2009 Subaru outback 5 speed wagon.
Viscous coupling was binding and the associated bearing was noisy. Ok all I have to do is pop off the tail housing and replace the unit. Easy.
Drop exhaust
Remove driveshaft
Remove bracing for the trans mount.
Use the jack to hold the trans up or just let it hang au natural. I prefer the jack.
The the shift linkage. Oh the shift linkage. A large shaft fitted over a slightly smaller shaft secured by a roll pin. Somehow push the two piece roll pin out. I used a c clamp and some wood screw and a long socket to receive the expelled pin. 45 min later and that three handed operation is complete. Pin destroyed but out.
A little tappy tap with the ole swing press but those shift linkage shafts are stuck tight. The one is supposed to slide off the other. Not mine. Years of salt and ocean have done their work.
Best thing to do now is to drink for an hour or two. Good thing I did because I remembered something about using candle wax. So I got the torch and heated the linkage and let the wax sweep in. Still nothing. It's stuck tight. Absolutely no movement from hammer and punch or anything.
Now I have to leave in the morning to visit my mom for her surgery 2 hours away. Routine stuff but she needs a friend. In the morning I had to put it all back together without replacing the coupling. So I hit the linkage with the hammer again and it didn't move still. I decided I would be fine. If a hammer blow can't move it little shifts will be fine. Deep down I kinda knew I wasn't fine but I just pretended not to have that thought.
Everything back together. No parts changed. And I'm off.
Drove great to my destination. Aside from the bearing noise and the binding in parking lots
The next day I'm going to get gas for my trip back and my shifter slides a little when I put it in reverse. That was weird.
I pretended maybe I had forgotten a bolt on the mount or some other nonsense. It could be the linkage becoming loose but I had already made my self confident that was impossible.
Mostly highway driving in 5th. But then some traffic hit and I was shifting again. The shifter becoming wilder each time. Soon to get first I had to slam the shifter hard left then up and hopefully engage. My son is in the back seat talking away about car stuff from drive beyond horizons haha.
About 3 miles from home the shifter became unable to engage any gear. I was at a major stop light with lots of people behind me and on an up hill start. I frantically bang the knob around wildly and end up pushing the shift lever into the trans to engage 3rd gear by sheer luck. At this point it's obvious my linkage is disengaged from the trans completely. I guess the candle wax worked.
I live atop a series of hills. With some luck I can maintain momentum and prevent major clutch slippage. But of course I hit almost every light. Rev to 3.5k let it slip a little. Push clutch back in and repeat until I can engage the gear fully and not stall. Then wait for the absolute dog shit lowend torque curve to start moving upward around 2k. Then things were fine. 3rd gear is surprisingly versatile.
I should point out I have been driving only stick shifts for 30 years now. I prefer them in every situation over an automatic. Especially in stop and go traffic which everyone else seems to think sucks in a stick shift.
Im sure i burned 20k off my clutch getting home. But I got there and my shift linkage was finally separated. I could finally finish my repair.
I was able to replace the viscous coupling and everything is great now! New pin and linkage from Amazon came next day.
And that's how to separate a stick shift linkage with a little know how and some elbow grease and candle wax.