98 GT shifter spring issue?

[awilkie84]

Hi Guys,

 

1st post here. New to Subarus. Just bought a 98 Legacy GT w/ 260,000 km on it. Got a REALLY good price on it. Body/interior's immaculate & the engine/drivetrain has been well cared for. I plan on rebuilding a 2nd engine to swap into it in the relative future, because the head gasket's never been redone but that's not really my issue in this post.

 

I'm having issues sometimes when I'm shifting because the stick is very sloppy when not in gear. When in gear, there's very little left-to-right play but when I take it out of gear, it doesn't try to pull to the middle unless I'm coming out of 5th or reverse. If I left the stick sit loose, it flops over (no tension) to the left (by 1st/2nd). This lack of any intuitive motion causes me to lose where I'm positioned, if I'm not careful. I've already slipped once into 2nd when aiming for 4th.

 

Is this just a spring issue, or is this going to be more of a bushing issue?

 

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Shik]

Andrew, it's the shifter "knuckle":

 

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/legacy1907/shifterknuckle.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/legacy1907/shifty_742a.jpg

 

In the diagram pic, it's the one inbetween the "A's".

 

There are some other bushings here and there but replacing them will do nothing.

 

Here's a quick DIY from Nasioc(courtesy of Box This):

You will need:

 

1.) ramps, or ability to lift vehicle enough to work under. (I simply used drive on ramps it was enough room, tight, but enough.)

2.) 12mm socket, flex extension, at least 8" extension, wratchet, 12mm wrench, set of pin-punches (I have a set of 6 and none of them were exactly correct, but I made them work.)

3.) PB blaster to make life easier.

4.) Hammer

4a.) Needle nose plyers - longer the better

5.) Parts.. $62.00 including tax for new knuckle with bushings included. (For the shift lever itself, $7.00 bought me the new spring for under the car, and the 2 new blue bushings for the sides of the shifter inside the car.)

6.) ball joint puller, or similar item to tap the knuckle off the shift linkage in the trans.

7.) Grease.. I use some synthetic grease for all my projects. makes things easier to put together, and avoids squeaks.

 

Steps:

 

1.) Having a helper is cool... shift tranny into 5'th gear.

2.) Go under car once properly secured and supported.. oviously. Position yourself to the left of the exhaust.. if you are standing under the vehicle on a lift, or laying on the ground you'll need to be under the drivers seat basically.

2a.) Remove spring from bottom of knuckle with needle nose plyers.. if it;'s even still there.. mine was gone.

3.) Using pin punches and hammer, remove center spring pin (hammer upwards until it falls out, relatively easy.)

4.) Remove larger spring pin, same deal.. hammer it out with a punch.)

5.) Shift into reverse to make this step easier. Using your 12mm socket gear, make an extension and swivel head to fit onto the bottom bolt of the rear of the knuckle. (Here comes the hard part.) Using a 12mm wrench, hold the top nut still so it doesn't turn as you use your other hand to turn the socket below and remove the nut from top, and stud bolt from below. This may be rusted in place so you will need to have a good long set of channel lock pliers or something to drag it, and pull it down and out.

6.) This step is up to you, but I found it easy to use a ball-joint puller bar, and place it over the transmission shift linkage in front of the knuckle which is undoubtedly stuck on there from corrosion. Hammer the back side of it, so the knuckle slides off, and presto.. knuckle is out. (granted up to this point, it took me 2 hours since I had little space to work and no room to swing my hammer.)

7.) Clean the old stud bolt and nut off (emory paper, or a wire wheel works great for removing rust.)

8.) Grease up your new knuckle which is pre-bushed.. reach up there and slide it back into the shaft from the trans. Have a helper if possible maneuver the shift lever so you can slide it over the new knuckle, apply grease to your stud bolt and slide it back up through the fork. Apply top nut, and tighten (don't know torque specs.)

9.) Have helper then push shift lever forwards or side to side until you line up the holes for the front side of the knuckle, and the hole in the shaft from the trans. (this is hard, the brace for the trans is right in your way.) re-tap in your large spring pin using your punch. Next insert the smaller center spring pin and tap that into place. This may be trial and error.. I found it easiest to place my punch inside a socket that fit, then ad an extension and hammer it into place.

 

 

10.) Once you have gotten this far, you're pretty much done. If you purchased 2 new bushings for inside the car, simply remove the 2 phillips screws under the console lid, pull up the plactic trim for the e-brake.. then unscrew the shift knob.. pull up the plastic surround and I believe 12mm wrench to remove the nut and bolt from the shift lever/fork assembly. Remove old bushings, grease, apply new bushings and re-tighten the botl and nut up there.

 

That's about it.. Sounds simple but my best advice to you is be patient, be careful... and the higher the car is the easier it will be to work on. With a lift this job may take you 20 mins. It took me 4 hours, with less than 2 feet to work with under the car laying on the ground.

 

This was a part number mentioned for a '97, 35047AC030 , but double check.

 

Completely night and day difference after doing it. Good luck!

 

-Matt

[awilkie84]

Thanks for the reply. That diagram helps a lot.

Good to know it's only 1, but I might as well attempt to do them all. I'm sure they've never been done. Myself & a couple friends are going to change the clutch, rear main seal & flywheel (I was always under the impression that a standard didn't have/need a flywheel, or was that the torque converter?? ), so we'll be in a position where we can do these too.

 

$2500 into the car...plus whatever this is going to cost me...but I know it will be worth it for the experience. Not to mention that all the rotors/pads, calipers are 6mo old, suspension bushings are 3mo old, the engine's been maintained very well by the previous owner & the interior is immaculate. I'll get some pics up later tonight or tomorrow.

[Headtrauma89]

It sounds like your particular issue is that you are missing your "return to center" spring. Although the knuckle mentioned above is a common issue, since you have little play while in gear, I'd bet your bushings are ok.

The spring is not shown in this diagram, but it connects the knuckle to the stay rod washer. You can even just pick one up at the hardware store, but the dealership only charges a few bucks for the OEM one.

This is a bad pic of mine:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag80/headtrauma89/f17aac2a-45ef-4f25-9e38-4f480ba90039_zps05008134.jpg

You can get to it easily under the car.

[awilkie84]

Cool. You wouldn't happen to have a part number, would you?

The Subaru dealership here looked at me funny when I was explaining it to them.

[Headtrauma89]

Its 33022GA081

[awilkie84]

Thanks. Just ordered it. Should be here Tuesday, as they don't have any in stock locally. Go figure that they don't stock parts for a 15 year old car. lol

 

When I go in to pick it up, I'm going to ask them what the cost of a full short block (with internals) would be for an EJ251 or EJ253. If it's not too bad, maybe I'll order that, too.

[Headtrauma89]

How many miles are on your engine? Are you sure the gaskets haven't been replaced? Once you have the updated head gaskets on the ej25d they are good for a loooooong time. Sure there are stronger motors out there, but for a DD thats worth 4-5k at the most, just leave it. If its not broken then why drop 2-3k on a brand new engine? My wife and I both drive LGTs with the EJ25D with the new gaskets, and mine is 201,000 miles+ and my wife's is like 196,000 miles+ and they are still going strong.

If your worried about the gaskets, look at them first, there is parts that are visible from the top of the engine. The originals were 3 layer, and the new ones are 4 layers. If they are original, then pull the motor and replace them for good measure.

[awilkie84]

How many miles are on your engine? Are you sure the gaskets haven't been replaced? Once you have the updated head gaskets on the ej25d they are good for a loooooong time. Sure there are stronger motors out there, but for a DD thats worth 4-5k at the most, just leave it. If its not broken then why drop 2-3k on a brand new engine? My wife and I both drive LGTs with the EJ25D with the new gaskets, and mine is 201,000 miles+ and my wife's is like 196,000 miles+ and they are still going strong.

If your worried about the gaskets, look at them first, there is parts that are visible from the top of the engine. The originals were 3 layer, and the new ones are 4 layers. If they are original, then pull the motor and replace them for good measure.

 

AFAIK, the head gaskets have never been done. They're starting to seep a little bit, though. The timing belt was apparently done at 170,000 km. Mine's at 266,000 km (165,000 miles). I was looking at the block as an option because I use it as a DD right now & don't want to have the car off the road for more than a day while I do the head gaskets. So, I was thinking of getting a second short block for an EJ251 or EJ253 & sourcing another set of heads for an EJ25D. Given that the new engine is 2-3k, it's not worth the money. I'll try sourcing one from a wrecker & hope that it hasn't been abused. This would allow me to rebuild the long block & just swap it into my car when it's complete.

 

I'll definitely check my gaskets when I get home. Thanks for the layer tip.

[Headtrauma89]

Thats cool, I was just trying to save you a little $$. There is a lot of people on forums that seemingly have a lot of $$$ because everybody and their dog suggest the most expensive options first Lol.

[awilkie84]

Thats cool, I was just trying to save you a little $$. There is a lot of people on forums that seemingly have a lot of $$$ because everybody and their dog suggest the most expensive options first Lol.

 

haha. I'm definitely not in THAT boat. I'm on a budget, for sure. Finding a wrecked Subaru around here is difficult, though. They're not overly common & the wreckers don't keep their stock updated. -_-