I knew the tranny was the weak link in my 92 legacy, but I thought it would give me a bit more. While pulling away from a stop light I heard this ticking. I thought something was hitting the fan, or caught in the wheel. I pulled over and popped the hood. My first thought then was it was pinging, but then I realized it was coming from the massive tranny housing. The fluid is at the right level, haven't checked the drain plug for metal yet. I decided to to gingerly drive the remaining mile or so home. It clicks in all gears and while idling. It becomes really loud and violent in 2nd though. I can't feel anything through the shifter, and the gears engage normally. I'm guessing 2nd or it's syncro have given up. As just about the only drive train part that has all 178,000mi on it, I'm not surprised something is seriously wrong. What are everybody’s experiences with tranny's. I'm assuming a used/rebuilt will be much less than fixing a complicated sube gearbox.

 

Thanks for the reply, it does not make noise when the clutch is in. The "clunk/thump/clank" increases in frequency as RPM is increased, and increases in intensity in 2nd. I'm thinking it's not worth fixing one part of a tranny with 170000mi. My local mechanic is an "import specialist" but not a "subaru specialist." Can a competent mechanic that hasn't cracked a sube gearbox do a proper job even?

 

I found a used tranny out of a 94 legacy that had only 70K on it. So I know have the most expensive 2000.00 sube around. My excuse for not getting a short throw shifter was I didn't want to put too much stress on the now dead tranny. I guess I have no excuses anymore.

 

It's most likely the pilot bearing or the throwout bearing.
It's a common problem. They wear out.

I think it's the pilot bearing more than throwout bearing.
Tranny should be just fine.
Maybe it's a good time to change the clutch since you gotta drop the tranny to replace pilot bearing.