legacycentral bbs

I just bought a 1993 Legacy L FWD MT. It drives nice, shifts beautifully into every gear, but it has a spinny whining noise.
I think it's unrelated, but when I let off the clutch at idle I hear squealing vibration noise from my clutch. When I push against the lever or pedal(not engaged or engaged) it stops.
What do these mean?

Thanks

Clutch engaged (foot off pedal) it makes noise?

Input shaft bearing.

Check your trans fluid. If there isn't enough fluid, or the fluid is old and crappy (losing it's lubricating properties, thus increasing friction, which it might be if the tranny shifts REALLY well) it could not be properly supporting first gear on the output shaft. There is no bearing there afterall, other than fluid.

This would not only wear things down (the output shaft and the gear), but it would also heat the fluid to the point of shearing, and not protecting the gears at all, making it like you are driving without transmission fluid.

Change the fluid. Though if the noise is bad, you might be too late and you should be tranny shopping.

I have searched everywhere I could think of(Even google.com). All I can come up with is AUTO.<<<um, no. Where can I find anything that is MT?

Also, if I let off the gas it will pull kinda hard, like dropping the clutch at a thousand rpms higher, or maybe a little less extreme. Any thoughts?

I have had a similar noise in the same exact situation - idling sitting still, in neutral, with the clutch out (engaged)

kind of a whirring sound. I've had it going on 40k miles with absolutely no change in pitch or volume.

Yours may be the same sound. Conclusion: our transmissions are historically noisy - nothing to worry about. The only time you should worry is if you're applying loads to gears and you get odd noises.

Furthering that, if I'm in 1st gear moving, increasing speed, maintaining speed (school zones and such) 1st gear is always loud for me. or louder than the rest, and it fades out as soon as I change to second - infact it sounds much like BAC2.5's flatshifting video - probably with less amplitude though.

same deal, 40k miles - same noise. Checked the fluid which is in nice good condition.

I may try changing it to a different brand or something, but I dunno. not worried about it. You can choose to be, I guess it's one of those things where you just have to feel out.

but all in all, I've always been told our transmissions are noiser than most.


EDIT:

OK, I read your post again. Here's the difference I've experienced - mine is directly related to input shaft SPEED, not pressure on the pressure plate. IE: I can't push against the clutch pedal slightly to stop the noise. Also, mine isn't a vibration at all - it's just a mechanical noise. zero vibration.

With vibration (bad) you could be running into serious problems.

Another possability is an excessively worn pilot bearing and input shaft throwout bearing (on N/A subarus, the clutch is push type, a big circular bearing rides on the input shaft which the clutch fork pushes against the pressure plate fingers - if it's excessively worn, damaged, or the like, it can vibrate as it rotates freely on the input shaft - also generating noise. applying pressure to the clutch pedal will push the throwout bearing against the pressure plate and slow/stop the rotation/steady the bearing)

All in all, if you've got the mechanical ability, take a look at it yourself - if you don't, take it somewhere. Prevenatitive maintenance is cheaper than repair.

Thanks much for your input. Sorry, unrelated noise with the pressing against pedal(hill hold was not connected and made vibration). Noise only happens when clutch is engaged. By the sound of it, I would say my throwout bearing and maybe just the loud subie tranny... I will have my sub mechanic listen to it.

I don't think they have anything to do with each other, but still driveline... At a roll I have a small thumping, rubbing, whurring noise. As I accelerate noise gets faster and harder. At 60mph it is almost unbearable. It appears to only be on the left front and sounds the same if I am on the gas, brake, clutch anything. I rotated the tires with no change, I checked the brakes they look not rusted. And I was told wheel bearings don't sound like this.
This bothers me more than the tranny noise.
What can I check for?

Mellowgorilla wrote:Thanks much for your input. Sorry, unrelated noise with the pressing against pedal(hill hold was not connected and made vibration). Noise only happens when clutch is engaged. By the sound of it, I would say my throwout bearing and maybe just the loud subie tranny... I will have my sub mechanic listen to it.

I don't think they have anything to do with each other, but still driveline... At a roll I have a small thumping, rubbing, whurring noise. As I accelerate noise gets faster and harder. At 60mph it is almost unbearable. It appears to only be on the left front and sounds the same if I am on the gas, brake, clutch anything. I rotated the tires with no change, I checked the brakes they look not rusted. And I was told wheel bearings don't sound like this.
This bothers me more than the tranny noise.
What can I check for?

I don't know who told you that, but those symptoms are typical of a bad wheel bearing.

Yeah, thats got to be it. Thanks a lot.
I have been on many forums, and the best help has always come from Subaru people.

if the bearing in the wheel bearing is really bad, you should be able to shake the wheel/tire and feel if it is moving out of place. basically like it is dislocated. try it out.

The whiney noise is a mixture of the throwout bearing and the main bearing. The thumping noise is a front wheel bearing (how do I know which one?) And if I ever wanted an awd tranny I would buy another car(two cars). Any suggestions of which front wheel bearing??

if you lift the car on jackstands, and then try to shake each wheel. if it is one of the wheel bearings, it should feel loose.

I will try this tomorrow, I was also told it could be an axle issue. Is there any way to check this?

with the car on the ground, try and move the axle back and forth. it should stay in place and not move at all. try them both out. you should find your problem.

It's the wheel bearing. Thanks for your help with my slow drawn out questions.

its all good. glad you found out what it was.