I have 2002 WRX Wagon 5MT, pretty much bone-stock engine, tranny and suspension.

OK so I have different symptoms to the other posts I could find. I have 62,023 miles on my car, new engine, clutch about 12,000 miles ago.

I've been really good to my car. No hard launches since the new engine/clutch, some fun runs in the mountains but that's it.

I've been having this really faint knocking sound coming from the engine/tranny. It sounded exactly what my Grandpa's old diesel truck sounded like. I checked my engine oil, right on 1/2 way between E and F or L and H whatever. So I figure I'm OK.

Friday night headed home from the Great Mall (saw "National Treasure" it was decent) accellerating gently up the rise before 237 onramp, and all of a sudden the very very faint knocking becomes really loud. TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP so I pulled over right away and experimented, so here's how it works out.

Anytime I'm moving, I can hear the tapping which is only speed-sensative. Gears, clutch in, clutch out, it's still there. If I accellerate at ALL, then the tapping gets pretty loud, especially in 2nd gear. Sounds just like a piston going out (believe me i know how that sounds) except for the engine rev's beautifully.

If I'm stopped, and I put my foot all the way down on the clutch, no tapping. I can rev the engine up and nothing happens. I leave it in neutral, take my foot off the clutch, and the tapping comes back, quietly, but you can definitely tell it's there, and it's slow, probably 1.5 taps a second.

Help - I don't know what the hell is going on with the tranny, I don't get it! Is it the tranny? Flywheel? Axle? <sigh> I just want my baby running in perfect condition, it's my daily driver. I hate the ghetto-*** Focus Enterprise-Rent-A-Car I have.

I checked the transmission oil and it's over-full by a little bit. Don't know if that makes a difference . . . :-(

Brydon

 

Hey Brydon,

I have this also in my RS.

What kind of clutch you put in?

I put in a Ebay cheapo OEM style one about 35000 miles ago, and the best guess of anyone around is that the springs on the clutch disk are worn out and are loose, or some other clutch related issue.

This is something i began to hear after putting in STi engine mounts. The stiffer mounts have increased the noise, so this is something that I can hear now, this noise, where i couldn't with my worn stock mounts.

-Gagan

 

stock clutch - dealer installed . . . stock engine mounts etc etc.

<chuckle> your signature has a Yoda quote - my buddy in college mixed Yoda and Chewi together.
Chewi: "argh, argh"
Yoda: "help you I can"
Chewi: "argh-ah-ah!"
Yoda: "Yes"
Chewi: "ARGHHHHHHHH!"
Yoda: "mmmMMMMmmmm"

 

Hmmm

I have no clue. You have a warrantee on that install. Maybe you can see if it's covered and have the dealership fix it.

-Gagan

 

Yeah I'll see how long they'll warranty it for me. If it's clutch, I'm probably cool. If it's tranny, then I think I'm up a creek.

Hey Gagen - if I'm looking for the strongest tranny I can get for about the cost of a stock one, (I don't care if it's a dog box, I'm the only one that drives my car) which one should I get?

-Brydon

 

Sometimes a tapping or clicking sound coming from your tranny is a chipped tooth. Hopefull that's not the case. Regarding the aftermarket tranny. The only stronger option anywhere near a stock tranny in cost is swapping in an STi RA gearset into your stock case. This is not as strong as a 6MT or a dog box but is MUCH stronger than stock, has nice short ratios, and usually runs about $2,500 including install. Good Luck!

-Chris

 

vivid has the RA Gearset for about $1,500. The guys at Subaru Santa Cruz are taking care of me and have cracked the case. Anything minor and we'll be in under the $700 mark. Anything more than that and I'll be up for parts+labor. They'd install STI RA gearsets for me I'm sure.

Any recommendation on vendors etc? Oh and thank you very much to everyone for your input

 

2nd gear had a tooth missing from it :-( I figured why put a new 2nd gear in with a tranny that has that many miles on it, and if I'm going to replace all the gears then why not just do STi type RA gears - which I did :-)

I picked them up from a Subaru dealer out east and Subaru Santa Cruz took care of it for me a t a good rate. The gears whine a little but that's going away as I put the miles on.

I have a question guys - how many RPM are you at in 5th gear at 80mph? It seems to me that my 3,800rpm is higher than it used to be, and the parts guy I bought the Type RA gears from said 4th and 5th are the stock ratio

-Brydon