Car loudly pops out of reverse (5sp man), took to Subaru, needs trans rebuild

I don't know if anyone has had this issue. How solid are our 5spd manual transmissions? Looks like my welcome into Subaru is having some turbulence, but hopefully it will be smooth flying from here on out.

 

I took the car in to Subaru because my car would pop out of reverse whenever I would put it in gear, let the clutch out, and give it any kind of throttle. It would loudly just pop out. It was a pain because in order to back up, I had to let the clutch out and just coast, or hold the lever in place. Well, it turns out it needs a complete trans rebuild! So trans rebuild, and the clutch was worn, although I felt no slippage. They also said it was notchier than normal. This being my first Subaru, I didn't know if the notchiness was normal or not...and my clutch engaged at a really low point...very close to the floor. From reading posts on here though on a question I asked about it, the responses I saw were that our shifter is notchy and that engagement at or near the floor was normal for the clutch.

 

I bought the car in May on Memorial Day, and thankfully I went ahead and bought a 4yr/48k warranty. The trans is covered! As well as stabilizer links and my control arm bushings So while I'm disappointed to have that go bad, at least it will be good as new now. I guess the previous owner just neglected this car. I paid $1300 for the warranty, it's full coverage, and it's looking like a great deal now I did basically a 60k service as soon as I got the car, just didn't plan on the work today. I guess on the bright side, the car should be as good as new...so far I've

 

-changed oil and filter

-changed f+r diff fluid

-coolant flush

-changed banjo bolt

-changed air filter and cabin filter

-changed spark plugs

-changed power steering fluid

-new f+r brakes and rotors w/ ss lines, grimspeed brace, and brake fluid flush

-already flushed the trans fluid and clutch fluid once, guess it's gonna be done again

-had my wheel bearings replaced by Subaru under the extended warranty

-new control arm bushings

-new clutch and flywheel

-trans rebuild

-did seafoam through induction and gas tank...will do the oil system with immediate oil change too

 

I plan on getting a second set of wheels with Potenza 970's and a set of Blizzak WS-70's shortly for my stock wheels. Hopefully, the car will run me trouble free from here on out.

These trannys are like glass. Be careful with it.

 

Have them put a 07 FW and clutch in it. The DMFW is junk. I don'tthink very highly of the OEM clutch either. Just about any aftermarket clutch is X's better.

 

You'll want to get a catless up pipe and get the car tuned.

 

How many miles on her ?

mine was that way when i bought it in jan 09. said tran needs to be re-built/re-placed as well... still have it

Oh man, like glass? I did call back to see about getting the 07/08 LGT clutch put in there. The tech was out to lunch, so they'll call me back. I'm going to have them do that as I have read that it's a better set-up, and hey, Subaru themselves went to that set up.

 

Yeah rainman, I think I could have continued on driving with the trans as-is, but I couldn't stand that popping out...and who knows, maybe it gets worse and breaks down on me which would really be a p.i.a.

Good thought process going there, winter time is coming...

 

These 5mt's have been a issue for a long time. My 2000 GT wagon had the snot break off just past the 60,000 mile warranty.

 

My current tranny has been out 5 times in my wagon. Not like a Honda.

61k on my busted 5th gear...

you guys are having funnnnn.

So the dealer called back and said the 07 clutch is pretty much the same part numbers except for the flywheel. He believes it will work no problem, but recommended putting the 05 flywheel in. Reasons were if there is any issue with the clutch, odds are Subaru won't warranty it since they didn't put in the exact part it called for in their book. He confirmed the 05 and 07 have the same engine, same trans, and pretty much the same clutch, just the flywheel difference. I went ahead and told him to order the clutch setup for the 07 and put it on. I understand his point, and he basically said at the dealership they just go strictly by the book and don't modify anything.

 

Forgot to mention, the car has just under 62k miles, but I have only had it for 2k of those miles. I'm pretty much cleaning up the previous owner's (3rd owner) negligence. I imagine the whole clutch engagement is going to be much nicer. The car has really grown on me, so I imagine I'll like it even more

 

Hopefully I'll have better luck than Max Capacity...even Honda's have their issues, but it's with the automatics. Their manuals are great though.

61k on my busted 5th gear...

 

The trans can't be that weak if you can put 61k on a busted gear!

HA! Sorry let me re-phrase. 61k miles then I busted my 5th gear.

I got the car back yesterday and it feels fantastic now. The clutch pedal feel is lighter, the engagement and engagement points a whole lot better, and even the gearbox is a lot smoother than before (not as clunky and notchy) Overall, very happy, and very happy that I went with the SMFW (Subaru part# 12342AA090 for anyone who may want one).

 

And yes Max Capacity, I definitely want a catless up, and also would like a catted Invidia dp, PW TMIC, and already have a Stromung catback sitting at home waiting for everything else. Then immediately get tuned (shooting to get it all together by March) and hopefully it will alleviate the famous stutter which is annoying. Even with that, it's still a fun fun car and a joy to drive...especially with the new clutch feel.

Glad to see you went with the 07 FW.

 

Will you be doing a open source tune with your lap top or getting a Cobb AP ?

 

I will suggest you get the car off the oem map asap. It has flaws in it.

 

I went Cobb AP stage 1 at 8000 miles on the wagon. Glad I did.

I would like to get it custom dyno tuned and get the most out of it. From reading on here, AMS sounds like a decent place to go to for that since P&L has gone south with their reputation. Ha ha, I totally agree that the stock tune has some flaws! How in the world can Subaru allow that kind of software tune? $25k-$30k+ for a new car and you allow that stutter!?!

subaru went out of their way to attempt fuel economy via timing tables and failed miserably, awesome first/second gear stutter with a hugely erratic timing advance table at low/mid loads. thats why stage 1 tunes are preferred, smoothed timing tables, smoother wastegate tables to transition boost, and fuel to fit.