tWell my 97 legacy 5speed is grinding when I shift into 3rd. Car has 170000 with a 2.2. When the car is cold it shifts perfectly then once the engine/trans is warm it has a slight blip of a grind only when I shift into 3rd. Its the sane every time I shift just a slight grind but still runs and drives fine. I was just wondering why it does it only when its warm and no cold? Should I use thicker oil? I just want to do whatever I can to keep it from getting worse. Thanks in advance...

I had good success with a 2nd gear grind in my '91 Legacy when it had around 100K miles on it. I put in the Redline 75W-90NS and in three weeks the grind was gone and stayed gone well past 200K.

 

Old, but still pertainent:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78245&highlight=Lucas

Edited January 16, 201016 yr by edrach

I'm running 80w90 in the car now I believe but the fluid has been in tere a little while for at least 30k miles

Try a fluid change. 30k is about the limit for conventional gear oil.

 

I have the exact opposite problem. I grind second and third when the trans is cold. The colder it gets the worse it is. I filled it with Amsoil 75w - 90 synthetic. Only been in there for a day but it did make big a difference this morning. Second was a bit stiff but no grinding, and the overall shifter feel is way better than it was before. It used to feel like it was stuck in jar of molasses in the morning. Today it felt like it does when it's warm, but it was only 28° this morning. The real test will be when it drops back into the low teens again.

Ill do a fluid change but should I use a thicker oil? It only makes sense that if it doesn't do it when its cold and does when its warm that the thicker cold oil is helping right?

Ill do a fluid change but should I use a thicker oil? It only makes sense that if it doesn't do it when its cold and does when its warm that the thicker cold oil is helping right?

 

I used the thicker Redline (something like 80-120W) at one time for my Impreza. In the summer, it even felt like molasses in the gearbox. I hate to think what heavier gear oil will feel like in cold wether.

 

I'm currently running the Redline 75-90W (not NS because this gearbox only has 60K on it). But it was great even in the cold snap we had back in December when we had evenings in the low teens or less.

 

I know you guys in the mid-west laugh at that, but that's the first time in the 20 years we've lived here that we had the water pipes freeze on us.

Edited January 16, 201016 yr by edrach

Ill do a fluid change but should I use a thicker oil? It only makes sense that if it doesn't do it when its cold and does when its warm that the thicker cold oil is helping right?

 

I wouldn't right now. Use your basic 80w 90 gear oil for now. If that doesn't fix it then try a better quality or synthetic oil.