[Rednecklawrence]

So this morning about halfway to work, I pulled up to a red light, put it in neutral, and let the clutch out, as you do. Then trying to take off again, it was quite difficult to put it into 1st through out the push until it was all the way, then back out of 1st was difficult as well. 2nd was fine, but then it would not go into 3rd, 4th, or 5th at all. After I moved the shifter in neutral back and forth ALL the way to each side, it seemed like 3rd-5th 'unlocked', and I was able to shift normally. But now every time I use 1st, which is still hard to get into and out of, it seems to 'lock' 3rd-5th until I move the stick side to side in neutral all the way to each side. This has never happened before and I checked the tranny fluid and there is fluid in it, so that shouldn't be it. The car is coming up on 300km, is it just on it's way out? Or is this an issue that is known?

 

[SwitchPNW]

Sounds like maybe the shifter bushings are collapsed, is there a lot of play in the shifter? Maybe the clutch fork is cracked and flexing, causing the hard shifting condition. Clutch fork failure is common, especially with age.

 

[Rednecklawrence]

Well I sure hope it's the shifter bushings, I just spent waay too much on a new engine, clutch, timing kit, spark plugs + wires, etc just 10km ago. I'll take a look when I get back in the car. Are shifter bushings easy to change? I don't think it would be the clutch fork either, it seems to disengage the engine from transmission fully, unless that's not what you're talking about

 

[seagrass]

If you replaced the clutch around 10,000Km’s ago it is highly likely that the clutch fork has cracked.

This is an all too common problem after a clutch change on these older Subaru’s and it is seems to be caused by the extra force needed to operate the new clutch.

Seagrass

 

[Rednecklawrence]

Oh boy that sure would be unfortunate. And I don't suppose there's an easy way do diagnose that is 100% the issue besides yoinking the engine? Because the clutch doesn't feel any different...

 

[Toddasaurus]

Oh boy that sure would be unfortunate. And I don't suppose there's an easy way do diagnose that is 100% the issue besides yoinking the engine? Because the clutch doesn't feel any different...

If you have a borescope you might be able to look at the clutch fork. At the top of the bellhousing sits the slave cylinder which presses against the clutch fork, which is surrounded by a rubber boot. You'd have to unbolt the slave cylinder, take off the boot, then slide your borescope down in there and take a peek at the fork in its entirety and see if there are any cracks anywhere.

Other than this I think the only way to really inspect it is to separate the engine from the tranny.

Either way, I think it would still be a good idea to inspect your shift linkage and associated bushings.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. If it were me, I'd be pretty dang bummed out and frustrated at the same time. 😬

 

[Horsehockey2]

Clutch pedal free for full travel. No carpet jam, right?