[sleestak]

So I just picked up this 04 XT about two weeks ago and it was in need of a new clutch. It had only 55k on the odo so whoever owned it before me obviously didn't know how to drive this thing. The clutch was slipping pretty badly but other than that, the vehicle is in good condition.

I had a friend help me install the clutch (he's a subie tech) and in the process we replaced the fluids in the front and rear. The car drives so much differently now and I am really starting to like it. The clutch is pretty grabby and everything feels solid ...

BUT now I am noticing that when I gear the car down - say I am in 2nd gear and just let the car gear down as I approach a traffic stop - I can hear a somewhat faint groan or gear sound. It's not steady, it kinda fades in an out. When I accelerate there is no sound, when sitting at idle with the clutch engaged in neutral there is no sound, and everything else seems pretty normal to me. It's not loud enough that I hear it with the radio on and I don't feel anything in the floor/stick/etc/

We installed an Exedy OEM replacement, new OEM flywheel, hardware, bearings, etc. and the car is bone stock. Is this normal, am I just being hyper-sensitive? or should I just give the clutch more time to completely break in? I have done about 150 miles of mixed driving, mostly stop and go and have been making the conscious effort to not downshift, but if I am rolling to a light I will leave it in whatever gear and let it wind down till that gear is of no use anymore, then rely on the brakes.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Cheers :Banane35:

 

[The Black Box]

All my Subies made drivetrain noise when decelerating in second and first. I think it's lash.

 

[sleestak]

cheers to ya

All my Subies made drivetrain noise when decelerating in second and first. I think it's lash.

Thanks for the (only) response, senor Box!

I talked to a friend of mine who said a friend of his had a WRX that made this noise as well. Starting to settle with me a little, but I might take it by a local garage and ask them about it as well, just to (hopefully) set my mind at ease. I downshift quite a bit (rev matching always) and living in CO, obviously I gear down hills daily.

 

[05maxoXT]

Yeah this is same thing that happend to me when I changed mine.It's driving me crazyyyy.I guess all Subies doing that.Please let me know if you find out more info about this

 

[stan_t]

Have another manual Subaru owner drive the car or ride with you, see if they notice anything different. Like The Box said, it could just be drivetrain lash, I noticed it initially after buying this car, but am used to it now.

Stan

 

[sleestak]

Will do ... I plan on stopping by a garage tomorrow to have them take a ride in it and give me their opinion. It's a subaru/saab specialty shop, so I am sure they will know. Once I get an answer, I will see if maybe my video cam can pick up the sound and post it up.

Right now I am reading on driveline lash and it seems there are two different things that can be described as lash - one being a bit of slop felt between off throttle and part throttle (Subaru's seem to exhibit this due to poor drive by wire programming), the other definition I am finding revolves more around driveline noise and the design of the gears and their tolerances. I have experienced both.

One thing to consider is the new clutch and stiffer springs is probably doing a better job and transfering these noises vs. dampening them?

 

[The Black Box]

Could also be a loose exhaust heat shield but again I've always had that "gravel in a can" noise.

 

[sleestak]

^^ gravel is a noise I might associate with it.

For some peace of mind, I drove over to Sabaru in CO Springs and had them take a ride in the car with me. He could hear what I was hearing, but didn't seem overly concerned with it. It is gear noise from inside the tranny and he said that it may have been driven a little hard by the previous owner. His recommendation was to flush the tranny fluid a few times every so often and possibly add some BG Tranny Conditioner....which I can't seem to track down for MT.

I am thinking of just swapping the fluid frequently and running the Lubro Moly and some Redline Lightweight Shockproof mix. When we swapped the fluids while doing the clutch, there was a fair amount of metal on the plug ... I just want to try to get that crap out as best as possible. He did say that he figured there was still plenty of life in it and nothing seemed like it needed to be repaired.

 

[Woody '04]

long story short ... i have a new Exedy clutch and hardware with new Subaru flywheel (X, not XT though). i have clutch "buzz" in second on light acceleration. the new flywheel eliminated some light chatter, but i have to rev the car higher than before taking off or it has some "shudder" too. i messed with the heat shields, put in short shifter (planned), and synthetic gear oil (planned). this changed the "buzz" sound but I am convinced it is a vibration internal to the transmission and partially due to larger (sloppy) clearances that are probably in-spec and will work OK without causing any damage. the car was not making the noise before the clutch replacement, which leaves me to wonder if I went with Subaru clutch parts too, would it still make the buzz noise? i may still wind up going back to the shop and requesting they change it out for Subaru stocker (Exedy makes Subaru clutches but I suspect there may be some difference with theirs in the friction material, springs, etc.). i have some towing coming up, so i'm gonna see how it feels and decide for sure.

be sure you don't have LS diff oil in your trans! be sure it says OK for manual transmissions. I'm using Lubro-moly synthetic 75w90 ordered from Napa and really like it.

good luck!

 

[sleestak]

we used the standard subaru 75w-90.

I have been doing my reading and have decided to mix up a "cocktail" with 3 parts redline lightweight shock proof / 1 part Lubro-Moly. That will probably happen this weekend, with any luck. I got lucky and found all the fluids locally ... no shipping/waiting.

Hopefully this will help with the noise. Thanks to all that chimed in.