Odd noise and play in shifter. Not the usual suspects.

[Bender-san]

My '93 wagon has a 2003 WRX SPT shifter assembly in it with a shift joint that has around 10,000 miles on it (installed new when the shifter went in). I've started to notice an interesting noise coming from somewhere under the shift boot when the following conditions occur:

1: Full throttle.

2: Over 4,000 RPM.

3: Shifter is in gear (any gear), but not being held/touched.

The noise sounds almost exactly like a cracked manifold or exhaust pipe, but it disappears immediately upon touching the shifter. I've also noticed a bit of side-to-side play in the shifter when in gear. The for/aft play is not excessive, but I feel like the side-to-side play has become worse over the past year. I checked under the car while a fellow tech moved the shifter side-to-side in 3rd gear, and the only play I saw was in the actual transmission rod. In other words: The shift linkage itself appears to be solid and intact. This brings about a couple of questions.

1: Is there a ball bushing that can wear out in the shifter itself that needs to be serviced?

2: Is there a series of detents in the transmission that I should be looking at addressing?

[Legacy777]

I believe the forks actually doing the moving of gears could be wearing, but I haven't taken one apart to see all the details and how that could be related to what you're hearing.

[Bender-san]

I talked with my transmission guy who has seen a number of these with shift fork gates that open up over time. He's actually fixed a few of them before. He's pretty sure that's what is going on, so I'll probably have him fix it when I send the trans to him for an overhaul.