Green98LegacyGT Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 First off, just wanted to say hi to all the subaru owners out there. I am new to this site and would like some advice to why my car is acting up. The run down is I took my 98 legacy gt for a spirited drive the other day in our local hills. Car was running fine and shifting was nice and smooth. Later on the day I take it out around town to run errands. Car is running fine. Next day early morning I start the car to warm it up a bit - 4 minutes about. 1. Step on the clutch pedal then the RPMs begin to drop and engine dies. 2. Start up the car again and idles fine until I step on the clutch pedal, RPMs drop again and engine dies. 3. Third time I think I'll try to feather the gas while clutch is pedal is pressed and in gear to see if my car will be driveable to work. Start car, step on clutch, put it in first gear, feather gas, release clutch, drop the e-brake (cause I'm on a hill) then car lurches a few inches foward and stops - engine dies. Now the shifter is stuck in first and I cant seem to put it in neutral. 4. Step on the clutch, start the car, release the clutch and engine dies - no lurching foward. Car now feels like its in gear but wont budge with the engine started or even when I step on the clutch pedal with e-brake down. History of car is that I replaced the clutch plate about 5 months ago along with cv boots and axels. Hate to think its the clutch again or from what i've been reading - the diff? Or worse, the Transmission. Any suggestions or tests I can run at my house before having to tow it to a shop? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Possible a throwout bearing gone bad, just hope that it's the only thing. But it can also be a problem with the master or slave cylinder so check them first since those are simple to rectify. If it's really bad then it's something really wrong with the engine. I don't think that the gearbox itself is the problem. I'm thinking of a trashed axial bearing as one possible problem. Not common, but not impossible either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green98LegacyGT Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 Possible a throwout bearing gone bad, just hope that it's the only thing. But it can also be a problem with the master or slave cylinder so check them first since those are simple to rectify. If it's really bad then it's something really wrong with the engine. I don't think that the gearbox itself is the problem. I'm thinking of a trashed axial bearing as one possible problem. Not common, but not impossible either. Thank you for the speedy reply. Thing is I had taken my car in about 6 months ago to have them replace a camshaft seal and cv joints and axial . When the mechanic had the engine apart from the tranny they noticed that the throwout bearing was bad and replaced it. The clutch plate was halfway worn and they figured it would be best to replace that as well. It is possible it could be the throwout bearing again but I'll check the master and slave cylinders. I'm just wondering if my spirited driving with old diff fluid or no fluid could have caused a lockup. Thank you for your insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 what happens if you shift the trans into neutral with the car off and then try to start it ? there was / is a long long unresolved thread over on ultimatesubaru.org where the car would stall when ever he depressed the clutch pedal. but since your car seems to be binding up i'm not sure this is the same. there is a strange situation where the trans is actually in 2 gears at once, but i'm not clear on the symptoms or the fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green98LegacyGT Posted July 2, 2011 Author Share Posted July 2, 2011 The car is now stuck in 1st gear and will not budge. I can still start the car and it does stay idle now even with the clutch pedal pressed. Thing is, even though I step on the clutch pedal, I am unable to pull the shifter out of 1st into neutral. Seems like the tires are locked. I tried releasing the clutch pedal (car stuck in 1st still) and then the engine just dies (as usual when a car is in gear with clutch released) but no lurching. Other people say it could be the clutch fork is bent not allowing the tranny to change gears? I dunno. At this point, I don't think I'd even be able to get the car towed since all wheels are locked. I hate having to look at my car and not able to drive it and I'm getting broke trying to fix this thing. HELP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 it is stuck in 2 gears. i think this means it is toast. time to buy a used trans. http://www.car-part.com sort your search by distance, shipping is very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 How many miles on your BD? Have heard of the stuck-in-2-gears issues before. Usually requires teardown, if in rebuildable state, and new forks as bent forks can cause this issue to recur. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green98LegacyGT Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Thanks for the insight and advice. Sucks to know that I may have to get a new tranny installed. Wish there was someway I could get the wheels unlocked for towing. Even if the tow company brought a flat bed to tow the car, is it possible they could screw up the engine towing the car onto the bed while wheels are locked? BTW my car has 98,000 miles on it. Thought it was a steal after picking it up for a $1000 bucks from my brothers co-worker in leaky condition with 79,000 miles on it. Not sure now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Thanks for the insight and advice. Sucks to know that I may have to get a new tranny installed. Wish there was someway I could get the wheels unlocked for towing. Even if the tow company brought a flat bed to tow the car, is it possible they could screw up the engine towing the car onto the bed while wheels are locked? BTW my car has 98,000 miles on it. Thought it was a steal after picking it up for a $1000 bucks from my brothers co-worker in leaky condition with 79,000 miles on it. Not sure now Just have them put the front and rear wheels on dollies until it's on the flatbed. Definitely won't drag the wheels then. Pull/fix the transmission and drive it another 100K miles. Would be a good time to check the clutch too. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green98LegacyGT Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 Thanks for your help everyone. My uncle who is a car mechanic is gonna take a look at my car today. Hopefully its not a busted tranny but if it is, I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and get it fixed. I'm from Northern California in Oakland and was wondering if anyone on the board knows of a good transmission shop up here that I can take my car to? Figure I'd rather take my car to a tranny shop that deals with subarus rather than a regular transmission shop? Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I'm just wondering if my spirited driving with old diff fluid or no fluid could have caused a lockup. If in fact you were driving around with no fluid, then yes this would cause a possible lock up. Have you tried changing the fuild 1st and see if this would loosen it up? Try all the inexpensive things 1st before having it towed for the big bucks. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 buy a used trans and swap it in. WAY cheaper than the labor to rebuild. search here: www.car-part.com , put in your zip code and sort by distance. having a trans pulled and replaced is only about 5 hours, maybe less. so add that labor to the cost of the trans and you are back on the road for under $1000, or so. you can use the 5 speed trans from any 96 - 99 2.5L car. they all have the matching 4.11 final drive ratio. you will have to do multiple searches since the car-part site list them separately and does not include outback with GT when they are in fact the same trans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 it is stuck in 2 gears. i think this means it is toast. Not necessarily that it's toast, but it may be damned tricky to get it out of both gears. Jacking up one front and one rear wheel may help. I have experienced that before and there was no ill problems after I finally got the gearbox out of both gears. But it may happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 you can use the 5 speed trans from any 96 - 99 2.5L car. they all have the matching 4.11 final drive ratio. Just make sure you don't inadvertenly source the 2.2L L variants. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green98LegacyGT Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Haha. I'm so happy. Sorry I haven't been on the boards lately but here's what happened. Called my uncle up and his first diagnosis was that the car was stuck in two gears. After convincing him that I knew how to change gears and understood that my subaru is not a porche I showed him a internet article with someone who owned a outback that experienced very similar problems. The outback owner said he used a buddies car to move the car a few inches until the shifter popped out. Instead of using a car, my uncle and I decided to push/rock the carback and forth. Surely enough, momemtum was built up, my uncle jumps in the car, steps on the clutch, and 1st gear pops out into neutral! I start the car up and everything works fine as it did before. Now I will def. check and change my tranny and diff fluids. Thanks again everyone for your insight and advice. I am so happy to know that I was able to fix my ride and not have spent a few hundred to thousand on getting a new tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Glad to hear it was an easy fix. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Love it when a plan comes together. - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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