First of all, I am asking this for a friend who has a 99 legacy wagon 5 speed AWD. The car is very hard to shift into first gear without first putting it into 2nd or double clutching. Although it sounds like a synchronizer to me, I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if someone knows what it is. The dealer told her that this was normal, but I find that hard to believe. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

can you adjust the cluch or if it is hydralic try bleeding it

Change the trany fluid, use a lighter weight, like 75W-90 of good quality synthetic... With 85W-90 (or so) my Leg 5sp was really hard to shift into 1st when cold.

 

Also, when I bough the car it had been parked on the lot for months, with low trany fluid, and there was some rust in, killing a baring over about 10K miles, making it harder and harder to shift (and making a nasty sound).

 

But if there aren't any scary sounds...could just be normal, I've noticed that many subi 5spds are relatively hard to put in first at 10Mph or greater.

my 2000 does that. every other gear is fine, but it doens't want to go into first until you've stopped moving.

Change the trany fluid, use a lighter weight, like 75W-90 of good quality synthetic....

 

Do Not do this!!

 

Do not run conventional GL-5 synthetic, it is too slick for a gears and shifting will be even worse.

You need some Redline 75W90NS or some other good synthetic that is made for running in a gear box. Store bought synthetics like Mobil one and Quake state are GL-5 and they are fine for differentials, but are too slick for gear boxes.

I would rate this as normal. Very few manual transmissions will shift into first at speed without a little throttle/clutch work - or a LOT of resistance.

 

Of course the car in question may have an actual problem, that is making this natural condition worse.

 

What speed is the gear being selected at?

Originally Posted by who1981

Change the trany fluid, use a lighter weight, like 75W-90 of good quality synthetic...

_______________________

Do Not do this!!

 

Do not run conventional GL-5 synthetic, it is too slick for a gears and shifting will be even worse.

You need some Redline 75W90NS or some other good synthetic that is made for running in a gear box. Store bought synthetics like Mobil one and Quake state are GL-5 and they are fine for differentials, but are too slick for gear boxes.

Yeah, that's what I ment by "good quality", sorry it was late, I was unclear.

 

Hmm, what do you think about say...Royal Purple?

 

A store here has it (relatively) cheap; and it's purple, so it must be good! :-p

Be careful what you put in your Sub. I have AT but understand that people ruined Sub gearboxes by putting fancy synthetic gear oils which are more suitable for diffrentials than MT. The bottle may say that fluid is good for MT, but buyer beware! Some people say that only factory dino oil gives satisfactory shifting in subaru.

I would rate this as normal. Very few manual transmissions will shift into first at speed without a little throttle/clutch work - or a LOT of resistance.

 

Of course the car in question may have an actual problem, that is making this natural condition worse.

 

What speed is the gear being selected at?

Sure is sounding like a synchro problem to me, but it happens when downshifting and at a stop. the car only has 40k on it. It grinds unless you shift to second gear first. Thanks for all the help.

Well, I have tried many fluids and have finally settled on Castrol TAF-X (aka. Syntorq). I have sung praise about this oil before, so I won't repeat myself.

Cool, After doing some reading on here, and other reaserch... looks like your best bets are:

 

Redline 75W90NS (NS for Non-Slip)

Castrol TAF-X (aka. Syntorq).

 

I've looked on Froogle and found the Redline for about $7.50/Qt

 

those should help your Synchros grip.

Be careful what you put in your Sub. I have AT but understand that people ruined Sub gearboxes by putting fancy synthetic gear oils which are more suitable for diffrentials than MT. The bottle may say that fluid is good for MT, but buyer beware! Some people say that only factory dino oil gives satisfactory shifting in subaru.

That is why you need to buy a synthetic that has friction modifiers in it for manual transmissions. The off the shelf synthetics like Mobil 1 gear lube do not, they are fine for differentials but terrible in your transmission.

Thanks for all the help!! We'll try changing the transaxle oil with what was recommended.

pump on the clutch 10 times and try to select first. If it works then it's hydraulic.