5EAT smoothness

[B4GT]

Hi all, I have a 5EAT GT ltd sedan. So far it's been a very enjoyable ride. However, one thing kind of bothers me. The transmission shifts very smoothly once going, nothing wrong there. But when shifting between Drive and Reverse, I sometimes hear a fairly audible clunk or clicking sound from under the car. It's not the shifter lock which I know about. This is louder, and depending on how hard I'm applying the brake, the car really wants to move. It's kind of hard to explain, but the car basically squats a little and really wants to go, maybe I'm just not applying the brakes hard enough? Most other auto cars I've been in doesn't really feel this "dramatic" when shifting into R or D. Maybe this car is much more torquey than others I've been in ? This is much more obvious when the car is cold. I'm just wondering what other 5EAT owners have experienced and whether this is normal for subaru auto trannys? If it is, then I'll learn to live with it, if not, I'll need to get it checked. Thanks.

[Ken S]

I've also noticed that going from R<->D when the tranny is cold results in a noticeable thunk. Changing directions in a tranny does require the most amount of mechanical parts moving so it doesn't come as surprise. Also, the tranny being cold will increase this tendency. I think what your hearing is normal, but it shouldn't be a difficult thing for your service department to check out. Ken

[c_hunter]

I think it's maybe because the idle is higher when the engine is cold?? I have only noticed it on my XT in the last week or so when it's been cold. Craig

[Komeng]

In another thread I mentioned about the same situation I had. Agree -- definitely not the shift lock plastic or whatever. A slight click is probably normal, but after a while this may lead to my situation where exhaust mount etc may be affected. If you go to a garage, have someone to sit in the car, lift the car on a lift, and ask the guy to shift between D<->R, while you watch from below. You'll see how much flex there is along the driveline and exhaust etc. I'm not surprised bolts can be made loose by all this torque flex. My mechanic tightened the bolts (not sure which ones) and the subsequently the loose clicking sound I heard while driving disappeared. The slight D<->R click remained, but am not very bothered by that click. BTW...my way of reducing torque flex is by NOT braking while I shift D<->R. This way the car just moves immediately, pretty safe as long as you dont mash the gas pedal! Come to think of it, by braking, the torque flex is made worse and more pronounced.

[agctr]

Are you giving the car a chance to warm up or are you putting the key in, turning it and then cranking it into R. The revs including everything else is stone cold. Give the car a chance to get some heat into it, I usually give atleast 3 mins minimum and then she should be all good. If the problem continues to exist, then take it too yr dealer to check it out. Let us know yr findings. Adam.

[B4GT]

Yes, I always let the car warm up for at least 1 to 2 mins before I go. I agree with the torque flex, that is a possible reason to make things click. Though I've always thought that the brake should be applied when going from N to D or R. That's just the way I've always driven auto cars. Maybe you don't need to brake so hard? I've always thought that would be bad for the transmission for some reason. I'll ask the dealer about it tomorrow as I'm taking it in get it checked. It makes a fairly loud clunk even when the car is hot. I'll let you know what happens.

[B4GT]

Well, I took the car to the dealer. They checked it and took a ride with me. The mechanic said it was the brake calipers making the clicking sound. He pulled the wheels and applied some lubricant to some part of the calipers, it's hard to explain exactly where. Anyway, when we test drove it again, the noise went away. But guess what, it's back. I don't it was the brake at all. The thing is that it comes and goes, usually only backing up an incline. Another thing that worries me is that when you shift from D to R when stopped, as soon as I put the gear in R, I can hear a audible click coming from under the car. Can anyone else with 5EAT confirm this? Or is it just my car? I'll monitor it some more and maybe take it in again. Thanks.

[Komeng]

You're not alone...I have it too. I'm taking my car to the dealer this weekend for a second "tightening" session, and hopefully I can take some pics and get a better explanation from them. Definitely NOT the brakes...if you have the opportunity to lift your car for undercarriage inspection, do what I suggested before and you'll see the torque flex of the driveline.

[B4GT]

I'll look forward to some pics. If possible, can you point out in the picture where exactly is the bolt that had to be tightened? That would be very helpful! Good luck with fixing that! I'm interested to hear what happens. Please keep us posted.

[Komeng]

[quote name='B4GT']I'll look forward to some pics. If possible, can you point out in the picture where exactly is the bolt that had to be tightened? That would be very helpful! Good luck with fixing that! I'm interested to hear what happens. Please keep us posted.[/QUOTE] Got the car serviced today, but sorry no pics, had errands to do while the car was serviced, and when I returned they already did the tightening and the car was off the hydraulic ramp. Anyway, I asked them and they said its the transmission mount points and its the rear mount (aft). It'll be a few bolts to tighten -- one of them will be on top of the exhaust pipe. They said these are/should normally OK/tight out of factory, but in my case, its not tight enough. With pictures this would be easy to exlpain...so sorry. Driving the car after the service, I did not hear any clicks. But I'll be listening for it these next few days to see if the bolts can somehow get loose again.

[B4GT]

Thanks for the info. I'll tell my dealer about it next time I take it in. Let us know if you notice the click again. Any one else have this problem? Or are we the only unlucky few?

[SBT]

This certainly applied to the 4EAT and I've not seen anything to the contrary in the 5EAT, but the other thing to consider here is the "click" going from D or N to R is that the center diff electronically locks the F/R torque at 50/50 just like it does in 1 or 2. Consequently, you'll possibly hear a slight click when this happens. WRT the "clunk" that has been mentioned, I believe tightening up the trans mount at the rear may be the fix that's required to "smooth out" the engagement. SBT

[eamiller]

This sounds like a combination of a couple of things going on. First, the vehicle idle is higher when cold (especially now that the days/nights are getting colder) which causes the engine to exert more force on the drivetrain (hence the feeling like the car wants to "go" while your foot is on the brake). The effect is identical to "brake torquing" the engine (think drag racing). The second thing is that the clunk you're probably hearing is all the slop being taken out of the drivetrain by the torque (AWD has more drivetrain parts to make more noise). I've noticed that AWD & 4WD systems make lots more noise than FWD drivetrains because of the extra differentials and driveshafts.

[showbo]

yeah my car only has 700 miles on it, and it shifts really aggresive from P-D or R-D. Way more noticeable when cold. It was doing this when i drove it off the lot and it only had 68 miles on it. I'm thinking its normal for sure. Sorry to dig this up from the dead, but since im not a newb on the search button...i figured it was better to search then to post up the same topic :)

[pillboy]

The idle speed will come down on both our '05 turbo and '02 NA if you blip the throttle before you put it into gear (my old Camry will NOT slow down to curb idle until its computer wants it to). Now I just have to get the wife to do this consistently...some things are impossible to accomplish.