Rocket Gold Star

Hi, Having driven various 4x4 in the past, mainly abroad in remote locations like Angola. And, having driven such vehicles has a series 2A Landrover, I find that the 6MT gearbox on my 2016 XV is about the worst gearbox I've ever used in my life! For a start it bauks when trying to change down, especially going from 5th to 4th gear. You can easily land up in 2nd gear. I can't get used to this stupid idea of the gear lever springing to the centre position by design either. The clutch is also very unusual in that it engages very early from release. I should have taken the damn thing back as soon as I bought it, but I tried to get used to it, blaming myself. Anyway I complained to Subaru, but they wouldn't wear it. Even though I've tried other XV's with 6MT gear boxes that were better. Too me their a load of con merchants and I am not surprised that not many Subaru's are sold in this country. I was told by a local gearbox expert that it was the clutch that was wrongly built up from starters. But still Subaru wouldn't wear it. I changed to Redline oil in my transmission ages back, which was some improvement, but it still bauks. Lately I had to get my car fixed by a local garage because I'm getting on and am suffering from some kind of arthritis, which is bye and bye. The garage that did the job didn't give me a full report at the time, and the mechanics had left went I turned up for my car. So I went back to ask them the score last week. During the conversation I mentioned the gearbox, and they said the 6MT was known for a weak synchromesh and the poor change downshifting. HAS ANYBODY OUT THERE EVER HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS THAT I HAVE. And is there a cure?

Hi, I have been conned into buying the Haynes Autofix manual today. It was a gamble that didn't pay off, it's not worth it. So don't be drawn into it. I'll not waste too much time explaining why it's rubbish,but a lot of the info it provides is already in your users manual. It cost £26. Most of the maintenance tasks like changing an air filter are just general to all cars not specific to my car a 2016 XV diesel. So it doesn't even tell you how to get the engine cover off to access the filter. Same with oil change. Although it does tell you how to reset the maintenance data. Looks like I will never be able to work on my cars engine or MT6 gearbox. Although I can work on brakes and suspension etc through the USA manual I've purchased.

Hi, I run a 6MT gearbox 2016/2017 XV Diesel. I hate the gear change and don't think anyone will ever be stupid enough to buy this car if I tried to sell it privately. It's a long story so I won't tell it all. But it's dead easy to change down from 5th to 2nd unless you really concentrate all the time. Also sometimes the change refuses to happen which is embarrassing in traffic, the gear lever just won't budge, and you can easily land up in a lot lower gear than that intended. It's something to do with the strong setting for the gear lever to spring back to the center position and possibly a faulty assembled clutch from new. Subaru wouldn't do anything about it. And, I have actually driven other 6MT gearbox Subaru Diesels that didn't do this. I KNOW THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH OIL, but I actually CHANGED my gearbox and differential oils from Subaru Extra MT oil to Red LIne 75W90NS and 75W90 for the rear diff. Hoping this would solve the gearbox problems. It didn't, but the gear change is a lot faster. I did the same with a Fiat Punto years ago. I hope there is someone out there who also has had the same problem with the 6MT gear change and can offer advice. Hopefully expert. But, on top of this, I was told initially in late 2016, by a local transmission expert with a good reputation that it was the clutch that wasn't built up correctly from new. He said he thought the clutch would fail within 30K miles but it's still there on 41K miles. But like I said Subaru didn't want to know.

To continue with this subject of brake pads, and also an update on the my rear wheel bearings which I did in a previous posting. I sent for rear brake pads from Germany through Autodoc GMbh. They cost £33.20 including postage and 'safe order' return. Thing is I wasn't sure how many bits were in the kit. The make is Metelli, Italian, which is better than Chinese. They arrived today, and all there was in the package was 4 rear brake pads. although the inner shims were already fitted and maybe bonded on. Plus there was a general EU instruction how to safely fit brake pads in various languages. There were a lot of makes of pad to choose from in the Autodoc catalogue, so I picked the middle range ones, and I think the manufacturer is reputable. So, although I have already got new pad clips for the rear. I will still have to source the outer shims for both sets of pads and clips for the front pads. Will follow some leads from this forum. If it's a Subaru main dealer I will probably pay through the nose. After my MOT last Friday it was confirmed that my rear wheel bearings were OK by the test centre. But they did worn me that my front pads were wearing unevenly and that my drivers side set was near to replacement. So I ordered another set of Metelli pads from Autodoc, which have an office in the UK called Auto Partspro. They cost £42.27 and will also be without the other bits required probably. I have only done about 3K miles since MOT 2020. I have emailed Auto Partspro about offering a better service, but I don't know if they will reply or not. Well that's me done with Subaru servicing. I was contacted by the dealer about having my final 5 years service and an MOT, but I haven't replied. Its not worth arguing with them, you can't prove anything only that the original rear wheel bearings are not stuffed. It's not worth continuing with the body rot warranty either, has it has to be redone on year 6 and will cost more than the cars worth probably. RGS.

Iv'e got a similar problem with brakes but they are the rear one's this time. It's a fairly long story in that my local Subaru dealer 'conned me' by saying that my rear wheel bearings were slightly worn after the last MOT last May. So I got a set of new bearings and various tools including a Hub Buster, in all costing nearly £300. I attempted to change the bearings last Wednesday, only to find there was nothing wrong with them at all. Also the only tight wheel nut on the RH rear wheel was the security one. The other 4 were well below the 120 nm spec for torquing wheel nuts. During the strip-down I thought it obvious that I would have to maintain the brakes, which I did after checking out a few YouTube videos. But I found that the brake pad shims were badly worn, on the inside shim especially. There are 4 shims to two pads. I contacted a local supplier and he said you couldn't get them separately. I did manage to get a set of rear pad clips at a reasonable price off the web, but they didn't seem to sell the shims. To me the shims probably need changing yearly looking at the state of mineSubaru Brake Pads Shims-Rear..pdf. Also the pads have only got about 3.5mm left after only 38K miles. Does anybody know where I can get pad shims separately from the pad sets? I have attached a download from the manual Iv'e got. Look at paragraph 3). Lastly I would like to say that I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped selling Subaru's in the UK, because of the issue of the cost of running them. It's about time some of you more enterprising guys in this club tried to set up a spares company for some of the Subaru parts. I'm too old and don't have enough experience of Subaru's. RGS.

Hi, Images of hub buster if possible. Got it at 90% and 85%. Still offering download of manual if its legal? That's unless everybody has already got one? Thing is with not having a memory, especially at my age, I prefer to have a manual to refer to rather than having to keep looking back at YouTube videos. The manual has all the torque settings, but doesn't have the screw thread sizes or pitch which would be useful, or the spanner sizes. RGS.

Hi, This Universal Hub Buster has arrived and looks like a serious piece of kit, being both robustly constructed and heavy. I believe it will be a great help in reducing rust to dust, and freeing off any seizure due to rust when removing wheel bearing hubs. Photo included. Also I have found my way around the factory workshop manual I bought with a download. Silly me didn't understand Adobe downloads enough, so there is a legend with all the various contents of the manual, which is over 4000 pages long, to the left of the Adobe screen. This manual will come in handy because I don't know how to adjust my handbrake yet, and Iv'e got a damaged wing mirror to part replace also. Would put the whole manual on this site for everybody to download, but I'm not sure of the legality of it. The manual only costs just over £10 anyway, but it is based on US models and doesn't include diesel engine models or 6MT gearboxes. Sorry can't upload images because of a server failure.

Iv'e sent for one anyway at around £64 UK purchase.

Sorry I meant WRX.

Hi, Anyone tried one of these seen on youtube. You could actually Hub Shocker Hub Busters | Remove ANY Wheel Bearing Easily - YouTube make one. Don't know if the link has loaded OK, but a guy removes a XRX wheel bearing very easily. Trouble is it is in the USA. Well worth looking at.

The Warranty runs out in April and Subaru will not change the bearing under warranty according to my local dealer. Apparently the 5 year warranty only covers the drive train and maybe the engine, but I'm not sure of that bit. They don't class the wheel bearings has drive train. Anyway it was picked up last year has slight wear in the MOT by the dealer. The exhaust was cracked also but Subaru did that under warranty, but like I said disowned the wheel bearings.

Hi, Thanks for your help. I have been looking at a STARK bearing, which I think is of German Manufacture. I've been on their website and they claim it's a quality product. It also has a 3 year guarantee. The price is £112.78p on another website. Trouble is they don't mention if it's got a integrated ABS sensor whereas other bearing manufacturers do. So it's all very confusing. It was a lot easier to run a Punto. I was thinking of buying a long length if 13mmx150mm flat steel bar and drilling it to fit over the 5 hub studs and to clear the centre boss. I was then going to use it to stop the hub rotating while I undid the centre nut. Then, with the steel being a long length, I was going to belt it with a 7lb hammer towards the end of the steel. The idea is the leverage effect of the long length. And because I am hitting it 'sideways' it will crush rust rather/as well as pull against it. I could then re-position the drive shaft/hub, to belt it again to crush rust in a different area of the hub/drive shaft, etc, etc. If I got the rust crushed to powder then I might be able to get the hub off with some basic pulling gear Iv'e got already. If that doesn't work I will have to buy better drawing gear. I could also probably utilise the flat bar to aid the pulling gear, if the pulling gear wasn't a good fit to the job. You have got to realise I haven't actually seen the job yet! The wheels are still on the vehicle. What do you think? Regards RGS.

Should have been signed off 'Rocket Goldie' but I hit the wrong key! RGS.

Hi, I have bought two downloaded manuals from the net and they are 4000 pages long, and I can't find the page I want for changing the rear wheel bearings on my 2016 XV. They are a rip off because they are for US/ Canada models. Doe's anyone have the info on changing rear wheel bearings on my model? Also is there a 'Hanes' type manual available for the model. I realise already that you can't get one for the diesel engine model. Regards, Rocker Goldie.

Iv'e just looked up the best anti-seize paste Iv'e ever used. This was at a power station, and it was issued to me because they had nowt else. It's called Rocol 797. It's classed as being dodgy for cancer, but your not going to use it everyday. The cost is £114 for a 500 gram tin.