Lurching/Chugging Manual Transmission

[rp2813]

I was surprised that when I searched the subject terms, I couldn't find a discussion here that described the situation I'm having with my Baja.

Since I bought this vehicle a few months ago, I've had a difficult time with the clutch and the way the car behaves, and it's not like I haven't ever driven a stick before, but it sure would seem like it to the casual observer. I pride myself on shifting a manual as smoothly as an automatic, but it's virtually impossible on this car. I've killed the engine just in parking lot situations.

So last week I visited a friend who lives on a hilltop. As I made my descent, I let the engine do the braking and stayed in 2nd gear as I wound my way down a few blocks to the bottom of the hill with my foot off the accelerator. The car lurched its way down, jerking me and my passenger back & forth every couple of seconds. It tends to do the same thing sometimes when going through the gears and accelerating up to speed on a straightaway, but not nearly as pronounced as was the case going downhill.

Would this be a clutch or flywheel issue, or a transmission issue, or a combination? Currently, as it winds out before up-shifting, there's a raspy whine and I can feel a vibration/rumble in the clutch pedal. I'm suspecting that running through the gears should be a much quieter operation than I'm experiencing. Fluid levels are where they should be. Odometer is 121K and from the limited records I have, it appears the flywheel was resurfaced at around 85K. I presume all transmission-related components are original.

Any thoughts on a potential source of the problem would be appreciated. The way things are now, I'm considering hunting down a Baja with an automatic if this type of behavior is typical for a Subie with a stick.

[w.rohr]

Mine does similar, changing the fluids may help but the main problem is probably the resurfacing. From what I could find is these transmissions (and seemingly subaru in general) don't like resurfacing and especially the poor job most places do. Once I get some of the other things out of the way I am just going to have the flywheel replaced.

[rp2813]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not surprised to hear that the flywheel is the likely culprit. The guy I bought the Baja from had recently had front brake pads replaced by the same shop that did the flywheel resurfacing. When I apply the brakes, the steering wheel gets the jitters. He recommended I take the car to this shop if I needed to have any work done. That won't be happening. Even though the seller struck me as a major cheapskate who likely chose not to have necessary rotor work done, I'm not inclined to take my car to a shop that has a tendency to compromise on the integrity of their work.

As stated in my OP, if I had known the way Subaru's sticks tend to behave, I'd have stuck with my original plan to find myself a Baja with an automatic. I really like this car, it's comfortable, it's in beautiful shape with excellent leather interior, it's tight as a drum and handles uneven road surfaces without any rattles, but the behavior of the transmission is a real PITA.

[anarchy1024]

My manual has a bit of trouble getting started, especially going uphill, but once it's started, it's about the same as any other manual car I've driven. I don't experience the downhill/shifting issues you're describing...