Hi guys,

I've got a 2000 bug eye wrx, 5 speed, and I've got a feeling that the synchro's gone for 4th. When changing down from 3rd to 4th under a bit of load there's a crunch. When double clutching, there isn't a crunch, and when going really easy on it (little to no revs) it seems to change fine.

My question is, how serious is this? What are my options? And how much of a hole is this going to burn out of my ass pocket?

Seems to be a common problem, as I've found a few posts on here about it, but I've just forked out about $1600 on it in the last month with 100k service, plus some other repairs.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like a synchro, but you might find that an oil change might help, with a decent quality oil like Motul Comp FF.

Also, I don't care what anyone says, Redline LWSP is known to fix mild synchro issues....but you MUST change this oil regularly (every 10-15k) or it can damage your box in the long run.

Get the oil dropped and see if there are gold flakes in it. If so, this is synchro material.

Try Changing the gearbox oil

__________________
RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

Cheers guys, just had the gearbox oil changed recently in the 100k service (about a month ago). From what I was told there were no shavings or flakes attached to the drain plug, although it's been happening more regularly since the service.

Is it worth pulling everything out for 1 synchro? I'm thinking while I'm in there getting a new clutch as it will all be off pretty much just to have a look ...

btw I forgot to mention that everything's stock on this car, no mods as of yet, not sure if that makes a difference.

Additionally, I'm quite surprised that it's the 4th gear that's copped the hammering, and not 2nd ...

I had my 5th gear synchro replaced under warranty, when the car had less than 20k km on the clock...died for no reason at all!

Depending how bad the problem is, it may or may not be worth pulling the box for a single synchro, even if you replace the clutch, because the whole box has to come apart.

Try the gearbox oil first and see how you go.

Cheers balistic, unfortunately I'm out of warranty, but that sounds a bit nasty. Are they just really weak? And if I do pull it, anything I should consider for a bit more strength?

Like BALISTC said the Redline stuff is a good, but not permanant fix. If you want a propper repair job done contact DT RALLY as he is the guru of Subaru gearboxes.

im having a similar problem sounds the same as what was described at the top ....thing is it was fine till i had an oil change about 2 weeks ago...had motul put in it...worth putting redline in ?? or does it sound like replacement time ..anyone know a rough price ??

__________________
straight line racing is only half the fun....
C/Vale represent!!

I had light crunch on my 4th before, I was running motul FF at the time, then I decided to give Redline LWSP a go....fix the problem, no more crunch.

Then my selector fork decided to jam on me(nothing to do with oil - i hope) I had to pull it to bits and clean every single thing inside the box, along wit new seals/gaskets. Cheaper than replacing a whole box tho.

Still running Redline. If it jams again, Im going to rage!

__________________
STi Version VI

thing is, you old oil was probably starting to thicken up, then you removed it and put a thinner oil in. its like the old saying about not cleaning off cobwebs so the car doesn't fall apart

__________________
MY93 Impreza GX 1.8L, 0hp, 0nm