I drive a 02 wrx, and I hear this really quiet clinking or rattling noise which comes from the shifter/linkage area. It happens only when i'm in gear throughout all the gears. If i put pressure on the stick in different directions I can make it louder or quieter. Any ideas or previous experience with this?

thnx much

 

I would avoid investigating the noise by putting pressure on the shifter with the engine running. You can damage your transmission internals over time by doing so.

I would get underneath the car after safely supporting it with jackstands or ramps and inspect the linkage and bushings. As long as the retaining nut for the large bushing is snug, the linkage shouldn't be rattling. It doesn't have to be as tightened down as much as possible.

If everything looks okay underneath the car, you can inspect the shifter itself. If you aren't the original owner of the car, the shifter may have been replaced with an aftermarket short shifter. There is a bushing in the shifter where the shift linkage comes up from the transmission. Inspect the bolt and nut that retains the linkage and bushing to the shifter stick. Again, this doesn't need to be as tight as possible, just snug enough to prevent rattling.

See ScoobyMods.com shifter/bushing install for pictures, although you may not be able to see some pics on that site if you're not a registered member.

 

thanks for pointing me in the right direction, the threads you posted look like they will be very helpful.

thnx again