 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: NH, Land Of Many Trees Vehicle: 2000 2.5 RS, '14 For 92 5MT SVX	Search for "main shaft nut" and my name. There is a TSB on the main shaft nut loosening. My 5th gear used to pop out because of this. Brian

04-14-2004, 06:52 PM	#6
powerlabs Scooby Specialist Member#: 45790 Join Date: Oct 2003 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: New Jersey Vehicle: 2006 Corvette C6 Z51 SUPERCHARGED	Thank you RB5 Clone, you gave me hope I am going to replace the transmission mount with a harder one and have everything re-tightened and report back on what happens. North Ursalia; The only post containing main shaft nut and your name is this one and another one where you also ask the reader to search Would you mind elaborating please? I really hope its not my tranny Is there any difference between the hardned mounts Cobb sells and STI mounts?

04-14-2004, 09:51 PM	#7
Supraru Scooby Specialist Member#: 23313 Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Collegeville,Pa Vehicle: 99' 2.5Rs black	I had this problem. Then one day on the highway I was in 5th and it poped out, usually i would just put it in 4th and continue but this time I just tried to put it back in 5th. Well I got a totally different grinding noise then if you messed up a shift so I tried to put it into 4th and got the same. Tried once more to put it into 5ht and it did it again. I then put it into 3rd then 4th and it was fine. When I got home I tried to reverse and I couldn't put it in. Took it to the dealer and they fixe it. Now I'm getting a small grind at mid rpm in 4th. I hope that doesn't happen to you.

04-14-2004, 10:18 PM	#8
North Ursalia Miss You Mom Oct 1940 - Feb 2008 Super Moderator Member#: 809 Join Date: Jan 2000 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: NH, Land Of Many Trees Vehicle: 2000 2.5 RS, '14 For 92 5MT SVX	http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...main+shaft+nut and http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...highlight=gear and most importantly http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...main+shaft+nut The TSB number is 03-48-99 from July 1999, though I didn't know that at the time of any of those posts . Your dealership should know about it without the number anyway. Brian

04-15-2004, 11:39 PM	#9
twizzstyle Scooby Guru Member#: 18941 Join Date: May 2002 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Kenmore, Washington Vehicle: 2005 Lotus Elise Orange	as far as the buzzing, your shifter probably has ball bearing bushings on the shifter itself. Mine had that, and at certain RPMs would start rattling like crazy, drove me nuts. So I drill out the bearings, and put the stock bushings in their place, works like a charm now! No idea about the popping out of gear though