Question about 2001 Shifting.

[Bradley Walker]

I have one question about the shifting of the 2001 Outback that I purchased.
Upshifting the vehicle works great. Shifting up through all of the gears is
extremely smooth and all is well. Even downshifting through the gears is
smooth until I shift from 2nd gear to 1st gear. I noticed it today when I
was driving through town at 25mph in 3rd gear. I was turning into the bank
I downshifted to 2nd gear, then as with any 5spd manual vehicle I've driven,
if I"m going 1-2mph even 2nd gear is too high. So I downshifted to 1st gear
from second while going about 2mph and felt a "roughness" of getting it into
1st. When I came back home I decided to go in 2nd gear on our driveway and
then downshift into 1st before pulling into the garage. Again as I was
downshifting, it felt like a rough spot going between 2nd and 1st. I was
going slow enough on the hill when I completed the downshift and there felt
what appeared to be some small grinding of gears.

My question is, what would be the cause of this? Do I not have my shifting
and timing down right? Or would there be something mechanically wrong to
cause this?

 

[Jim Stewart]

I have one question about the shifting of the 2001 Outback that I purchased.
Upshifting the vehicle works great. Shifting up through all of the gears is
extremely smooth and all is well. Even downshifting through the gears is
smooth until I shift from 2nd gear to 1st gear. I noticed it today when I
was driving through town at 25mph in 3rd gear. I was turning into the bank
I downshifted to 2nd gear, then as with any 5spd manual vehicle I've driven,
if I"m going 1-2mph even 2nd gear is too high. So I downshifted to 1st gear
from second while going about 2mph and felt a "roughness" of getting it into
1st. When I came back home I decided to go in 2nd gear on our driveway and
then downshift into 1st before pulling into the garage. Again as I was
downshifting, it felt like a rough spot going between 2nd and 1st. I was
going slow enough on the hill when I completed the downshift and there felt
what appeared to be some small grinding of gears.

My question is, what would be the cause of this? Do I not have my shifting
and timing down right? Or would there be something mechanically wrong to
cause this?

It's the nature of the car.

There are 3 things that can help, but nothing
will make it smooth as butter. Firstly, make
sure you are pressing the clutch pedal all the
way to the floor before you start the shift.
Secondly, you can release a little on the
clutch in neutral to spin up the syncros then
push the clutch back to the floor before you
push it into first.

Finally, drain the transmission and fill it
with Redline gear grease. It helped mine a little.

 

[Bradley Walker]

Thanks for the info. Actually I noticed that when I first drove the car
home, I had some rough shifting problems and realized I was pressing the
clutch *ALL* the way down to the floorboard. More like 90% of the way.
Once I learned the feel of the vehicle the up shifting has became smooth as
butter and the downshifting as too for the most part as long as I do my
shifting at the right RPMs/speeds. Just that going from 2nd to 1st was a
bit rough, but I'm still learning. I haven't driven a stick shift since
1999 when I drove a `91 Mazda SE truck. Now THAT had some really weird
shifting to get used too.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Thanks for the info. Actually I noticed that when I first drove the car
home, I had some rough shifting problems and realized I was pressing the
clutch *ALL* the way down to the floorboard. More like 90% of the way.
Once I learned the feel of the vehicle the up shifting has became smooth as
butter and the downshifting as too for the most part as long as I do my
shifting at the right RPMs/speeds. Just that going from 2nd to 1st was a
bit rough, but I'm still learning. I haven't driven a stick shift since
1999 when I drove a `91 Mazda SE truck. Now THAT had some really weird
shifting to get used too.

I have the same issue on my 2000 OBW 5MT. The clutches on Subarus are
unusually stiff. Perhaps it's got to be this way to handle the torque
split between the front and rear axles, which a 2WD vehicle doesn't have
to worry about? I've had my OBW for three years now, and still
occasionally (meaning most of the time) get roughness between 2nd and
1st downshifts. So really, there's no solution to this, just a lot of
sympathy for your predicament, because we're in it too.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Bradley Walker]

That makes me feel alot better. For a few days I thought something might
have been screwed on the transmission which would require work. I was
wondering if it might have had something to do with the AWD where as
vehicles I had driven in the past with stick were all 2wd/4wd via manual
engaging. Now I just need to tweak my own shifting techniques in order
accomodate for that roughness.

 

[KLS]

Double clutching helps (I experience this in our 1999 Legacy OBW,
too), but this car does lurch a lot more than my 1998 Audi A4, which
is more amenable to engine braking.

That makes me feel alot better. For a few days I thought something might
have been screwed on the transmission which would require work. I was
wondering if it might have had something to do with the AWD where as
vehicles I had driven in the past with stick were all 2wd/4wd via manual
engaging. Now I just need to tweak my own shifting techniques in order
accomodate for that roughness.

 

[Dominic Richens]

My question is, what would be the cause of this? Do I not have my
shifting and timing down right? Or would there be something
mechanically wrong to cause this?

Basically the 1st gear synchro is worn down. The previous owner used to
shift into 1st at too high a speed.

My 1995 Legacy is now to the point that I cannot get it into 1st unless I'm
pretty much at a dead stop _before_ shifting out of 2nd and into 1st. If I
am coasting to a stop in neutral, clutch engaged, it will shift smoothly
into 1st at about 1-2 mph, but roughly if I wait until I am at a dead stop
since the clutch pressure plate and main-shaft are still spinning and have
to be stopped by rubbing against the dog gears before they'll engaged fully.
Other wise I need to wait about two seconds after dis-engaging the clutch
before I try to put it into 1st.

You can spend 1000s of dollars to fix this, but no one ever does.

 

[Bradley Walker]

Thanks for the info. Is the transmission considered part of the powertrain
because this does have a 3 mon/4kmi powertrain warranty on it. If so I
would have it investigated to see what the problem is, if not, I'd be like
everyone else and ignore it.

 

[Michael Pardee]

Thanks for the info. Is the transmission considered part of the
powertrain because this does have a 3 mon/4kmi powertrain warranty on it.
If so I would have it investigated to see what the problem is, if not, I'd
be like everyone else and ignore it.

Yes - definitely part of the powertrain. May be difficult to get them to
agree the performance is substandard, though.

Mike

 

[Bradley Walker]

Thankfully the service rep at the dealership is a customer and decent friend
of mine. I'll go in one day and just pose a few questions to him about it
and see where it leads.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Thanks for the info. Is the transmission considered part of the powertrain

Hi,

Yes, the gearbox is usually considered part of the drivetrain, but I'd
imagine you'd have to do a LOT of talking before anyone listens
seriously about a rough shift into first.

It seems every gear box has its own "personality," but I've noticed a
bit of rev-matching is required on almost all those I've driven over the
years to make that 2nd-1st shift smooth while moving. See Jim Stewart's
suggestions above and I'll bet a few minutes in an empty parking lot
will point you toward what works best for your car!

Good luck,

Rick

 

[k. ote]

My question is, what would be the cause of this? Do I not have my
shifting and timing down right? Or would there be something mechanically
wrong to cause this?

I wouldn't worry about it. Shifting from 2nd to 1st in my STi is similarly
difficult, and as a result of the ridiculously high ratio between 1st and
2nd gears I have to do a full double-clutch to downshift to 1st gear while
I'm still moving..!

Clutch down fast, neutral, clutch up fast, rev engine, clutch down fast,
shift to 1st, clutch eased up... Good practice I guess.